| Author | Message | ||
     Davo |
I was backing out of my garage with the bars hard to the left and when the front wheel of the bike bumped 2" down off of the concrete slab the dash went dark and the engine quit. The 15 amp ignition switch fuse blew. (the most forward fuse on the right) The extra/spare fuse in the box was a 10 amp. After temporarily replacing it with the 10 amp fuse the bike started. I did everything I could to get it to blow again with the 10 amp. I removed the dash and wiggled every wire and you guessed it....nothing. Well I recommend keeping a couple of extra mini 15 amp fuses until I/we find the short. | ||
| Spoof |
There is a spare 15 amp as well as a spare 10 amp fuse in the box, I believe. I have had the same issue, recurring now over the course of the last 3500 miles. The shop has been unable to reproduce the problem and unable to find a short. All my components test good. I'm pretty convinced it's in the harness where it runs between the steering head and the forks--but I'm going to give the shop one more shot at it with my warranty in mind before I start digging through the entirety of my ignition circuit. Let me tell it sucks when you are in the middle of passing someone on a two-lane road--almost as much as it sucks when you're cranked over in the middle of a downhill, off-camber, decreasing radius turn. Fortunately, the guys at my local shop are awesome and really want to find the problem--but let's you and I keep in touch and if one of us isolates the source, or potential source of this ignition pop (even though they may be different), we'll tell the other, eh? Sorry to here it. | ||
| Davo |
Thanks for the feed back Spoof. If there is a problem it will find me first than I turn around and find it! You really got to love this Uly!! | ||
| Davo |
Spoof, When your bike cut off on the go did you blow the ignition fuse or did it just cut off with the dash lights still burning? | ||
| Spoof |
The dash lights go out every time my fuse blows. | ||
| Davo |
Thanks Spoof, I think we have had the same problem. I will let you know if I find the fault. | ||
| Davo |
It happened again 50 miles from home in a pouring rain. New fuse in a Starbucks parking lot and I made it home. Needless to say I was a little under the weather about the incident. I will find it tonight.......I hope. Maybe EB & Co. will hire us for R&D or at least give us a refund for fixing it ourselves. Maybe some chrome points? Just kidding! I keep reminding myself patience is a virtue! | ||
| Royintulsa |
I had a small problem with the wiring harness. It was replaced under warranty. I never blew a fuse - I had a short that affected the right blinker display. It did not affect anything else. | ||
| Smcnamara |
Roy, I'm having the exact same problem, but can't seem to get the dealer to actually believe there is a problem since it's intermittent. Was your problem easy to re-create? Mine comes and goes, usually after a good turn of the handlebars... | ||
| Royintulsa |
It did it almost every ride. But, once they got into the wiring harness, evidently there was enough damage from overheating it was obvious. No problems since the wiring harness was replaced. My dealer is Route 66 Buell Harley-Davidson in Tulsa. I am sure the service manager would not mind pulling the ticket to tell you exactly what they found. | ||
| Davo |
I got my wiring harness apart at the neck. It looks worn but not obvious yet. There are several points that are very vulnerable. There might be an "arc" mark on the neck but as I said there is no obvious short as expected. The harness was reinforced but in the wrong places. Maybe the wires act as the steering lock?? | ||
| Davo |
Unable to verify short @ 1. Ignition switch cover 2. Neck and behind face plate 3. Wires going into voltage regulator Basically everything in front of the engine appears to be clear of faults. I re-wrapped the harness with friction tape and electrical tape and new wire ties. I will test ride tomorrow. (in the right lane of course) I did find several areas where premature wear could have been an issue very soon (3700mi.). The friction tape had worn through and the plastic wire harness holder on the neck has a very sharp edge on the rear edge. here is also an area where the harness is strapped to the ignition switch that appears to be a vulnerable point. The factory has taped a plastic wire cover in that area to reduce wear. | ||
| Davo |
Test ride went well but I am afraid to leave town in the left lane. I called HD and a new wiring harness is $331.00! I found out what the "adventure" thing is all about. I might have to go with a loud exhaust so I can tell when the engine quits or maybe a "the engine is on" light would be a good modification. I need a break through..........I know, patience. | ||
| Lorazepam |
wouldnt that be a warranty item? | ||
| Chadhargis |
$331 is damn cheap, but given you don't have to pay for it due to your two year warranty, it's really cheap!  | ||
| Davo |
It is more than a bike payment and I have to pay for it if I want to install it. If I can't fix it I won't ride it. The dealer is an hour away and they had their opportunity to get it right before I bought it. I will just have to leave town on the dresser until I find the fault. Will leave the town adventure bike in the stable. | ||
