Greetings from North Carolina

[OneGreyWolfe]

Hello from the NC capitol area!
My partner owns a 2013 Stallion that was inherited from their parents. So far we have managed with info from these forums and generic how-to videos on fixing a few of the issues that Rose (the trike) has faced. Here are a few things I could use some advice or help tracking down a guide for:

Cruise is inoperable. no real idea where to start.

Some hazing in the plexiglass of the windscreen in the field of view that is...inconveniently placed.
Do you think buffing it out with some kind of wax may help, or make things worse?

Windscreen also has several minor cracks near the front, at the base. I know there are some patch kits, and a trick of filling with nail polish that works for a glass windshield, but not overly familiar with Plexi.

and the biggest for last... overheating.
We recharged the AC in hopes it would help some, but no such luck. Basically we have to choose between roasting the drivers crotch, or roasting Rose's motor. the moment the air is set cool enough to be a bit comfortable, she climbs to the red.

 

[OneGreyWolfe]

we grabbed a prestone coolant checker and it says the coolant is fine. budget is super low, as I am on a fixed income, so trying to figure my best directions before spending money. Any help in that is appreciated!

 

[Jack Klarich]

Welcome to Trike Talk

I would try a new thermostat to begin with for your overheating problem, do the Stallions use a thermostatic fan?

That would bear checking also, keep us informed, I am sure some Stallion owners will chime in here for more help

 

[Gorilla]

Robert I will try and help, at least point you in the right direction.

First the cruise control is a little complicated.
You need to get a wiring diagram for a 2007 Ford Ranger with the 2.3 4 cylinder engine.
That drive train is the base for the Stallion all the years built. The cruise control switch is on the front of the brake master cylinder rod coming out of the brake boaster. That switch as multiple little switches inside the module.

Contact Motor Trike in Troope Texas (they are the parent company for Throughbred Motor Sports) they might still have a replacement they made. But the Ford switch also might still be available. I cannot remember the application of the switch but it is a Ford part. The brake booster is under the vehicle about below the middle of the seat.

 

[Gorilla]

The windshield is not available at all. There supposably was a company that would make one on special order for over $2k Have not heard of anyone getting it done.
There are Plexiglas products out there to help remove scratches. They help but are not perfect. The cracks MAYBE some clear epoxy? Don't know

 

[trike lady]

Hello & welcome to Trike Talk.

 

[Gorilla]

The a/c switch is suppose to turn the electric radiator fan on when selected. If the fan comes on under normal driving conditions to keep the motor cool, but over heats when the a/c switch is selected MIGHT indicate that the a/c switch is bad.

These are just my thoughts from many miles away.

 

[ol' school]

Welcome to Trike Talk Robert! Hope you get the bugs worked out of your ride!

 

[pwhoever]

Welcome to TrikeTalk. If your going to try and solve the problems, this is probably the best place to find the help.

 

[rocket1lf]

I just had my fan control relays and sensor in the water line go out. It was causing the trike to overheat. I have an 08, so there are three of them under the seat. I believe they were moved into the engine compartment on the newer ones. Try turning on the A/C to see if the fan comes on. One relay goes to the fan, one is from the sensor and the other one is from the A/C. The sensor and the A/C both pick up the fan relay. Also check the fuses. They were aftermarket relays that TMS installed. I had another relay go out a week later that controlled everything and the trike just shut off. It was also an aftermarket relay. All the OEM Ford relays were fine.

See the other threads about the cruise control. There is a self test that you can get online to check the Ford cruise control and it will tell you where to start looking. Rick

 

[OneGreyWolfe]

Thanks for all the welcomes and the ideas on where to start looking for answers.

@Gorilla
The ac switch being on/off doesn't seem to change it much. I'm afraid I didn't describe well. The overheat is controlled by the temp selection. Hotter vent temp, lower motor temp, and the inverse. The ac is clearly working when switch is on and it is set cold, but it seems to read the same on the motor regardless of ac. Unfortunately, the tipping point is at a high enough setting not to notice the difference with the ac on.

Will definitely be digging into those and the relays mentioned by Rick.

