ignition fuse blows

[nomad]

My ignition fuse blows when i turn the key on. Before i tear into this thing, does anyone here have experience with this particular problem? If not, i guess i have to strip it down and start disconnecting things one at a time til i find out with component is causing the problem. when i took the right sidecover off, the coolant tank was empty also. i found no evidence of coolant leaking or causing any shorts...etc. this could take a while...... ::)

[AlabamaNomadRider]

Do you have any accessories installed that use the same circuit? Something is causing an overload. Unless there is a short and that is causing the fuse to blow.

[chuckster131]

Check the main harness if it is a 1500 it goes right up and over the rear rocker cover. Mine had rubbed right into the wires and was blowing the 30amp main fuse.

[nomad]

its the 10 amp ignition fuse that blows. it powers the idiot lights on the inst. panel, it powers the dfi relay (fuel injection). as well as both start circuit relays and the headlight relay. my parking lights work, the back lighting on the inst. panel works...and thats about it. i have tried 3 fuses after reseating connectors and re-positioning wiring...and it still blows. its a wiring issue or a component has failed. it ran great when i parked it last night. so far i have got the right side cover, the inst. panel and the gas tank off. no issues seen so far. i may add the gas tank was a pain in the butt....lol!

[cactusjack]

Could be a shorted ignition switch, too.

[ringadingh]

Check closely where Joe mentioned, thats a common spot for the harness to screw up. Also check the wires right under the seat around the battery. Sometimes they will short out there after being compressed over the years by the seat.
Also check the headlight bulb, it may be blown and the broken filament is causing a short, its a longshot but Ive seen it happen more than once. Look in the headlight bucket to see if any wires have rubbed through in there as well.

[nomad]

unplugged the headlight and right handlebar electrical controls...and i ohmed the wire from the ignition fuse to ground. its open. (no shorts). so now i'm looking at a component failure. thats a good suggestion with the headlight, i'll check it out. not sure where the DFI relay is...i still have that to check. on a side note, found some loose clamps under the tank that would explain my coolant loss, so i guess its not a total waste of time. what are the odds that the junction box or ECU is bad? this wire only runs to a few components.

edited to add...never thought about the ignition switch...good suggestion as well. :)

[AlabamaNomadRider]

I doubt it being a bad ECU. The bike probably wouldn't start or if it did it would run like crap.

[cnc]

unplugged the headlight and right handlebar electrical controls...and i ohmed the wire from the ignition fuse to ground. its open. (no shorts). so now i'm looking at a component failure. thats a good suggestion with the headlight, i'll check it out. not sure where the DFI relay is...i still have that to check. on a side note, found some loose clamps under the tank that would explain my coolant loss, so i guess its not a total waste of time. what are the odds that the junction box or ECU is bad? this wire only runs to a few components.

edited to add...never thought about the ignition switch...good suggestion as well. :)

I presume from your response that you have the wiring diagram and a multi meter and you seem to have a good handle on the search process.
I was just thinking if it was me, after checking the ignition switch it's self for a short to ground, remove the individual wires from the ignition plug ( I am presuming it is a plug, I'm just looking at the diagram ) and replug them individually till you blow the fuse.
You then have a direction to go in following the wires and components that that wire feeds.

[ringadingh]

All of the relays are located on the RH side by the junction box. If its not something you have found yet, youll have to eliminate each circuit one by one, or disconnect all of them if you can and see if a fuse blows. Then you can reconnect the wires one by one until it blows to try to pinpoint the problem.

[nomad]

found it...the PO had powered the aux driving lights with the hot wire to the coils..(yep, thats right...). why he did this i do not know. whenever i flipped the kill switch to run the fuse popped. his wiring job was lacking to say the least. i hooked them up correctly and to a less critical power source. so far, everything is A-OK. i want to thank everyone for the advice and help.

[cactusjack]

found it...the PO had powered the aux driving lights with the hot wire to the coils..(yep, thats right...). why he did this i do not know. whenever i flipped the kill switch to run the fuse popped. his wiring job was lacking to say the least. i hooked them up correctly and to a less critical power source. so far, everything is A-OK. i want to thank everyone for the advice and help.

Please tell us you used a relay?

[nomad]

found it...the PO had powered the aux driving lights with the hot wire to the coils..(yep, thats right...). why he did this i do not know. whenever i flipped the kill switch to run the fuse popped. his wiring job was lacking to say the least. i hooked them up correctly and to a less critical power source. so far, everything is A-OK. i want to thank everyone for the advice and help.

Please tell us you used a relay?

no...and i should have. i was so impatient to ride that i used the forward accessory wiring to power the lights...the downside to that is now they will come on even when the key is out of the ignition switch. i was in such a hurry to take advantage of this weekends good weather that i didn't consult the wiring charts first. i just assumed that they were powered on with the key. oh well, haste makes waste. back to the drawing board. i guess the PO and myself are in the same boat...lol. :)

[ringadingh]

I had a similar situation with the driving lamps on my bike yesterday. I am installing a small six fuse panel and a relay so I have more switched circuits available.
Don't leave it wired like that on your bike, if you ever forget to turn off the switch youll end up with a dead battery in a hurry.

[nomad]

I had a similar situation with the driving lamps on my bike yesterday. I am installing a small six fuse panel and a relay so I have more switched circuits available.
Don't leave it wired like that on your bike, if you ever forget to turn off the switch youll end up with a dead battery in a hurry.

sound advice. that acc. fuse panel sounds like a good idea. where did you find the fuse panel? any auto parts place carry them?

[ringadingh]

I used a small six circuit atc fuse panel that I picked up at Princess Auto for $15.00. Ive purchased the same panel at Napa or UAP stores in the past. Tryng to find a spot to locate it was the problem as I don't have any space left to mount it behind the side covers. I decided on mounting it inside the fairing, I used a 30amp fuse and relay to connect the panel from the battery with 10 gauge wire, running it under the tank and into the fairing.
If a fuse does need replacing its a bit of a nuisance to remove the fairing on the road, but since I have only the radio, cruise control and driving lamps connected to it. I'll replace them at home.