Water temp wiring question

[made2care]

I’m wiring an aftermarket speedo with lcd display and all wires appear to be hooked up correctly with exception of water temp light which stays on. It worked fine with oem display. The wiring diagram for the aftermarket is instructing me to wire the temp wire to the bikes ground. The bikes water temp sensor shows two wires- a ground and blue/ green wire. I went against the instructions and wired the blue/ green wire from bike to water temp wire on speedo and the temp light stays on all the time.
Any help is appreciated.
Thank you
Bike is 1986 gl1200

[julimike54]

Not sure but maybe you should try the other wire? Other thought is there an over temp switch on the wing or is it just the temp indication switch/sensor? The new speedo may be looking for an on/off indication versus the actual temp indication. Just looked at wiring info and it looks like there is no hard om/off sensor for temp. I'm guessing the computer turns on/off the over temp light based on the gauge reading.

[made2care]

Makes sense. I will try that. I’m assuming that the light on the aftermarket speedo which shows the little temp sign in red, should only come on when coolant reaches an above average temp? Or overheating?

[julimike54]

I'd think it would be like the idiot light in a car, on when over temp.

[made2care]

I’ve tried most all wiring combinations and the light still stays on. Will probably leave it disconnected!