@Rick
I checked all the fuses with a multimeter trying to straighten out some lighting issues, and all were intact, but I wasn't looking at the relays. I am new to diagnostics so I guess I will be checking into how to check if a relay is toast.

Again, thank you all for the warm welcome and the pointers toward the resources to get started.

 

[Dragon]

Good morning
I would start with the brake light switch (do you have brake lights) this switch controls cruise also.
for overheating check thermo switch for fan by right rear wheel 1 wire, ground this wire does the fan come on replace switch.
the filter is k@n my filter was damaged just like yours used it for long time (not emergency repair) I finally got a new one made sure the connector was in the center not offset like stock
forgot welcome to our small group
Dragon

=

 

[OneGreyWolfe]

Good morning
I would start with the brake light switch (do you have brake lights) this switch controls cruise also.
for overheating check thermo switch for fan by right rear wheel 1 wire, ground this wire does the fan come on replace switch.
the filter is k@n my filter was damaged just like yours used it for long time (not emergency repair) I finally got a new one made sure the connector was in the center not offset like stock
forgot welcome to our small group
Dragon

=

Im glad that you asked that question, and thought I had updated after determining that we in fact did not have brake lights. I am on a fixed income that doesn't cover much so have had to take it a bite at a time.

I've worked on this in two stages. The blue switch that is pressed by the rod from the brake peddle was replaced a month or 2 ago, and had clearly failed (it was stuck in the position where it is pressed in and not moving when the rod moved off of it) but its replacement didn't give lights or allow it to pass the cc self test.

So I finally got a replacement switch to try in it...found the part number from a part list someone had posted in the stallion trike Facebook group, and to my great surprise (not) it was the same one used in all of the Rangers, and pretty much every ford for that matter. Problem is that when I took the old one off to swap it, the connector is not right. Similar build though.

I was told that the car mechanic that "fixed" it up for them had ended up causing a few new issues, so I'm not sure if the old one is stock and I just got the wrong part (in which case if someone could direct me to the right one I'd appreciate it) or if the guy that "fixed" it rewired it to match something he had on hand and the one I ordered was what it was meant to be and I need to grab a connector from a junkyard. Or if I am an idiot and somehow misunderstood where the brake switch was supposed to be and this is an unrelated part that was attached to the brake booster (I don't think this is the case, but cannot 100% rule it out, worked on computers a lot...vehicles are a new trick)

In the included pictures, the stock photo is the same as the one I bought from autozone, while the one in my hand

is the one that I removed from the trike. Still 5 pins with about the same spacing, but different plug shape.

Asked several folks at multiple part stores if they had a clue where to try and find the replacement of what I pulled off with no luck.

Unfortunately no part numbers or identifiable markings on the old one so kinda stuck.

Had forgotten that reaching out to motorbike was an option so will attempt that during business hours, but thought I'd also reach out to the hivemind and see what yall could tell me.

 

[Dragon]

the switch in your hand is a replacement switch made by tbms. comes with switch and wire harness which you splice into stallion wiring harness. the other switch is a stock switch used on a lot of fords, if you use the stock switch you will have to replace the plug wiring harness with original and splice back into system
Dragon

 

[OneGreyWolfe]

the switch in your hand is a replacement switch made by tbms. comes with switch and wire harness which you splice into stallion wiring harness. the other switch is a stock switch used on a lot of fords, if you use the stock switch you will have to replace the plug wiring harness with original and splice back into system
Dragon

I appreciate the reply. So the stock switch should work if I grab the harness for it from the junkyard? Given that from what i have heard the custom parts are getting harder to come by, it may be better to just rewire it.

I assume it's not far different from house electrical in terms of splice and heatshrink to protect it? New to automotive, but familiar with tech and house electrical so forgive me if it is a dumb question. My understanding would be snip existing 5 wires and rewire them to the new plug wires, add solder and shrink.

Regardless, im going to reach out today to see what tbms/motor trike says and if they can help.

 

[OneGreyWolfe]

To update, I did reach out to MotorTrike. They said they have been out of the part for a while but gave me a number to a mechanic that might have one...and the number they gave has been disconnected, so looks like I'm going to a junkyard and figuring it out!

