Has anyone had an electrical problem? I have added the Warn 1.5 winch and I after 100 miles of riding (have not used winch since isntalling) my 700 just quit. I have is stripped down and have unplugged lights, dash, starter etc... and also removed wiring for the winch. I still am blowing the 30 amp main fuse.
Any assistance on this nightmare would be appreciated. I am almost to the point of taking it to the shop and getting stuck with their outrageous shop hours.
Thanks.

 

Sounds like you have a direct short to ground. If you have an ohm meter and know how to use it you should be able to isolate the offending wire. If you don't then this is a great chance for you to learn and save yourself a lot of bucks over the years. Get a good book and do some reading. You don't need to spend a lot of bucks for a volt/ohm meter for what you are doing. Most any little digital or analog meter will get the job done for 12 VDC (volt direct current) work. It's not hard but does take a little time to get the hang of chasing down shorts and/or opens.

Another way to track this short down would be to get one of those little 12 VDC test lights at the local auto parts store that are used to check to see if you have voltage on a wire. Pull the fuse out of the circuit and put the test light across where the fuse was. The light will come on if you have a short in the circuit or if you have a load that is on. Keep unplugging things and moving wires around till the light goes off. Once you know where the problem is the repair should be quite simple. On problems like this it is usually something quite simple once you find it.

Good luck.

 

I have found that there is a short to ground even with several items disconnected. Has anyone had this problem and found that it was a starter relay, control box of some sort or any common fail point item.
I have inspected all of my cable runs and individual wire's and have not found any that are stripped or rubbing on metal. For those that have had electrical problems I'm sure you can understand my level of frustration after about 8 hours of chasing my tail.
Thanks.

 

Believe it or not, this is a common problem with the V's blowing the 30 amp fuse. it usually stems from one of the wires under the seat rubbing against the frame. Good luck...

 

Check the wires connected to the igniter box on the rear right side under the fender. One of the wires might be rubbing on the frame tube.

 

While direct shorts are most often caused by a wire contacting a frame member or something of this nature they can also be caused by faults within cable runs. Not uncommon are shorts caused by a wire or wires overheating and melting thru their insulation within a bundle of wires and shorting one to another. These can be a real challange to find. I would suggest you unplug everything on the bike and see if the isolated harness show the fault. Then hook up one item at a time and check that. Unhook each "safe" item as it proves good before testing the next. If everything shows OK then start hooking one device at a time up until the fault shows up. At that point start unhooking other devices until the fault goes away. You then have found a short of some nature between the two devices. The short will be in the wire bundle that runs between these points, in the intertie between them or something they have in common in the function of the bike.

Hang in there, you can find this. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

Edit: Something that should be mentioned. Shorts to the frame are often very small and hard to see. Having an ohm meter hooked up and watching it while you move wires around is way better than the Mark 1 Eyeball in finding these small holes in insulation.

 

Ok, I found that if I unplug my CDI box I no longer blow the fuse and I can crank the engine over. Of course she won't start because there is nothing telling it when to fire.
My question is now that I have found this and it tells me that there is no short going to ground, does anyone know if the CDI box can just go bad and then cause this problem? I don't want to spend $140.00 on a new CDI box and then find out that this is not the problem and have to start all over again.
Thanks.

 

Very good question. I don't know if there is a pass thru voltage on the CDI that could be causing the short downstream from it or not. I would suggest you hook an ohm meter to each of the wires leaving the box and test them for shorts. The wiring diagram I have for our P360 indicates this device is used in conjunction with several control circuits. It is hooked into the left handlebar kill switch, ignition switch, KEBC system, reverse gear power limiter and bypass, as well as a few other things. You have made a large step forward in finding the problem. You now know several areas this problem is not related too.

Rather than replacing the part perhaps you could get it tested to find out if anything is wrong with it internally. I don't know if a Kawi shop could do this or not. Another way would be to get a known good unit and try it. There is some danger in this in that if something else on the bike is bad it may damage the test unit. If you do not have a wiring diagram now would be a good time to get one and trace each wire out, disconnect the device it attaches to and just follow the electrons to where they are leaking out.

I would be willing to bet you are learning one heck of a lot about your bike and will have a lot more confidence about going afield with it in the future. Knowing how and why things work makes it much more enjoyable to use them. If something does go wrong you usually are able to repair it to get home. Or at least know you need a tow to get there.

Keep after it, you will get it figured out. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

The only thing I can figure is that there was water/mud that got into the plugs on the CDI box and had caused the short to ground or something to make that 30 amp fuse keep blowing. Once I removed the dirt and plugged the CDI back in everything is working fine so I at least know that there is no wire shorting to ground or wires burnt together. There is the one problem that now my machine could quit at any time when I get it wet. I will be sure to put some sealant around the connections on that CDI but I will have this in the back of my mind for the next 100 miles or so.
Thanks for the encouragement and help.

 

Your welcome. Prior to putting any sealent around that connector consider putting a diaelectric grease on the blades and sockets inside the connector. I don't know why I didn't mention this before but I did this with my quads and have had no problem with rust or bad connections on them. Be a little lavish with the grease and wipe off the excess. Don't really think you need to seal them with silicone or such unless you are going to be playing submarine a lot. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

One question if you don't mind. Your screen name, does that mean you are or have been a Marine?