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oil and water temp light stay on

10K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  Comanche 
#1 ·
ok my 800 drifter fell over while running. It went over very softly,
ran for only a second before i shut it off. I picked it up and started it
and now the oil and water temp light stay on. The water is cold and i see
no reason for on oil psi. Motor sounds good, but the lights stay on.
does anyone know if there is a way to reset it or something. thank you
 
#2 · (Edited)
Loosen the oil filter until you see a little bit of oil seep out the bottom mounting surface and then start it and let it idle for about 5 seconds. You should feel the oil filter tighten up by itself and also see a little more oil seep out when this happens since the 800's have a hard time re-priming oil after a tip over and sometimes after an oil change. This will let the air escape and allow the motor to re-prime itself with oil and the light should go out after this happens. Then turn off the bike and tighten the oil filter again. Post back if you want a better explanation that one of the experts on here gave me recently but this should do it.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you run the bike like that until you do this. Mind you, the experts said that 800's are notorious for this phenomenon and so you having a Drifter fits this category.

If your water temp light is still on I would also try uncapping the reservoir cap and the servicing cap while it idles but only after you do the oil filter trick first. This might help fix the air cavitation situation created when you dropped it. You can also open the coolant drain just a little bit when you do this and that might help in the same manner as the oil filter trick. You don't need to open it much and just let a little tiny bit seep out and then tighten your drain and caps back up again. Hopefully your water temp light will be out by this time. If this doesn't work post back and someone else can help. Wish you success.
 
#5 · (Edited)
GEARHEAD, you can thank SFair and Romans for that neat little oil filter trick they both informed me of. That water temp light trick I got from somewhere else but don't remember right now just exactly where. Thanks again, SFair! I didn't know they were wired parallel like that. I guess I should have paid more attention to wiring schematics when I was looking at them during recent repairs but didn't. :)

@GEARHEAD: SFair and Romans are top class so if you ever have any problems post and look for them to help. :)
 
#6 ·
For the record I don't know nuthin' I've just been on this forum way too much and have picked stuff up from the real experts. You can learn a lot trolling through old posts in the section for your class of bike, I really recommend everyone do that as they can learn a TON from these folks that really know.
 
#7 ·
dont sell yourself short John..... while you nay not be an expert you are quite good at finding information, understanding it, remembering it and filtering the good from the bad and the plain ole bs !
 
#8 ·
Ever since my 05 classic was new, after it sets in the rain sometimes I'll get both lights for a moment or so after it runs for a few minutes. If I rev the motor briefly, they go out and stay out. This sometimes happens when it get cold out also.Usually never stays on more than 15 seconds or so. After the first couple times never really concerned me.If it stays on, I shut it down right away and check the oil, this only happened once.
 
#10 ·
Rick, the way you know every little quirk of your ride is what makes it all worthwhile. The relationship with a horse is somewhat similar. The better you know it and understand it the more you love to ride. :)

Whenever I get bored with the bikes I can always look forward to the horses' attitudes and quirks to keep things interesting and exciting. Haha!
 
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