 

[OneGreyWolfe]

This is a long one, but broken down into sections,

fixed the brake light switch issues.
===
Possible new info for the switch... possibly not, but I didn't see anything like it so sharing what I learned.
===
fixed the overheat issue...kinda... and further diagnosed some things with plans to diagnose further
===
upcoming tasks on my list, any tips, comments, etc appreciated
===
rather rambling note of thanks for this community, assistance given, and repository of info on all things stallion.



I suffer from tremors and have worked on this message forr far later than i should have been asleeep so please forrgive extra letters and typos.

==========================================================================================
final update to the break switch issue. and the overheat as well.

reached out again to MT, this time by email.
they provided the number again (which id miswritten one digit of) but also stated that "if I was handy" i could take it apart and look for corrosion and see what I could do.. I left a message twice with someone at the shop, and got no reply, so decided to go the handyman route. not like it would make things worse...dead is dead an I was about resigned to getting a plug from a junkyard and rigging up a waterproof solution.

so i popped the bolts and had a look and there was plenty of rust and corrossion present. had some sensor cleaner from a vvt replacement on the Cage. I removed each blade from the assembly and applied liberal amounts to each buffing with an old tshirt, realizing halfway through that the music in the garage tasted a bit too purple and moving outside to finish. at the end, I said my appropriate prayers to Murphy that his law may not impact this expiriment, sprayed the casing and wiped it for good measure, and reassembled.

now we have brakelights, cruise control and the park shiftlock works (we have been having to open the hood to release from park...referred to it as the security system. laugh-crys) I wish id openned it earlier, id have realised it was analogue and easily fixed it.

=========================================================================================
additional note, while i had both in front of me i opened the stock style one. while the profile of the plug is far different, the blades seem identical in shape and placement, except for one thing. the pin looks to be too wide for the tbms connector.

As mine didn't end up needing to be replaced this is conjecture, but i believe that if one were to use a grinder, Dremel, etc to shave the pins it would work within the tbms housing. I wish id taken sideby side photos of the casings to show what I mean, but alas I did not.

(crude diagram to follow of what I mean)
had to screenshot as TT stripped my spacing and formatting and i havent the brain cells to figure out how to fix it
again, this is conjecture, as mine was fixed without having to use the new one as a donor but it was clearly mechanical and not digital and to my mind I saw nothing to suggest it wouldn't work well...that said, i have learned more car repair since my partner brought Rose into my life than i was aware existed, so wanted input on if there is anything i'm missing here before I mention that part in the parts and service thread since I didnt actually do it preferring to refund the part since all was working and the new one unused.. that covered the cost of the relays in the update below.

 

[OneGreyWolfe]

====================================================================================

As for overheat. this has clearly been an issue on this stallion before, and as it was sadly part of an inheritance we arent sure exactly what was done by the dad, vs the prior owner. the reason I say clearly an issue before? I was tracing down a toggle switch by the knee above the gas pedal, and found that the switch was to ground and had a wire running along the frame...to be spliced to a wire on a piece of pipe...that I have found through searching the forums to be the radiator's heat sensor, with a common diagnostic being "short that to ground and if fan comes on its likely bad sensor, if not bad relay"


since the reason I was tracing it was it seemed to do nothing, i played relay roulette, sure enough, switch now operates the radiator fan. ac however does not activate it, nor does the temperature valve. that said, it running ac, full cool, with the manual switch on keeps it at between 1/3-1/2 the heat gauge, which is comparable to the best we got while running at full heat. while i wouldn't call it "cool" air, it puts out neutral temp which is a major improvement over the previous and in my mind, is fully acceptable in an open-air vehicle.

thank you to those who gave directions to check!!

=========================================================
In case anyone has suggestions to make life easier or give useful directions to diagnose the issues better before spending money on un-needed parts, the upcoming projects/gremlins to chase as we scrounge dollar bills from couch cushions include:

1. look into dehazing of the windscreen

2. oil change. - maintenance interval is i think 5 k. she has just over 11k and due to the "was inherited" thing...for obvious reasons we arent sure what was done and when and can't just ask the prior owner. as oil is far cheaper than the parts it protects, this makes sense as an early priority.

I believe i saw a couple folks chime in, in favor of mobil1 brand, but misplaced the thread. any recommendation on specific variety and viscosity?

