Morning All! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

I'm back with another oil temp gauge problem which has me beating my head against the wall. Some of you may remember a couple of weeks ago I received a bad out of the box Roger McEwan gauge from DHP, which BTW I still have not gotten a refund or replacement for.

With no response from DHP I said screw it and set out to get an official Harley gauge. Local dealer didn't have one and said 10 to 14 days. Ok, knew I was going to Daytona last weekend so I'll see if they have one and if not I'll order one from the local.

Daytona did have one. I did the install yesterday morning following all the instructions. Fired her up before installing the outer faring, after a few minutes temperature on the gauge started to climb. It works! Closed everything back up and took off to meet my son for an afternoon ride.

About 2 miles from home I noticed the gauge was up to 260, no exactly right. I stopped and checked for leaks. No leaks, oil was barely warm on the dipstick. Continued on my journey and about 1/4 mile later, gauge was up to 350. WTF!

Checked everything again at my son's house. All good and correct, we went on our way.

All afternoon gauge stayed at 350. Shut the bike down and just switch it on, or hit the kill switch and temp would drop to 260. Fire it back up and there it goes back to 350 within 30 seconds.

Let the bike cool overnight, gauge reads zero like it should.

Ideas? Suggestions?

Oil temp gauges on this thing are about to drive me nuts! I'm not a dummy when it comes to mechanics or electronics. Been customizing, repairing and working on bikes, cars and trucks since my teen years. However, this is my first venture into the newer bagger world of electronics. It should not be this difficult to get a working oil temperature gauge!

Thanks!

LilMan

 

At least it's consistent!!!!

 

Scorpion....you are so correct!

 

Sorry - sometimes I just can't help being a smart-a$$!
Did you install the sensor at the oil pan or the filter bracket?
Apparently the oil pan is a more accurate reading.

 

I'm pretty much a smart a$$ myself, don't sweat it!

Sensor is in the oil pan. Drain oil, remove pipe plug, clean threads with rag, install brass adapter using Loctite 565, install sensor with the same. Plug in wire, route up frame into fairing, two black wires to GND post, yellow to SIG, orange to POS.

Not rocket science, but I think it's getting there!

 

Is it possible you got loctite on the sensor? That could throw off a reading.
the only other thing I can think of (odds are against 2 bad gauges) is you wired it wrong on the gauge? Maybe crossed wires?

 

Anything is possible. Going to take it back apart this afternoon, sensor and all to see what I can determine.

I've been an electrical engineer for 30 years so I may hook it up on the bench and see what I get.

 

Pull the sender, boil some water in a pan, then dip the sender in the water (not the connectors, but you know that) and check your reading. That should tell you something. Also, when the oil is at 260 or 350°, check the OT with another gauge, like an IR or meat thermometer. Your oil would not heat up to 260° in two miles. Mine takes 10-15 miles miles in 90°+ weather to get up to 180° and another 10+ miles to settle at 205° (normal).

Can you watch the gauge needle climb steadily to 260° or does it pop up there at some point in the first two miles? Where do you have your sender grounded? It has a separate ground wire and does not ground at the pan like some other gauges. I would double-check your wiring both on the sender and gauge ends.

 

Did you use the HD sender with the HD gauge? If you used the McEwen sender, it won't read correctly. Ask me how I know. LOL