Radiator Fan does NOTshut off

[Fred W]

In that case you can forget about the temp sensor (wire going to the end of the "coolant tube") as a possible cause. It would cause the gauge to read high. It almost has to be a ground on that G/Y wire.

 

[wfooshee]

I thought that was what I had just said, no? But thanks for clarifying, Walt.

It was, but it sounded like he was still confused about how the key made it happen if the relay's load side was always hot, and not understanding that the coil side was switched by the key. Just thought I'd put it in different-ish words.

 

[Iris]

Okay. I'll check for improper ground. I do not know how to use a multimeter. We may have one in the garage though LOL. I guess I'll learn how to use it this weekend.

 

[luvtoride]

You're a smart woman, put on your big girl mechanical panties & get er' done... & then call Jim to help you. Not attempting a thread hijack... but are you guys doing EOM this year?

 

[Iris]

All fixed! First I printed out Fred's post, because I felt that suggestion was the easiest first step. RoadRunner called me too and said the same thing FredW said so I became convinced that I would test the ECU first.

We did a little more testing after we spoke to Ionbeam (who helped me with how to use the multimeter) and determined that the break had to be somewhere between the white connector and the blue connector toward the top of the tank. I pulled the cluster off of the frame and turned the key. I no longer heard the fan (letting me know that it was no longer grounded). I knew I had almost the right spot. Then using my finger, I pushed the whole cluster of wires back against the metal frame in various locations, and we were able to pinpoint exactly where the short was. I got a little dentist type mirror (like Ionbeam had also suggested) and I could actually see the worn area and the little green/yellow wire peeking through.
If I can attach photos you'll see what the culprit was....(EDIT: I don't know how to attach photos).

So, anyway.......you know the small rubber mat that sits under the tank on top of the engine? Well if that had been positioned properly, the wear probably would never had occurred. The wire cluster was rubbing on an edge of some metal whozeewhatsitts thingy that's on top of the engine above where the spark plugs are.

I can't thank all you people enough for helping me (and for Ionbeam for guiding me patiently over the phone). I felt really good that I was able to fix this myself (and with Jim's help too of course) rather than bring it to a shop. Also, I feel like I learned something and that always feels good!

Thanks soooo much. Have a great weekend!

PS... Hi Heidi! Thanks for the vote of confidence. Sorry to say....not going to make it to EOM this year.

 

[El Toro Joe]

Glad to hear you got it all squared away Iris. This forum is a great resource with some equally great folks that you can always count on to help out.

 

[Fred W]

Nice work, Iris! We all knew you could do it.

Now take great satisfaction n knowing that you got to the root cause in an afternoon. A shop would have replaced 3 or 4 parts over a 6 or 8 week period, then billed you for everything, and you'd have got your bike back with the original problem.

 

[ionbeam]

Good find! Glad you know the root cause of the problem with certainty. These kind of problems aren't easy to find, even for a dealer. It takes a Forum to fix a problem like this

I dunno whatzup with your pictures, my photo editor didn't like them and refused to edit them. After spoofing my editor to accept the photos, Photobucket didn't like them and needed some hand holding to upload and display the link.

Stop by Harbor Freight and blow <$6.00 for this meter (on sale right now). I have one that I carry as a 'disposable' meter if I'm going someplace where I may be doing some troubleshooting. I took it to work and tested it against bench electronic meters and found it to be quite accurate. Much (much, much) easier to use than a needle movement meter.