3- trailer wire. all brake/turn lights work...but the left tail light doesnt glow as a running light. right tail works as do all marker lights. as other markers light fine, im assuming its a loose or damaged wire to the tail light assembly rather than in the pigtail.`sidenote, did TBMS basically say "if they might need access, put it in/behind the wheelwell? trike battery, AC charging ports,

(i feel like i forgot one), and now the bolts for the taillight assembly on the trailer. i find it amusing, but since we are both disabled, it makes things interesting at times. already taking several hours for a 30-min process without figuring in wrestling with tires.

4. coolant change ?? -- with it having sat several years, is a coolant change something i should pursue, now that the overheat is resolved? or take a "aint broke, dont fix it" stance. i do know that if I do, to drain and not vacuum flush it, because debris getting stirred up can be BAD

5. AC switch...got a spare relay, so going to see if that resolves it turning on with ac. if not... gotta research the switches i suppose. are we talking about the knobs by the light selector left of the steering that are "fan speed", "Temp" and ??? (Cool on/off i guess is the 3rd??) or is this something that is a switch in the way that the "brake light switch" was, switching the lights, cruise, and shifter lock, but not by manual input from the rider (other than obviously use of brake pedal?

6. temperature fan switch. going to use the spare relay to attempt diag on that too. if it works, i now know i can get them in 2-3 days on amazon i think it was 10 bucks for the relay that TBMS used. if it is the switch itself...probably gonna have to stick with manual toggle for now since the one i saw linked on here are about 100 dollars including shipping to central NC. cheapest shipping option was more than the part.

7. better helmet. currently using a half-helm (not sure the name. more than skull cap, has visor, less than full face helm. fit is a bit tight, as I have a big head, but workable... but helmets are EXPENSIVE. any recommendations for a (preferably) full helm that will do the job, and not require eating instant ramen at every meal for a couple months?

8. I am not sure if they are stock, or something added aftermarket, but there are what appear to be either clear or color-matched sticker/decals that cover the most likely spots to get paint scratched/scuffed/damaged by bugstrikes. nose and rear fenders come to mind offhand, and I think that the running boards had some too. I would like to replace with new ones.

9. any help with matching the paint for touchups? I think Partner wants to repaint it anyway when it and the Harley are mechanically sound, but in the meantime there are a few spots that could use a little TLC.

Thanks again for the advice given and the money saved by learning from the mistakes others made and shared on this forum.

This will definitely be a long project for me as currently my usual descressionnary funds in any given month varies from "crap i gotta borrow grocery money from the roommate til i get paid", to "enough fuel for an occasional joy-ride" and on a good month "fuel for a few joyrides, and i have 30 bucks left, better double check everything got paid before I look at parts..

okay, its real, lets order before Loki, Murphy and other sundry deities decide to prevent it"

I will be sure to keep you all posted as I learn new things. Each thing i have managed by my own labor, while at times frustrating, and at others painful, have had a strong sense of pride to go with the accomplishment.

Sure a mechanic could have probably diagnosed and fixed it in a couple hours and if they guessed right the first time for a couple hundred bucks...and Sure, it took me well over 20 hours to diagnose, research, get, and replace the parts, in several sessions over the course of a couple months, paying the toll in energy and pain... but that few hundred bucks became 30, in parts .. and most importantly a new skill learned, and a sense of pride that cannot be taken from me.

Thank you for empowering me as I find a new hobby/special interest/ obsession in getting her (if slowly) back into shape.

I couldnt have gotten this far without the help from @rocket1lf , @Gorilla , and @Dragon
I also want to say thank you to those from other sides of TT that hopped in to welcome me to the club. It is much appreciated.