| Davo |
Spoof, How many times have you shorted in 3500 mi.? It appears to me that it might be a conditional short but the times it happened to me I was barely moving once in the rain with the engine hot and fan on and the other time dry and engine cold. I have checked and moved almost everything. I have not gone under the airbox yet and all of those wires come from the hot side of the ignition switch. I am puzzled and loosing confidence. | ||
| Spoof |
About 9 or 10 times now. I've had the shop go through it once. It does not appear to be related to moisture or how hot the bike is running. It has usually happened in spurts though. All is fine for a few weeks and then, it will blow 3 times in a days ride. The only thing it seems maybe related to is moving around the harness as it passes past the triple tree. The other suspicious moment came when it shorted just after a good bump, but then two weeks ago I was catching air, if only a little, over steep cattleguards on a rugged road and the bike was perfect. | ||
| Davo |
Thanks for the info! I checked the triple tree area closely and de-burred the plastic retainer on the neck. I re-taped it well. I wonder if it is something floating around in the ignition switch cylinder. That might explain the occurrences in spurts. I feel sure I would have found a wire short if there was one behind the face plate. I removed the headlight assembly and checked every wire many times with a flashlight and a magnifying glass. | ||
| Davo |
After thinking about the problem some more it is highly unusual that after a blown fuse the short always corrects itself. A worn wire will get more worn and create a dead short sooner or later. Since the problem is so intermittent I think we should start looking at load areas and even consider the ignition relay. The relay is a mechanical device with a external ground. | ||
| Opto |
Davo, The ignition fuse also supplies power to the front and rear injectors, the ignition coil and the fuel pump, perhaps you could search these areas as any short here will blow that fuse. I have heard on this site of a wiring harness being replaced after many inspections and weeks later etc and they finally found a short near the fuel pump, when replacing the entire harness. I would check the wiring right at the fuel pump first (now that you've checked all the other areas around the steering head etc). | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Why are you screwing around with it if the bike is under warrantee? That aside, here is my favorite trick for finding an intermittent short: Keep a blown fuse and solder an old headlight bulb to the back of the fuse with a good amount of wire. You will have to cut away some plastic on the fuse body to do this. With the headlight plugged into the circuit instead of the fuse, wiggle the wires until it lights up. Your circuit may draw too much current for this method to work but you never know. | ||
| Davo |
Opto, Thanks for the lead on the areas to check. I will concentrate on those areas tonight! Natexlh1000, Most people say that I am hard headed about my wrenching. It is my opinion that a limited warranty is a weak substitute for a guarantee of satisfaction. Why would someone want to bring something back to the same folks that created the problem? A real warranty may not compensate ANYONE that fixes THEIR mistake but it would at least replace defective parts free of charge regardless of who installs them! | ||
| Davo |
I checked all of the areas under the air box. I was unable to detect the fault and the arrangement of the wires has not boosted my confidence. O2 wire was rubbing the rocker cover enough to mark the cover. The engine temp wire is also very close to rubbing. There was no extra covering on either wire to protect from vibration or heat. The good part is that VDSTS will diagnose a short or open on either wire. Don't leave home w/o laptop, fuses and electrical tape. A 27 torx, found in the tool bag, will get you in. (Message edited by davo on May 05, 2006) | ||
| 2_spuds |
Davo, I haven't had any problems with blown fuses but in the course of doing routine maintenance I found that my seat pan was contacting the plugs on the ec module and both battery terminals,which eventually could cause problems. I had a problem on another bike blowing fuses that turned out to be a poor connection on the fuse itself in the fuse block. Electrical problems can be a real PITA! It is a great bike,once you get yours sorted out I think you will love it. Good Luck.  | ||
| Davo |
2 spuds, Thanks for the heads up. I suspected the fuse box as well. The second fuse was not a dead short burn through. It looks like it was overloaded. That fuse has a lot riding on it, including me. | ||
| Davo |
Spoof, Let me know if your blown fuses are "smoked"/dark inside or are do they have a light dark color where they slowly burned through. Normally a dead short will "smoke" up the fuse pretty good. FYI I looked at the fuel pump area and no found fault. I ran a fuel pump check on the VDSTS and it passed ok. No faults found under the airbox and this a.m. I looked at the area behind the sprocket cover. It is hard for me to believe that I can not recreate the fault in the shop. I got to be looking the problem in the eye but I have not found it yet. |
