Post by ellpee on Sept 21, 2014 15:13:03 GMT -6
Over in the trike classroom I've been posting about a carburetor/hard starting issue, and part of that saga was that I ordered and installed a new enricher.
Part of THAT saga was that the new enricher came wired completely differently from the old one. Old one had two wires, plus a completely separate third wire that connected to a pin on the engine and to a bullet collector with a green/black wire going off to the front of the scoot. Wiring diagram says that was an engine temperature sensor that presumably drives the temp gauge on the dashboard. When I plugged in the new enricher as originally wired, it immediately pegged the temp gauge. After I re-wired the new enricher to be like the OEM one, the temp gauge again showed a normal cold-start reading -- lit up, but at the bottom of the temperature range.
Today I started the scoot and ran it for 10 minutes or so, enough so the fan would kick on. It did. Problem is, the temp gauge didn't rise at all during those 10 minutes. Wondering if the oddball wiring on the new enricher somehow burned something out in the temp gauge or the sensor. Anybody know anything about how these gauges work and how I can test it for correct function? All suggestions welcome.
MORE RESEARCH: I think I understand that the temp sensor on the engine serves as a variable GROUND for the temp gauge, conducting low voltage at cold start, then more and more as the engine heats up, and the higher the voltage flow, the hotter the gauge shows. So a refinement of my question is, is it possible I could have done something to that sensor in the process of installing the new, miswired enricher? Worst case would probably be, if I somehow fed 12v into that sensor, what would it have done? I found a new sensor on line for small bucks, but don't want to replace something that ain't broke.
TWO MORE DAYS LATER: tested the gauge by grounding it directly rather than through the sensor, and it slowly rose until it pegged, as if overheating (scoot was not running at the time, just key on). So it seems like the gauge itself does what it should. Still don't know how I could check the temperature sensor with variable voltage on the ground leg of the circuit. Our rain has finally stopped, so I'll give the mud a couple days to dry out and then go on a test drive with one eye focused on that gauge.
TWO MORE DAYS: Short test run, 3-4 miles, scooter ran fine and fan eventually came on, but temp gauge stayed at bottom. Thinking safe thing will be to buy and install a new one, but still hoping somebody can tell me how to test the sensor before doing so.
Part of THAT saga was that the new enricher came wired completely differently from the old one. Old one had two wires, plus a completely separate third wire that connected to a pin on the engine and to a bullet collector with a green/black wire going off to the front of the scoot. Wiring diagram says that was an engine temperature sensor that presumably drives the temp gauge on the dashboard. When I plugged in the new enricher as originally wired, it immediately pegged the temp gauge. After I re-wired the new enricher to be like the OEM one, the temp gauge again showed a normal cold-start reading -- lit up, but at the bottom of the temperature range.
Today I started the scoot and ran it for 10 minutes or so, enough so the fan would kick on. It did. Problem is, the temp gauge didn't rise at all during those 10 minutes. Wondering if the oddball wiring on the new enricher somehow burned something out in the temp gauge or the sensor. Anybody know anything about how these gauges work and how I can test it for correct function? All suggestions welcome.
MORE RESEARCH: I think I understand that the temp sensor on the engine serves as a variable GROUND for the temp gauge, conducting low voltage at cold start, then more and more as the engine heats up, and the higher the voltage flow, the hotter the gauge shows. So a refinement of my question is, is it possible I could have done something to that sensor in the process of installing the new, miswired enricher? Worst case would probably be, if I somehow fed 12v into that sensor, what would it have done? I found a new sensor on line for small bucks, but don't want to replace something that ain't broke.
TWO MORE DAYS LATER: tested the gauge by grounding it directly rather than through the sensor, and it slowly rose until it pegged, as if overheating (scoot was not running at the time, just key on). So it seems like the gauge itself does what it should. Still don't know how I could check the temperature sensor with variable voltage on the ground leg of the circuit. Our rain has finally stopped, so I'll give the mud a couple days to dry out and then go on a test drive with one eye focused on that gauge.
TWO MORE DAYS: Short test run, 3-4 miles, scooter ran fine and fan eventually came on, but temp gauge stayed at bottom. Thinking safe thing will be to buy and install a new one, but still hoping somebody can tell me how to test the sensor before doing so.
