Wiring Fault in my other bike...any advice?

[kaivalagi]

Hi All,

Just typical that my SM-T is outside of warranty by 6 months with almost 17K miles on the clock and I now have electrical issues.

It has a wiring fault, I think somewhere in the loom around the headstock there is a short....when I return to center from right lock on the steering the ignition cuts out.

I'm gonna try and strip the bike body work away this weekend and see if I can find the **** thing causing the problems and fix it.

I am guessing it's going to mean cutting the loom outer open and inspecting all the internals for wear...I just hope I can get to what I need to without disassembling too much

I've disconnected the positive terminal of the battery for now, just in case.

I want to be prepared, I have self-amalgamating tape, should I consider getting anything else for a repair? Anyone got any tips or tricks for me?

Cheers

 

[Bobs05]

Look for an exposed or broken wire, most likely the ground in the main loom. If the wrap is cracked, you could be shorting it out by making contact withthe frame or other hard part.

 

[CanberraR3]

Before you cut in, check all plugs/connectors.

 

[TURBO200R4]

its a good idea that you know which wire is bad. you can monitor the coils, 12volt supply and while cranking a test light should blink on the side that fires the coil. might take and check for 12volts on the fuses then work your bars to see if anything changes.
if you think you know which wire is giving you trouble you can take multi meter set to ohms,probe on each end and then do a wiggle test. hth herman

 

[kaivalagi]

Thanks and yep I've not dived in just yet, I can walk to work if I have to and have a second bike too for when the weather is okay, so I plan on taking my time.....I just don't want to take it into a garage to be charged a small fortune in labour...

I plan on looking at the connectors / ignition areas first and to do some more wiggling to see if I can pinpoint anything before I dive deeper, I 'd hope at under 3 years of age it wont be worn insulation on a wire in the loom...

 

[kaivalagi]

Well after a good look it's likely either the connector inside the ignition switch (the plastic piece under the key barrel) or the last bit of wire leading to it.

If I hold the wire steady against the frame and then wiggle the piece closest the barrel it cuts out:


Now the question is can this thing be dismantled and fixed or am I going to need need a new one with the wire already attached...looking at the parts finder this wire looks to be directly connected to the main loom and not through a connector...

I think whatever the case I now need to take the tank off (engine bars get in the way of that too) to better see what approach to take....

Any ideas/suggestions?

 

[TURBO200R4]

its hard to tell but you might have room to cut the wrapping on those wires,find the problem and solder the wire. if your parts store has an ign switch price and look at it to give you a better idea of what you want to do.
herman

 

[kaivalagi]

I knew I'd missed an update somewhere

I fixed the issue, one lead had come away from inside the switch and had breaks in two other places, not sure how it worked for so long!

I took it all apart, resoldered new, more flexible multicore wires (from my RC LiPo stuff) and bingo! Only took two attempts though, first time I extended what I soldered on with the old wires not knowing there were more breaks...doh

 

[Dawg68]

Congrats on finding your fault. Not sure if you did this but where you soldered the wire back together I'm sure you put some shrink tubing around the solder joint but I would like to recommend a little dielectric grease as well, just enough to cover the new joint. This will prevent the newly solderd joint from corroding in the future.
Just a thought.
Cheers

 

[kaivalagi]

Thanks and yep, I heatshrinked each wire right back to the solder joints so no chance or shorting etc, coiled in some slack and cable tied it behind the "exit" hole and also hot glued the hole to seal it off...I don't want it happening again