| Author | Message | ||
     Ratman |
I posted a few days back about the trip meter & clock resetting when it sits for a few days. Heres the latest...today I washed the old girl. Im starin down at the dash turning the bars to wash around the steering head and I see the tach and speedo needles sweep across the faces. This with no key in or on and switch off also. Funny I think to myself, finish the job,dry her and go to take off on a ride and no I have no blinkers. Rode it about 40 miles,runs great but no blinkers and cleared the clock yet again. Where the hell do I start  ? | ||
| Djohnk |
I'm thinking you have a ignition switch that's starting to go bad ... there are a lot of little contacts in there. Try wiggling the ignition switch with the key in it to see if you get some of the same goofy things happening. That's how I figured out my switch was going bad on my '07 Uly. I took mine apart and inspected it ... I found it had actually melted in some spots, possibly due to heat from bad electrical contact. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
You have wires that rubbed through near the steering head. I wouldn't have left the driveway if it was behaving like that. | ||
| Ratman |
Heres an update. Ive inspected and wiggled all the wires running thru the head and found no visible wear thru of insulation. I understand this means nothing as far as internal breaks, and that inspection comes next. Ive took off the front headlight panel and checked the wires. Unplugged all the connectors and blew out some moisture from a couple from the wash job. I also did the same under the seat and pulled all the blinker lens'es off and blew out and checked the connections which looked like new still. Checked grounds under the steering head and they look good. Here's the weird part, Key off and turn either the left or right blinker on, then turn on the key and which ever side blinker I turned on will light up front and back but not flash. If you try to light up the other side by switching it on they dont come on unless you turn off the key,turn on that blinker and then turn the key on and they light up but dont blink. Theres three wires going to the blinker relay, the orange/white is hot when the key is on, the purple hot when either side blinker is on and the brown is dead assuming its a ground. Im starting to think its the flasher unit gone south?? for starters anyhow. | ||
| Murf2 |
Mine did the same thing, mostly. It was a broken wire at the steering head. Right where that plastic guard used to be. I found it by pulling the wires one at a time and watching the needles. There was no damage to the insulation. Impossible to find without tugging on the wires. Don't put the plastic guard back & fix the ground on the steering head while your in there. Good Luck! Murf | ||
| Ratman |
Murf,is there enough slack in the wires to manipulate them around and repair when you find one broke, or does it require major tear down of things? | ||
| Reepicheep |
Ditto. My wire broke internally, it didn't wear through. It didn't take long to find once I had that wire bundle apart. | ||
| Rays |
This link goes back a few years but it sounds like you might have the splice issue if you can induce the instrument sweep by moving the handlebars. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/446370.html?1237983773 This picture shows the 'temporary repair' I did some years ago and the blinker wire splice in its original form above it. You can just see the hot-glue at the top of that splice and that holds the wires very firmly together so the internal break hides quite nicely. When I repaired the blinker splice sometime after this photo was taken I moved the triple join up towards the instruments by and inch or so to take it away from the flex area and move the lower single wire join 3 or 4 inches back along the loom to remove that from the flex area. If you do need to repair the power splice I would consider doing that to remove the weak point.  As mentioned there is another splice in the same location that is related to the blinkers but your blinker problem isn't one I have come across. It does sound like the relay itself - the power for the relay comes via a second set of contacts in the ignition switch and I have had to clean that at one point because of loss of blinkers but if you have a full +12v at the relay then it doesn't sound like the ignition switch. The same set of contacts provides power for the tail light so that would be a quick way of checking that second set of contacts is OK. There is some information on measuring the contacts on this link: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/466128.html?1245416650 As an example of what you might have with the instrument sweeping issue - here is a photo of the blinker splice that looks fully intact externally:  However, once the glue-lined heatshrink is cut off it shows the real situation:  | ||
| Murf2 |
Yes I had enough wire to fix it in place. | ||
| Ratman |
Thank You all for the replies and information. Pics and details by those who have actually had the same issues, that's what makes this place great. Gonna start in on it tomorrow and see what I find out  | ||
| Ratman |
Well I tore into the harness this am. Wow is all I can think of. Glued wires indeed. I soldered the both glue splices and triple shrink wrapped them. I also found a small tan wire broken internally, so that got the same treatment. Did up everything real nice and tidy and still no blinkers. Went to A'zone and for $12 bought a new electronic unit,problem solved. Hard to believe the O/E splices even work. The single wire in the bundle appears to be cut clean off with dykes,the other ends stripped back a little and they did not appear overlapped,just touching end to end glued and shrinked wrapped. The O/E shrink wrap is so stiff it never flexed on my bike so I dont believe it worked lose,just poorly done. Anyhow, were back in business and better than before  Thanks everyone for the help. |
