| Author | Message | ||
     Rwven |
It was good to get back in the saddle of my '08 XT after it had spent two weeks at Frederick Buell not getting repaired. My problem is I can't shake the nagging feeling that it's going to fault on me again in the left lane during rush hour like it did before I took it in to have it not repaired. I think I am going to have to cut open the wiring harness and scope it out myself, screw the warranty. If worse comes to worse I can get a new main harness online from the dealer that is not to be mentioned for $294.00, which is just a few dollars more than I paid Frederick Buell to not repair my electrical system. There is no motorcycle I'd rather ride than my Uly, but I can't deal with the uncertainty of whether or not the electrical system will short out again. | ||
| Ulyscol |
For a little piece of mind before you spend $294.00 why don't you try doing a little trouble shooting yourself. Get a cheap multimeter and ring continuity pin to pin on the harness in question. While doing this have someone bend and flex all points of the harness to try and cause a short. Molex and Deutch connectors can be troublesome at times. | ||
| Skinstains |
+1 | ||
| Rwven |
Problem is, I saw the ground wire to the fuel pump glowing red. I manipulated the harness making the problem go away. I already have all the evidence I need that the fault is in the harness. The dealer found no fault but I don't believe the harness was opened up. At first I thought it was, but on re-examination I saw that all the "Made in Mexico" wrap around labels are still intact. | ||
| Thunderbox |
Why did you have to pay anything if it is a 08 model???????????? | ||
| Rwven |
I made the mistake of bypassing the burned connector so I could ride the bike home....so I got hosed.... | ||
| Jlnance |
Before you do that, you might want to talk to a different dealer. I think you can get this covered under warranty. You're in Maryland, so you've got Liberty to the north and Ray Price to the south. Both have employees who hang out on this board. It's worth a phone call. | ||
| Khelton |
Someone is BS'ing you...did they even tell you why the connector was glowing red ? | ||
| Rwven |
They didn't see it do it so it didn't happen. Even the fuel pump ground wire burned bare didn't convince them. There was a note on the repair order that a bad ground was suspected, though no bad ground was identified. | ||
| Ironhead1977 |
Rwven, you seem to be mechanically competent. I believe I would go with your idea to replace the harness yourself. That way the job is done to your standards and you do not have to wait. | ||
| Rwven |
Or just open up the harness, identify the fault and repair it. I've been pouring over the wiring diagram trying to determine how enough current could be on that wire to fry it. The largest fuse is 30 amps but that only feeds the other fuses in the fuse box via a relay controlled by the ignition switch. The starting solenoid circuit is fused at 15 amps. The fault that caused the wire to glow only occurred when the starter was engaged. 15 amps, or 30 amps for that matter, should not cause a 16 gauge wire to glow red immediately upon being energized. It's very puzzling... | ||
| David_e |
I had a situation with my wiring harness. I had a short some place but couldn't find it. The bike would just cut out (no power) intermitantly. I had the dealer look at it 4 or 5 times and they found nothing. While getting ready for a trip I was making one last check of the bike and found frayed wires under the seat where the harness passes the frame going to the rear lighting on the left side. Funny how these dealers seem to find problems on harleys but can't find anything wrong on Buell. | ||
| Jaybirdxb12x |
Sorry to hear about your problem it is even more disheartened to hear about how the dealer treated you. I love my uly but have trouble recommending a Buell to some one because of the stores poor service, the second class treatment from dealers, and dealer’s inability to get the bikes running properly. It seems like the dealer should at least try to in stall a new harness. I guess HD or Fredrick haven’t herd the one about the customer always being right | ||
| Rwven |
I've developed a theory of sorts. The main grounding jumper to the frame is a short cable running from the battery to a screw on the seat sub-frame beside the fusebox. The electrical system grounds conductor is on the same screw. If the screw where to lose some conductivity with the frame current from the starter motor (which grounds to the engine and then to the frame through a jumper across the upper engine mount) would follow a path from the fuel pump (which is grounded to the frame),up the ground wire from the fuel pump and back to the battery. This is the only path I can determine for the amount of current needed to make that wire become as hot as it did as quickly as it did. This doesn't answer every symptom I experienced on the bike but it may cover the underlying cause. I'm still investigating. (edit) Any discontinuity between the starter motor, the main frame and the seat subframe could lead to this scenario, it need not be at the screw where the battery ground wire lands. (Message edited by rwven on October 29, 2008) (Message edited by rwven on October 29, 2008) | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
You know the only "solution" here is to ride the snot out of it. Perhaps it was fixed for real when they replaced the harness. Perhaps they didn't do anything of value by replacing the harness. Ride it. Make it fail. For the love of god don't modify the electrical system until you know for sure what the cause is!  | ||
| Rwven |
I hear you Nate, that's what I have been doing. They didn't replace the harness, that's why I have lost confidence. I was charged $280.00 to replace one four conductor Molex (or whatever they are called) connector that goes to the fuel pump. When it failed the bike died cold in the middle of rush hour traffic. The chances of that happening again are low but I still envision riding two up with my wife down the center lane of I-95 in heavy traffic and having it fail then. I've just got to stop dwelling on it. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Ron - PM sent |