My bed is calling so I shall drop in tomorrow. Goodnight from the middle of the pollen storm

 

[rocket1lf]

====================================================================================

As for overheat. this has clearly been an issue on this stallion before, and as it was sadly part of an inheritance we arent sure exactly what was done by the dad, vs the prior owner. the reason I say clearly an issue before? I was tracing down a toggle switch by the knee above the gas pedal, and found that the switch was to ground and had a wire running along the frame...to be spliced to a wire on a piece of pipe...that I have found through searching the forums to be the radiator's heat sensor, with a common diagnostic being "short that to ground and if fan comes on its likely bad sensor, if not bad relay"
since the reason I was tracing it was it seemed to do nothing, i played relay roulette, sure enough, switch now operates the radiator fan. ac however does not activate it, nor does the temperature valve. that said, it running ac, full cool, with the manual switch on keeps it at between 1/3-1/2 the heat gauge, which is comparable to the best we got while running at full heat. while i wouldn't call it "cool" air, it puts out neutral temp which is a major improvement over the previous and in my mind, is fully acceptable in an open-air vehicle.

thank you to those who gave directions to check!!

=========================================================
In case anyone has suggestions to make life easier or give useful directions to diagnose the issues better before spending money on un-needed parts, the upcoming projects/gremlins to chase as we scrounge dollar bills from couch cushions include:

1. look into dehazing of the windscreen
A good plastic polish should take care of this.

2. oil change. - maintenance interval is i think 5 k. she has just over 11k and due to the "was inherited" thing...for obvious reasons
we arent sure what was done and when and can't just ask the prior owner. as oil is far cheaper than the parts it protects, this
makes sense as an early priority.

i believe i saw a couple folks chime in, in favor of mobil1 brand, but misplaced the thread.
any recommendation on specific variety and viscosity?
I change mine every 5,000 miles using Pennzoil full synthetic

.
3- trailer wire. all brake/turn lights work...but the left tail light doesnt glow as a running light. right tail works as do all marker lights.
as other markers light fine, im assuming its a loose or damaged wire to the tail light assembly rather than in the pigtail.`sidenote,
did TBMS basically say "if they might need access, put it in/behind the wheelwell? trike battery, AC charging ports,
(i feel like i forgot one), and now the bolts for the taillight assembly on the trailer. i find it amusing, but since we are both
disabled, it makes things interesting at times. already taking several hours for a 30-min process without figuring in wrestling with
tires.
I would check all the wiring. I have a Bushtec trailer and replaced the plug with one for a Bushtec. Remember, the plate that the radio is mounted in is not grounded, so if you use that, you will have to ground it.

4. coolant change ?? -- with it having sat several years, is a coolant change something i should pursue,
now that the overheat is resolved? or take a "aint broke, dont fix it" stance. i do know that if I do, to drain and not vacuum flush it,
because debris getting stirred up can be BAD
I changed my coolant and hoses at 50,000 miles. There are caps on the left side of the radiator and in the engine compartment by the trans dipstick that get hard and fail. They are two different sizes. Make sure you replace them.

5. AC switch...got a spare relay, so going to see if that resolves it turning on with ac. if not... gotta research the switches i suppose.
are we talking about the knobs by the light selector left of the steering that are "fan speed", "Temp" and
??? (Cool on/off i guess is the 3rd??) It is the one on the right. or is this something that is a switch in the way that the "brake light switch" was,
switching the lights, cruise, and shifter lock, but not by manual input from the rider (other than obviously use of brake pedal?

I don't remember what year you have, but my 2008 has three relays under the seat on the crossbar. They control the radiator fan and A/C. I had all three fail and a week later the relay for the power control module failed and the trike just shut down. Had to have it towed. There were TBS after marker relays. The Ford ones were all still operating. Newer trikes had these moved into the engine compartment.

6. temperature fan switch. going to use the spare relay to attempt diag on that too. if it works, i now know i can get them
in 2-3 days on amazon i think it was 10 bucks for the relay that TBMS used. if it is the switch itself...probably gonna have to stick
with manual toggle for now since the one i saw linked on here are about 100 dollars including shipping to central NC. cheapest
shipping option was more than the part.
See #5.

7. better helmet. currently using a half-helm (not sure the name. more than skull cap, has visor, less than full face helm. fit is a bit
tight, as I have a big head, but workable... but helmets are EXPENSIVE. any recommendations for a (preferably) full helm that will
do the job, and not require eating instant ramen at every meal for a couple months?

I have a Schubert 3/4 that I use. It had Bluetooth built into it. Yes it was expensive, but it is the most comfortable helmet I've ever had. Cycle Gear has some cheaper with Bluetooth. I would go try some on and see what fits you best.

