Since I had my side stand interlock/indicator light circuit completed, I decided I would tackle the thermistor issue with the low fuel level light not working and the travel computer QTY and RANGE not functioning. I have to say that the thread by sprotsfreaked on Goldwing Docs was the impetus for this fix.
I checked my travel computer readings for QTY and RANGE and found these were flashing dashes as mentioned by sportsfreaked. I knew the low fuel level light did not come on because last year I almost ran completely out of gas even with one bar showing on the dash fuel level.
This afternoon I took the fuel sending unit out of the bike. It is located under the seat:
Next item removed was the seat cross brace to give more room. The brace is connected with two 12mm bolts and where the front of the seat is secured there are 2-10mm bolts:
Next was to remove the seat cross brace and sending unit securing ring:
Removal of the cross brace gives more room to work.
Once this was done the sending unit came out very easy. Here it is on the work bench:
There is a securing tab that is attached to the bracket holding the thermistor housing in place and keeps the thermistor plastic piece in the thermistor housing. I had to pry this away from the thermistor housing to remove the black retaining piece that secures the thermistor inside the housing:
The thermistor is secured to the bottom of the housing:
This small bit of solder has to be removed to make way for the new thermistor install.
Once the securing tab was out of the way, the black plastic piece in the housing can be removed that holds the thermistor in place. The thermistor is also connected to the bottom of the housing and this has to be removed.
This picture also shows the thermistor out of the housing.
When working on removing the old thermistor, the housing is soldered to the thermistor housing retaining piece.
I used a soldering gun and removed the old thermistor and installed the new thermistor in its place.
I installed the new thermistor length the same as the one taken out. The long end of the thermistor that will fit through the end of the thermistor housing will be cut off after it is secured in place.
Once the thermistor is connected to the sending unit wire, the install is the opposite of the removal. You have to fit the thermistor into the housing and secure the unattached piece of the thermistor to the bottom of the housing with a dab of solder. Push the black "grommet" into the housing and squeeze the securing ring back into place so that it looks like the unit when it was removed from the bike.
Once the thermistor is back in the sending unit, the sending unit install is the reverse of how you take it out. The sending unit is oriented towards the front of the bike. The tab on the sending unit is oriented such that it is towards the front of the bike.
The sending unit securing ring also has an arrow that indicates how it is to be installed. The arrow is oriented towards the front of the bike.
Once I had the unit installed, the amount of fuel is not at a level to illuminate the low fuel warning light; however, I did test the travel computer QTY and RANGE functions. The dash went thru the checks as per normal. I checked the travel computer QTY and RANGE indicators. I now had numbers instead of flashing dashes. This is the QTY reading:
This is the RANGE function working properly:
If sportsfreaked is correct, I should now get a low level indication. I will report on this when i next go for a ride and let the fuel level drop.
Another good afternoon.
I checked my travel computer readings for QTY and RANGE and found these were flashing dashes as mentioned by sportsfreaked. I knew the low fuel level light did not come on because last year I almost ran completely out of gas even with one bar showing on the dash fuel level.
This afternoon I took the fuel sending unit out of the bike. It is located under the seat:
Next item removed was the seat cross brace to give more room. The brace is connected with two 12mm bolts and where the front of the seat is secured there are 2-10mm bolts:
Next was to remove the seat cross brace and sending unit securing ring:
Once this was done the sending unit came out very easy. Here it is on the work bench:
There is a securing tab that is attached to the bracket holding the thermistor housing in place and keeps the thermistor plastic piece in the thermistor housing. I had to pry this away from the thermistor housing to remove the black retaining piece that secures the thermistor inside the housing:
The thermistor is secured to the bottom of the housing:
Once the securing tab was out of the way, the black plastic piece in the housing can be removed that holds the thermistor in place. The thermistor is also connected to the bottom of the housing and this has to be removed.
When working on removing the old thermistor, the housing is soldered to the thermistor housing retaining piece.
I used a soldering gun and removed the old thermistor and installed the new thermistor in its place.
I installed the new thermistor length the same as the one taken out. The long end of the thermistor that will fit through the end of the thermistor housing will be cut off after it is secured in place.
Once the thermistor is connected to the sending unit wire, the install is the opposite of the removal. You have to fit the thermistor into the housing and secure the unattached piece of the thermistor to the bottom of the housing with a dab of solder. Push the black "grommet" into the housing and squeeze the securing ring back into place so that it looks like the unit when it was removed from the bike.
Once the thermistor is back in the sending unit, the sending unit install is the reverse of how you take it out. The sending unit is oriented towards the front of the bike. The tab on the sending unit is oriented such that it is towards the front of the bike.
The sending unit securing ring also has an arrow that indicates how it is to be installed. The arrow is oriented towards the front of the bike.
Once I had the unit installed, the amount of fuel is not at a level to illuminate the low fuel warning light; however, I did test the travel computer QTY and RANGE functions. The dash went thru the checks as per normal. I checked the travel computer QTY and RANGE indicators. I now had numbers instead of flashing dashes. This is the QTY reading:
This is the RANGE function working properly:
If sportsfreaked is correct, I should now get a low level indication. I will report on this when i next go for a ride and let the fuel level drop.
Another good afternoon.
