| Author | Message | ||
     98s3t |
Recently acquired a '98 S1W that had been sitting for a year or so. Took it to get a solid once-over at a local shop I trust. They did fluids, carb service/jetting (hooked to a dyno to dial it in), new o-ring for clutch cable, new fork seals, etc. When I dropped it off, all signals, brake lights, dash lights, etc., were operational. Upon getting it home when complete, noticed that all turn signals, all brake lights, speedo light and horn were out. Tach light and headlight work fine. Hadn't used indicators b/c the little thumb lever is busted off, so I'm hand signals only at the moment. Anyhow. Found a blown "Accessories" fuse (#4) fuse and swapped it. It blew again instantly as I turned the key to the "On" position. I could hear an audible click coming from the rear of the bike (near the fuse box?) when I turned the key. I'll be taking the bike back to have the shop retrace what they did, but in the interim was hoping for some guidance from y'all on what may've introduced the issue (if it's even feasible to guess) -- both for my own learning and so I can have a few ideas when I go back in. Is it potentially a short? Is it grounding out? Wire touching something it shouldn't be? Bad relay? Electrical stuff is admittedly not my strong suit so any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. (Message edited by 98s3t on October 18, 2012) | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Something is grounding out and blowing the fuse. | ||
| Coxster |
you say clicking - any chance it was more of a low buzz?? this usually means not enough voltage to pull in a relay, which only proves Ft_bstrd is on the right track. Good luck | ||
| Buellistic |
How did you ride it home from the from the local shop or did they quickly load it up for you before you could do your OWN ROAD TEST ??? | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
If the turn signal switch is smashed, perhaps the "hot" lead is touching the handlebar? | ||
| Akbuell |
I like Nates suggestion; really good place to start. IF you bike is anything like my X-1, a quick and easy check: unplug the speed sensor, put in a new fuse, and see if it blows. If it doesn't, plug the speed sensor in and try again. If the fuse then does blow, the speed sensor has shorted internally. Hope this helps, Dave | ||
| 98s3t |
Thanks, all. Oddly, it seems to have cleared itself up, at least for now. As a test, the shop put in a 30-amp fuse yesterday and everything started working normally. I had no desire to melt all my wires, to I swapped it back to a 15, which held steady for a 100-mile ride today. I'm going to do some more diagnosing to try and find root-cause of any mischief. I"m wondering if the shop originally shook something up when they did fork seals, given there's a bunch of wiring back there. My guess is that the issue will come back at some point, so all the ideas y'all provided are much appreciated. | ||
| Two_seasons |
Does sound like a pinched wire grounding out somewhere. Probably corrosion too at the fuse box. Draw a map of all fuse locations, including the empties, then take them all out and clean up the fuse and relays connectors. Also clean the fuses and relays themselves. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
My favorite trick for finding an intermittent fuse blowing situation: Get a blown fuse (you have a few of those, right?) connect a headlight bulb to the blown fuse and install it in the offending fuse location. Wiggle wires until your fuse lights up. Now this isn't going to work if the circuit goes to another headlight or something that takes a good amount of current. You may have to unplug the headlight temporarily to find your fusekiller. | ||
| Psykick_machanik |
THEY PUT IN A 30AMP FUSE!!!!!!!!!!!! Run dont walk from that shop. That was a REALLY dumb move. That could have possibly fried much more important and expensive things down stream and that shows to me that they either 1. dont know, or 2. dont care, either way do NOT go back to them. You most likely have an intermittent "short" to ground, a power wire going to ground blowing the fuse so i would start by tracing the power wires. Do you have a damaged turn signal assembly? if so i would start there. Look for any sign of burnt or scorched marks and any bare spots in a wire. Closely inspect everything that shop touched. Good luck. (still shaking my head at 30amp fuse) | ||
| Coxster |
I'm with Psykick on this one - NOT the way you want to avoid a problem, by creating a bigger one. A 30A fuse typically requires 10 ga wire | ||
| 98s3t |
In fairness, they told me that they'd put the 30 in there and said of course not not to run it that way...was the only one they had on hand at the moment and was a quick test. Pulled it, rode home, and threw in a 15. @Nate - Cool idea. I'll give it a whirl. @Psykick - I bet I do have a damaged turn signal assembly since the little selector got mashed and broken off when I picked up the rig (it's got clip-ons; noob user error with the Canyon Dancers). Will pop the case and see what I can find. Also found a "period-correct" left-side control unit on eBay that I've considered picking up. | ||
| Psykick_machanik |
FYI it only takes a fraction of a second to fry something important, sounds like nothing did fry. you got lucky. what got me was they thought it was ok when they should have known better, i question their experience level which is why id think twice before going back to that shop. I took a part from the doctors Hippocratic oath "first do no harm", so stuff like that gets me worked up. Ill stop lecturing now, thanks for letting me vent. | ||
| 98s3t |
Figured since you guys gave generously of your knowledge, I'd at least report back, as I think I finally chased my gremlin to resolution after several more intermittent recurrences. Long story short, I found a wee spot deep behind the dashboard where the metallic trip odometer cable (which was just hanging behind the metal plate -- PO had disconnected for some reason) had rubbed through the casing of the main left-hand switchgear wiring. The reset knob was still on the trip odo cable, which added weight, and it was routed oddly. Seems the issue would go away then the cables would touch in the right spot again periodically and send that fuse to hell. All is now taped up and holding steady. My challenge will be finding the retaining nut that'll hold that trip odo cable dial in place correctly so I can actually use it...but that's a topic for another thread. Anyhow, thanks again for the guidance and suggestions. | ||
| Two_seasons |
here is the link from another thread...http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/476 23/696781.html?1353134055 Take Al Lighton up on his offer...American Sport Bike | ||
| Buellistic |
If you take the time to go over the wiring on your bike and tie wrap the wiring so it does not do the WIGGLE TEST while ridding or touches anything that rubs holes in your wiring INSULATION and electrical grease on your plug in connections "YOU WILL NOT HAVE THESE MYSTERY ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS" !!! | ||
| Midnight_rider |
AMEN on the tie wraps!!!! learned the hard way on the rubbing holes.. | ||
| Hootowl |
Does the 98 use a speed sensor, or does it have a speedometer cable? If it's a sensor, +1 on Akbuell's suggestion to unplug it. I've been bit by that before, same symptoms. | ||
| Ducxl |
and speaking of tie wraps.i like the re-useable rubber ones.I've caused a couple wiring harness' to FRY in my day.Last one was a sidestand switch harness.Over $750. in the end of that one. Be careful | ||
| Buellistic |
The tie wraps are to just hold the wires still, not crush the installation !!! | ||
| Ratbuell |
S1W has a mechanical speedometer. | ||
| Buellistic |
After reading the TROUBLE that SPEEDO SENSOR causes like the SIDE STAND SWITCH early on ... Well "i" put TOGGLE SWITCH on my SIDE STAND SWITCH so if the engine acted up "i" would just flip the switch for a quick check ... This could be done on the SPEEDO SENSOR for a quick check also ... You can also put TOGGLE SWITCH's on you lights so if you battery gets weak and will not start your bike, well with the LIGHTS off it usually will ... Ever notice that when you have your car lights on and you start your car the lights go out, well they do not on your bike which means you are starting your bike with the lights on which is a big power drain on your small battery ... And all it takes is a RELAY to correct this ENGINEER FORGOT TO DESIGN ONE IN THE STARTER CIRCUIT ... |
