Posted by Wrench on August 16, 2008, 10:41 pm
Belly up to the bar, guys, and let me buy a round while I tell my
tale.
I recently built a custom around an 80" evo. The day I took all my
info to the BMV to get the title paperwork started I took the bike to
fill the tank for the first time.
I pulled out of the station and within a quarter mile the motor
faltered, backfired, and died. The gauges also died. Fuel streamed
out of the carb overflow tube. Luckily, no fire.
I pushed it home (about a half mile) and put it on the lift. The carb
came off and I found a sludge in the bowl. The gas tank was drained
and the gas filtered, the bowl taken off the carb and the insides
cleaned.
I hope that part is done....I haven't gotten it off of the lift
because of the electrical problem.
I found a broken wire going to the key switch, and a second partially
broken. Both were replaced. Turning the key to the first position
turns on the head and tail lights. Turning it to the start position
now turns on the gauges (a dakota digital) and then trips the breaker
after a second or so, losing the gauges as well. Flipping the run
switch to 'off' and turning the key doesn't trip the breaker and the
gauges stay on.
I have narrowed down the short to involving the ignition circuit. The
wiring is through the frame and bars.
I don't see any obvious wire breaks or exposure.
My question is, what is the next step. Should I replace the starter
relay, or am I doomed to pulling all those wires out of the bars and
frame? Any suggestions?
Thanks for reading a long post!
Ken
Posted by Steve Irving on August 16, 2008, 10:48 pm
Wrench wrote:
> Belly up to the bar, guys, and let me buy a round while I tell my
> tale.
>
> I recently built a custom around an 80" evo. The day I took all my
> info to the BMV to get the title paperwork started I took the bike to
> fill the tank for the first time.
>
> I pulled out of the station and within a quarter mile the motor
> faltered, backfired, and died. The gauges also died. Fuel streamed
> out of the carb overflow tube. Luckily, no fire.
>
> I pushed it home (about a half mile) and put it on the lift. The carb
> came off and I found a sludge in the bowl. The gas tank was drained
> and the gas filtered, the bowl taken off the carb and the insides
> cleaned.
>
> I hope that part is done....I haven't gotten it off of the lift
> because of the electrical problem.
>
> I found a broken wire going to the key switch, and a second partially
> broken. Both were replaced. Turning the key to the first position
> turns on the head and tail lights. Turning it to the start position
> now turns on the gauges (a dakota digital) and then trips the breaker
> after a second or so, losing the gauges as well. Flipping the run
> switch to 'off' and turning the key doesn't trip the breaker and the
> gauges stay on.
>
> I have narrowed down the short to involving the ignition circuit. The
> wiring is through the frame and bars.
>
> I don't see any obvious wire breaks or exposure.
>
> My question is, what is the next step. Should I replace the starter
> relay, or am I doomed to pulling all those wires out of the bars and
> frame? Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks for reading a long post!
>
> Ken
Since you've got a circuit breaker installed......turn the thing on, let the
breaker set and reset over and over (hope no smoke gets out).
take a compass.....yep......the shows north kind.....
run the compass along where the wiring is.......you'll see the needle swing
round and round each time the breaker trips/resets (magnetic field collapsing).
when the needle STOPS swinging around......you've gone PASSED where the short is
located.
So ya should be able to narrow down a short to within and inch or two....used to
work pretty damn trick when I used that trick tracing shorts/opens in electrical
systems in cars/trucks.
Posted by Old Crow on August 17, 2008, 7:42 am
On Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:48:48 -0700, Steve Irving
>Wrench wrote:
>> Belly up to the bar, guys, and let me buy a round while I tell my
>> tale.
>>
>> I recently built a custom around an 80" evo. The day I took all my
>> info to the BMV to get the title paperwork started I took the bike to
>> fill the tank for the first time.
>>
>> I pulled out of the station and within a quarter mile the motor
>> faltered, backfired, and died. The gauges also died. Fuel streamed
>> out of the carb overflow tube. Luckily, no fire.
>>
>> I pushed it home (about a half mile) and put it on the lift. The carb
>> came off and I found a sludge in the bowl. The gas tank was drained
>> and the gas filtered, the bowl taken off the carb and the insides
>> cleaned.
>>
>> I hope that part is done....I haven't gotten it off of the lift
>> because of the electrical problem.
