[VLX in DE]

My wife got a '04 Shadow VLX Deluxe this winter and is now starting to ride it. Today the red coolant temperature indicator came on while she was riding slow, but when she stopped I noticed the radiator fan was not running. We shut it down and left it off for about 5 minutes. Upon restart the light was off and we were able to get it home (a couple of miles) with no problem. Checked the overflow tank and the level was fine.

Later, it was driven about 10 miles with no problem. But, when we let it just idle for a while, the light again came on... but still no fan! If the light is on, the fan should be running, right? After shutdown I checked the fan's 10 amp fuse and that was OK, and the fan blade can be easily spun with a finger.

My guess is that the most likely problem is with a thermostatic switch for the fan. But I don't have a wiring diagram, and I'm not sure where the switch might be located.

So, what is the best way to get a Service Manual and/or a Wiring diagram?

Any suggestions or recommendations?

Thanx! -Bob

 

[Pavogg]

Fan Switch

Your instincts are correct.
You can check to see if the fan is good by removing the wire from the fan switch at the lower corner of the radiator and touching it to ground. With the key on the fan should run when you touch the wire to the chassis. If the fan does not run it is bad. If the fan runs then you need a new fan switch.

 

[VLX in DE]

Re: Fan Switch

Your instincts are correct.
You can check to see if the fan is good by removing the wire from the fan switch at the lower corner of the radiator and touching it to ground. With the key on the fan should run when you touch the wire to the chassis. If the fan does not run it is bad. If the fan runs then you need a new fan switch.

Thanks!

I saw that switch at the bottom of the radiator and thought it might be for either turning on the fan, or the over-temp light, but I wasn't about to mess with it before getting some more info. I try to work on one problem at a time, and try to avoid creating any more while I'm at it. :wink:

Thanks again, I'll try the test you suggest.

-Bob

 

[Pavogg]

Fan switch and Over temp switch

The over temp switch is located at the thermostat housing under the gas tank and wire junction box. Sounds to me like it is worling and that either the fan switch is bad or the fan itself.

 

[Larry95]

I had the exact same problem you did.....red light came on....fan not running....on my '06 VLX. When I got it back home I looked at all the easy things first, and in my case, I had a wire that came completely loose. Once I connected everything back up....it worked like a charm. I'm not saying that you don't have a problem with the switch or the fan, but just check all your wires first. Make sure nothing has come loose. Just my 2 cents....easy stuff first.

 

[VLX in DE]

I had the exact same problem you did.....red light came on....fan not running....on my '06 VLX. When I got it back home I looked at all the easy things first, and in my case, I had a wire that came completely loose. Once I connected everything back up....it worked like a charm. I'm not saying that you don't have a problem with the switch or the fan, but just check all your wires first. Make sure nothing has come loose. Just my 2 cents....easy stuff first.

Under the left cover, the third connector in on the three-pack? :wink: That's where I wound up. Blue wire with a brown stripe.

For anyone interested, here is what I found:
I finally had a chance to troubleshoot the problem today and found that, with the ignition on, grounding the connector on the thermostatic switch did not run the fan. However, I should have been able to see some voltage through the fan at the connector, but it measured zero.

Went back to the fan fuse and checked for voltage there, and found none. :shock: I also found the fan fuse is not on the ign power bus bar like the other fuses in the fuse box, but receives power through a blue wire w/brown stripe. At this point I'm now looking for a connector or possibly a relay with a bad connection (with no schematic you have to do a lot of guessing!). Trying to find where this wire goes, I wound on the left side of the bike where there are three connectors restrained in a metal bracket. The third one in had a blue wire with a brown stripe and about fell apart in my hand. The connector was full of grease that looked like yellow mustard. I'm not sure if that is OEM, but it looked OK to me. So, I just made sure everything was well connected and snug, and buttoned everything back together. Manually grounding the switch now runs the fan. 8)

Did a test ride to warm things up and then stopped and let the engine idle. After letting the fan cycle on and off a few times I was ready to pack up the tools and celebrate!

Thanks to all that responded!
-Bob

 

[Larry95]

Nice job! Glad you got it fixed. Be safe out there now as there seems to be a lot of "cell phones" on the road so far this year.....makes one nervous.

 

[VLX in DE]

Take a look here:
http://hondatech.info/downloads/Moto/

Update:

Well, thanks to Kechke I was able to download a 2001 version of the service manual at http://hondatech.info/search/vt600c/ . One click and 146 Megabytes later I had the manual! 8)

From the schematic in the service manual, I see the wire I was tracing is Blue with an Orange stripe, not brown stripe as it appeared to me. And I see the fan circuit gets its power from a separate connection on the ignition switch.

My guess is that not a lot has changed on the VLX between 2001 and our 2004 bike, so I think this service manual will do just fine should I need it in the future.