| Author | Message | ||
     Dtech |
So my 2005 lighting XB12Scg has been giving me electrical problems since I bought the bike (plenty of posts here looking for help). So I finally brought it to a dealer and after 90 minutes they called and said they give up and I have problems they cannot find. The reasoning is that the nose & tail of my bike were swapped out for a Firebolt and there are wiring things they cannot trace out. (without a bill that would border on absurd) A comment in jest was made that I should buy a new Firebolt harness and rewrite the bike. I have looked this thing over very well and I only see a couple of splice points in the nose and they look clean. So, should I? If so, should I get a Firebolt harness or a Lightning harness? Or should I just tear this one apart and go over it in detail to try & find problems? I have a service manual for a Firebolt and suppose I should get one for a Lightning too? Does anyone have one? Any advice would be good before I choose a path to travel? Anyone near NJ wanna help? | ||
| Greg_e |
There are a lot of splices in the factory harness, and all those are soldered. When I start having those problems the entire harness will get unwrapped and I'll start at all those splices. The fact that you have a non-standard harness does make it harder, if you can get the correct harness for a Firebolt, that might help. You'll need 04 or newer and probably up to 06 or 07 to be safe. | ||
| Dtech |
It looks like the original Lighting harness is still there. It looks like whoever did the work just moved things around to fit the Firebolt nose & tail. I suppose I can start by tearing what I have apart & if I really get lost or messy I should grab a new one?? I am guessing that once they see a modification and run into a problem they cease to become free thinkers and liability scares them of owning a problem. I understand it, it just sucks. | ||
| Greg_e |
They get paid by the job, so running into something non-stock means they make no money while they try to learn what has been done. | ||
| Wolfo68 |
there's a lightning harness on ebay if you want one. I'd honestly stick with the lightning harness over the bolt. much easier to swap with. | ||
| Mmcn49 |
Replacing the harness will be time consuming and a real pain. Unwrapping the harness and inspecting it will take time but IMO, unless your harness is totally butchered, is the way to go. You’ll need to cut out any suspect or chaffed wire sections and replace with new wire. 18 AWG should be adequate and tinned wire is preferable to plain copper. Do not twist wire ends together. Always use Butt Connectors. http://www.amazon.com/Non-Insulated-Butt-Connector s-22-18-gauge/dp/B000W20ZVA Crimp the Butt Connectors in place and SOLDER. I recommend using 62% Tin, 36% Lead and 2% Silver Electrical Solder, (use only a rosin or resin core solder). Do not use plumbing solder. This alloy has a fairly low melting temp, is stronger than straight Tin & Lead and the Silver provides some corrosion protection. You can purchase a small roll from Radio Shack. The Butt Connectors have to be insulated. You have two options. Electrical tape, (poor choice) or heat shrink tubing, (superior choice). Radio Shack and Home Depot both sell heat shrink. | ||
| Greg_e |
Most of the factory splices are inside the plastic cover that runs on the inside of the frame (R bikes). | ||
| Dtech |
Thank you. Everything I can see looks good, nothing hacked. I'm blowing the fan fuse, my speedo is dropping to 0 at high rpms, my key switch relay likes to burn up & it sputters like mad in the rain. I think I will just tear apart the original harness methodically until I find anything that looks wrong and try and fix it. I suppose I can figure this out when I get a Lightning service manual, however does anyone know if the wiring schematic diagram is that much different between the bikes? Could a spark plug wire arc bad enough into something to cause some of these issues? Maybe I'm reaching? | ||
| Wolfo68 |
Dtech, send me a pm with your email and I'll get you the manuals | ||
| Greg_e |
Fan may be dead resulting in blown fuse. Speedo may be a defective speed sensor, try removing it and seeing if there are a bunch of metal shavings stuck to it, clean and try again. If still no good replace the sensor after checking wires for shorts and continuity. Key switch relay has a lot of current on it, simply bending the terminals back in place probably isn't giving it a good contact and it keeps heating. Sputtering in the rain could be a lot of different things, but obviously water is getting in somewhere. You might be able to get an idea of where with a hose by spraying different areas until the problem starts. (Message edited by Greg_E on August 17, 2012) | ||
| Dtech |
OK, I ran the fan straight off the battery ( fused ) to a switch and I will run it to see what happens. It does sound like its going and may have been blowing the fuse on the low speed when it hit its dead spot as there would be more resistance then running at full tilt right off the battery. Has anyone taken the fan out without removing the rear shock? It looks like it could come out if I pull the rear brake line. I pulled the speed sensor and only saw a small amount of silver dust, cleaned it and will see what happens. For $50 it might be worth a swap to see. I pulled the ignition switch to see if I could get in there to clean it but it didn't look like it wants to be taken apart, didn't risk it so I just shot it up with tuner cleaner. Let's see where this leads me. Thank you for all your help. I would like to think this is a bunch of small coincidences. | ||
| Hogs |