>>
>> I found a broken wire going to the key switch, and a second partially
>> broken. Both were replaced. Turning the key to the first position
>> turns on the head and tail lights. Turning it to the start position
>> now turns on the gauges (a dakota digital) and then trips the breaker
>> after a second or so, losing the gauges as well. Flipping the run
>> switch to 'off' and turning the key doesn't trip the breaker and the
>> gauges stay on.
>>
>> I have narrowed down the short to involving the ignition circuit. The
>> wiring is through the frame and bars.
>>
>> I don't see any obvious wire breaks or exposure.
>>
>> My question is, what is the next step. Should I replace the starter
>> relay, or am I doomed to pulling all those wires out of the bars and
>> frame? Any suggestions?
>>
>> Thanks for reading a long post!
>>
>> Ken
>Since you've got a circuit breaker installed......turn the thing on, let the
>breaker set and reset over and over (hope no smoke gets out).
>take a compass.....yep......the shows north kind.....
>run the compass along where the wiring is.......you'll see the needle swing
>round and round each time the breaker trips/resets (magnetic field collapsing).
>when the needle STOPS swinging around......you've gone PASSED where the short is
>located.
>So ya should be able to narrow down a short to within and inch or two....used to
>work pretty damn trick when I used that trick tracing shorts/opens in electrical
>systems in cars/trucks.
Heh, got me an $80 Snap-on tool to do that. Found it hooked into some
guys under-hood fuse box. Asked was it his and upon a negative reply
it went into my box. I love it.
--
Old Crow
'82 FLTC(P)'Pearl'
'87 FLTC '?'
'61 F-100
BS#132, TOMKAT, SENS, SLOB#13
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **
Posted by Steve Irving on August 17, 2008, 1:41 pm
Old Crow wrote:
>> So ya should be able to narrow down a short to within and inch or two....used
to
>> work pretty damn trick when I used that trick tracing shorts/opens in
electrical
>> systems in cars/trucks.
>
> Heh, got me an $80 Snap-on tool to do that. Found it hooked into some
> guys under-hood fuse box. Asked was it his and upon a negative reply
> it went into my box. I love it.
I learned that "trick" in a GM service school back in the mid 80's....
Posted by spunky hussein tuna on August 17, 2008, 9:11 am
Steve Irving wrote:
snip
> Since you've got a circuit breaker installed......turn the thing on, let the
> breaker set and reset over and over (hope no smoke gets out).
>
> take a compass.....yep......the shows north kind.....
>
> run the compass along where the wiring is.......you'll see the needle swing
> round and round each time the breaker trips/resets (magnetic field collapsing).
>
> when the needle STOPS swinging around......you've gone PASSED where the short
is
> located.
>
> So ya should be able to narrow down a short to within and inch or two....used
to
> work pretty damn trick when I used that trick tracing shorts/opens in
electrical
> systems in cars/trucks.
I've been hanging around in this group off and on for years and that is
without a doubt the single most useful wiring tip I've ever seen here.
--
spunky hussein SimpleEasyAndEffective tuna
XML Sitemap
> tale.
>
> I recently built a custom around an 80" evo. The day I took all my
> info to the BMV to get the title paperwork started I took the bike to
> fill the tank for the first time.
>
> I pulled out of the station and within a quarter mile the motor
> faltered, backfired, and died. The gauges also died. Fuel streamed
> out of the carb overflow tube. Luckily, no fire.
>
> I pushed it home (about a half mile) and put it on the lift. The carb
> came off and I found a sludge in the bowl. The gas tank was drained
> and the gas filtered, the bowl taken off the carb and the insides
> cleaned.
>
> I hope that part is done....I haven't gotten it off of the lift
> because of the electrical problem.
>
> I found a broken wire going to the key switch, and a second partially
> broken. Both were replaced. Turning the key to the first position
> turns on the head and tail lights. Turning it to the start position
> now turns on the gauges (a dakota digital) and then trips the breaker
> after a second or so, losing the gauges as well. Flipping the run
> switch to 'off' and turning the key doesn't trip the breaker and the
> gauges stay on.
>
> I have narrowed down the short to involving the ignition circuit. The
> wiring is through the frame and bars.
>
> I don't see any obvious wire breaks or exposure.
>
> My question is, what is the next step. Should I replace the starter
> relay, or am I doomed to pulling all those wires out of the bars and
> frame? Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks for reading a long post!
>
> Ken