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Posted by greenbarn
- January 18, 2017, 19:50:54 PMI'll sit by the pool all day if the company is good and the drinks are free!! 
Posted by CDNRatMan
- January 18, 2017, 19:00:11 PM Wow another slander on my good name......when have you ever heard of a Rat barking.....never.......as for bite I can do something better than bite....
KW I will save a spot for you at my Rendezvous, there are a number of really nice people saying they are coming, and then there are a few who said they are coming like Pilgrim and GB, but we can let them sit outside by the pool with the kids.......
Posted by greenbarn
- January 18, 2017, 18:56:20 PMGood to hear it was so easy. I'll have to admit, I doubted the relevancy of the oil priming issue when I first read it - good to see it really work first-hand. I have to think, for this oil pump system to be this finicky to maintain a prime, some engineer must have had his head in some deep-dark-damp hole when he designed this oil system, LOL...
So KW, you need to put it on your schedule, make arrangements, and reservations, to attend the upcoming Northern Drifter Rendezvous, so you can finally meet the illustrious, elusive Sir Ratman.... Pilgrim and I are planning to go. His (Ratman) bark is worse than his bite... 
Posted by kw-retrorider
- January 18, 2017, 17:45:49 PMBackhanded....I beg to differ Ratman...you got credit for the initial diagnosis and leading everyone, including me, in the right direction...it's all good.
Posted by CDNRatMan
- January 18, 2017, 17:19:22 PM 
wow that was a backhanded comment there for sure, listen to Pilgrim, right and of course my idol GreenBarn, but I suggested it first but then I am north of the 49 line what can I know......ok.........I will forgive you this time.........I am going to go and tinker on my bike some more now and watch the hockey game.........
GreenBarn you are a superhero for sure, and what's his name Pilgrim ...he is ok for an old guy.......
Posted by kw-retrorider
- January 18, 2017, 15:51:20 PMSaved by the Forum again! All it needed was to be burped like a baby....go figure.
Pilgrim man, thanks for all the detail, but I took action before I saw your post, yet I have confirmed what you said without a doubt. Although Ratman mentioned the "burp" first, it was Greenbarn that made me give it a shot.
Wouldn't have believed it unless I saw with my own eyes. I knew enough not to screw with too much. The bike is too original and I have had no issues over the years. After I changed the oil and filter and started it, the light went out immediately....I mean immediately. Then went for a 30 mile ride....55 degrees in MD today.
I met both Pilgrim and Greenbarn at Drift In 2013 and have yet to meet the infamous Ratman....thanks guys for having my back.
By the way, this all started with a saddlebag install that would fit my laptop. These are alleged leatherlykes I bought for $35 on ebay after a good rubdown with leather conditioner. So learned more than I wanted to about the lube oil system, but the bag install seems to have come out alright....
Posted by Old Drifter
- January 18, 2017, 10:24:12 AMGreat finnd and post Pilgrim! This could save kw-retrorider alot of grief.
Posted by Pilgrim
- January 18, 2017, 06:08:45 AMcopied and pasted from another forum:
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.
OP replied that this worked for him...
Posted by kw-retrorider
- January 18, 2017, 03:54:41 AMThank you Mr. Greenbarn for your thoughts....the lube oil needing to be burped is certainly an outside the box thought.
As a prelim, both the coolant temp sensor and the oil pressure sensor look like they have never been touched and connections are intact. They are both in very protected locations...the temp sensor well inboard and under the fuel tank; while the oil pressure switch is on the left side of the bike....opposite the side it fell. That said, the itty bitty wire to the oil sender takes a wrap around the larger starter wire on the way to the switch so have to inspect it closely...as it lays hard up against the bottom of the left engine case...good place for a stray ground, but I don't suspect I will find anything.
My thoughts were to look at the wiring up at the indicator lights...for something loose (since I changed the instrument panel, but a long time ago).
Beyond that, it's due for an oil change, so I will see if it can burp itself in the process of a new filter and oil. Wouldn't hurt to rig a test oil pressure gauge either I suppose.
Again thanks for weighing in....will keep you guys posted...
Posted by greenbarn
- January 17, 2017, 17:28:59 PMI haven't checked the book yet either, but I read somewhere at some point that the 2 sensors share a circuit, so that if the oil light comes on, the temp light does too. This seems odd to me, but possible; engineers do what they want to. The explanation I saw was that if the OP goes low, they want both lights to get your attention. I also read something else that said the 800 Vulcans are bad about getting an air pocket in the oil system if tipped over, or sometimes when the oil filter is changed. This seems really peculiar to me - I rather tend to doubt it, but I have read it several places. I learned a long time ago to say "that can't be right", because every once in a while I see something that doesn't seem like it can be right - but it is, LOL.... Anyway, what I read was that the oil filter needed to be burped, to get the air pocket out -- again this seems like an unlikely problem, but you might look into it. I know it is quite common to have air pockets in cooling systems (many even have air bleeders to assist in the bleeding) but I've never (other than this) heard of an oil pump that was incapable of priming and "bleeding" itself.
But like Bucko said, better safe than sorry when it comes to OP.
Posted by kw-retrorider
- January 17, 2017, 03:52:34 AMBucko - thanks for the input. This feels like something minor that just got out of place. Tracking down the sensors and their connections is a good start.
I will have to look at the wiring diagram to understand how the two warning lights relate to each other, if they do at all. Agree with you on how the sensors work...so don't expect that if I injured a sensor that it would "fail safe" and give you a warning light...but stranger things have happened.
Appreciate your thoughts.
Posted by Bucko
- January 16, 2017, 22:39:42 PMWithout reaching for the service manual....
I think both of the 'sender switches' provide a 'ground' to indicate a fault (in this case, either no oil pressure or high temperature). The first thing I would do is ensure the sender connections (wires) have not shorted to the motor or the frame (as a result of the fall over and pickup).
PS: I would not run the engine until you get the oil lamp problem sorted out first. It may be that you have no oil pressure.
Posted by CDNRatMan
- January 16, 2017, 20:36:59 PMThe wires under the left side cover are the same as in the headlight pod they are acc. wires.
I am just guessing at the oil level might need a burping, the rad I can see if an air bubble got moved around. But if we wait a bit and Troll comes on or someone smarter than us they will have the answer.
Posted by kw-retrorider
- January 16, 2017, 18:04:09 PMUsed my existing saddlebag brackets.....so OR_Seedman off the hook
I did not open the radiator to burp it...but can....but how does that relate to the lube oil system, which I can't imagine you can put a bubble in....
I did find a thread about those two warning lights not working...had something to do with the left side cover...I pulled that off, to find two wires not connected to anything and not able to be connected to each other...ie same type of terminals. So nothing out of place except two wires that can't be connected to anything or themselves.
Posted by CDNRatMan
- January 16, 2017, 17:16:56 PMI realized it was bags nothing to do with the mounts.....perhaps he should buy new brackets from you.......