Dtcch, I was just wondering I Have a Problem as well with my fan, Can you get at the fan plug and put power straight to the fan to test it , to see if its the fan or something else that is causing the fan NOT to come on? Thanks | ||
| Greg_e |
Someone else did a test with there fan, it would work when battery voltage is applied, but blow the fuse as soon as the ECM tries to turn it on. I think they then did a power consumption test with a new fan and found a large difference in the amount of power required for the old fan. Might be worth a search to find that thread and read it first hand. In short both of you are probably looking for a new fan. | ||
| Dtech |
Yes, you can run the fan straight off the battery (I put a fuse in mine with a switch until I get a new fan). That's what I did to test that the fan was still running. I disconnected the fan so now my engine light is lit. When I turn the fan I get resistance in two places & it makes a chatter when it's running so I'm almost positive it's on its way out. FYI on the speed sensor, cleaning it didn't work so I guess I'll order a new one, if that doesn't work then I know I either have a short or a bad instrument cluster? | ||
| Hogs |
So....Did ya hook it up direct from the fan,If so were you able to get at the plug, or had to remove crap to do that etc.? OR did ya by pass the fan plug and hook power to it else where... Thanks | ||
| Dtech |
I spent way to much of my day maneuvering the fan (after unbolting it) out of its cubby and below the shock to get access to cut the wire tie that holds the fan wire & plug so I could pull the wire out and work on it (right side of the bike). I then used t- taps (I know they suck but I plan on replacing the fan soon enough) into the fan leads and ran the ground to the battery and the hot through a switch and a 10a inline fuse to the battery. I have now effectively removed the fan from the bike so I can test things while still being able to ride and turn the fan on when I need it, for now. Does this make sense? | ||
| Rays |
Dtech, the ignition switch can be pulled apart and cleaned with a little bit of care. There are two plastic tabs that need to be released to pull the contacts apart. This link might be of use to you. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/466128.html?1245416650 When you say the Keyswitch relay 'burns up', what do you mean by that? If you are referring to the sockets the relay is plugged into overheating then the relay/fuse panel might need to be disassembled to clean=up / replace the relay sockets? As already mentioned, there is a fair amount of current involved here so a dodgy socket will overheat quite readily. | ||
| Dtech |
The first time the relay fried I got to work, turned off the bike, got out of work and went to start it and it was gone. No idea why or how. This was, what appeared to be, an original relay. The next time it burned up I was riding the bike around town (after a light rain) and after making a left turn near my place the bike just died. The third time I pulled off the road to let a massive thunderstorm roll over (I was dry but the bike took a hit). After it passed I took off, drive for less then a mile and it died again. Now the day prior to this I rode home in a massive rainstorm for over an hour, bike stalled out several times and ran like crap but finally got me home. I didn't burn up anything. The fourth time was after I was having problems with the yellow start switch, it was fouled and I hot wired the circuit to start the bike to get me home; again after about two miles away the bike died again. After each of these times I simply replaced the relay and continued on my way. All of the relays have an actual burn mark on it, on the narrow side where the blade runs parallel with it. As you can see i'm not finding a pattern here or anything consistent to help guide me. At least with this issue. Two times the bike was wet and the other times it wasn't at all. Could it be the socket (which is part of the fuse block) I don't know, nothing has stood out, however in never looked very closely. I will this weekend. FYI the speedometer is now off more then it is on. I might look for a new sensor tomorrow. Unless it's a grounding issue?? Oh, and now a light in the instrument cluster went out. Thank you again for the help & that link, I might tear into it, why not. | ||
| Greg_e |
Have you measured the voltage at the battery when the engine is running? Just wondering if there might be an issue there. | ||
| Skully |
Are the battery connections tight? | ||
| Dtech |
Battery connections are tight, had it load tested and it was good. Voltage when running is 14.something. I replaced my original voltage regulator with a used one after the last relay fried. Who has decent pricing on parts like the fan and speed sensor? I also need some misc bolts n washers and would prefer not to go to five different sites. I tried Surdyke but they don't have everything. And, I'm sorry but American Sportsbikes site is a nightmare to navigate through. Twin motorcycles is nice but a bit pricey given the exchange rate and shipping. They do have some great little parts. Thanks! | ||
| Dtech |
So after hooking up the fan this way it has progressed to blowing fuses like crazy. So clearly it's the fan. Now lets go after the speed sensor. | ||
| Dtech |
Follow up: So I got the new fan & installed it this weekend. I didn't do the speed sensor as I was waiting to see how the fan went. Well, the fan is great now. BUT the speedometer is now working fine. Why? How could they possibly be related? There is clearly a relationship here in my symptoms. Can anyone confirm this relationship or shall I chalk this up to yet even more electrical gremlins? |