8. I am not sure if they are stock, or something added aftermarket, but there are what appear to be either clear or color-matched
sticker/decals that cover the most likely spots to get paint scratched/scuffed/damaged by bugstrikes. nose and rear fenders
come to mind offhand, and I think that the running boards had some too. I would like to replace with new ones.

Paint does get chipped up in several places. I got a good clear bra installed in all those places after I had it painted.

9. any help with matching the paint for touchups? I think Partner wants to repaint it anyway when it and the Harley are
mechanically sound, but in the meantime there are a few spots that could use a little TLC.

I don't remember who TBMS used for the original paint, but if you go to an automotive paint supply shop they should be able to match it.

Thanks again for the advice given and the money saved by learning from the mistakes others made and shared on this forum.
This will definitely be a long project for me as currently my usual descressionnary funds in any given month varies from
"crap i gotta borrow grocery money from the roommate til i get paid", to
"enough fuel for an occasional joy-ride" and on a good month
"fuel for a few joyrides, and i have 30 bucks left, better double check everything got paid before I look at parts..
okay, its real, lets order before Loki, Murphy and other sundry deities decide to prevent it"

I will be sure to keep you all posted as I learn new things. Each thing i have managed by my own labor, while at times frustrating, and at others painful, have had a strong sense of pride to go with the accomplishment.
Sure a mechanic could have probably diagnosed and fixed it in a couple hours and if they guessed right the first time
for a couple hundred bucks...
and Sure, it took me well over 20 hours to diagnose, research, get, and replace the parts,
in several sessions over the course of a couple months,
paying the toll in energy and pain... but that few hundred bucks became 30, in parts ...
and most importantly a new skill learned, and a sense of pride that cannot be taken from me.

Thank you for empowering me as I find a new hobby/special interest/ obsession in getting her (if slowly) back into shape.
I couldnt have gotten this far without the help from @rocket1lf , @Gorilla , and @Dragon
I also want to say thank you to those from other sides of TT that hopped in to welcome me to the club. It is much appreciated.
My bed is calling so I shall drop in tomorrow. Goodnight from the middle of the pollen storm

Hope this helps a little. Rick

 

[OneGreyWolfe]

Lots of content there that should be helpful. Thanks Rick!!
Definitely will look into the plastic polish. the haze makes riding in the dark interesting with oncoming lights.

I would check all the wiring. I have a Bushtec trailer and replaced the plug with one for a Bushtec. Remember, the plate that the radio is mounted in is not grounded, so if you use that, you will have to ground it.

Was not aware of the radio mount being ungrounded, good info to have. We have the MotorTrike Trailer so all the plugs line up fine and all /seems/ well except the taillight not lit as a running light ...but one never knows what gremlins might be hiding.

I change mine every 5,000 miles using Pennzoil full synthetic

Sounds good. oil is far less expensive than the components it protects.

I changed my coolant and hoses at 50,000 miles. There are caps on the left side of the radiator and in the engine compartment by the trans dipstick that get hard and fail. They are two different sizes. Make sure you replace them.

Definitely will check on the caps you mentioned. we arent even close on milage. she is only around 12k i think.

I don't remember what year you have, but my 2008 has three relays under the seat on the crossbar. They control the radiator fan and A/C. I had all three fail and a week later the relay for the power control module failed and the trike just shut down. Had to have it towed. There were TBS after marker relays. The Ford ones were all still operating. Newer trikes had these moved into the engine compartment.

She is a 2013, they are under the hood and I found a diagram in a thread on here that helped to locate which was which.

I have a Schubert 3/4 that I use. It had Bluetooth built into it. Yes it was expensive, but it is the most comfortable helmet I've ever had. Cycle Gear has some cheaper with Bluetooth. I would go try some on and see what fits you best.

I am less concerned with connectivity, than I am with fit and price, as we have a pair of Fodsports M1-S that will easily move to whatever we get next.

Paint does get chipped up in several places. I got a good clear bra installed in all those places after I had it painted.

I'm wondering if the stickers/decals I'm referring to are a clear bra like you mentioned

Will definitely look into a paint shop for matching and getting some to use for touchups.

Thanks again for the help!