2007 electrical issue

[GL4435]

The topic description pretty much says it all. I took off today on my 07A, went to raise the windscreen as I got on the highway, and nothing. Screwing around with the electronics while going down the road, it looks like everything works with the exception of the horn, the neutral light and the windscreen. I have up graded the horn with a pair of freeway blasters, but used a quality relay that was a plug and play wiring job. The horn has worked (until today) without issue for some time now. I do not have time to look at the bike tonight, but I do have access to a computer tonight, which is why I am posting without much detective work. Do any of the electrical experts out there know if those three things are tied into one particular spider ground?

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

-Greg

 

[mdisher]

I'm betting you popped a fuse. I *think* all those things you described are run from the same fuse.

Not sure how you wired up your man horns though.

-MD

 

[GL4435]

I'm betting you popped a fuse. I *think* all those things you described are run from the same fuse.
Not sure how you wired up your man horns though.

-MD

Horns wired via a relay, separate in line fuse ... the stock wires to the horn only activate the relay which powers the horns via their own circuit.

I will certainly check the fuses first thing tomorrow ... but I cannot figure out why one would just blow for the hell of it.

 

[mdisher]

A wet relay could cause that, also if any of the wires chaffed, and shorted.

All of that stuff is on the same page (horns, neutral light, windshield position switch). I can't verify they use the same fuse but I'm thinking they do.

The Signaling System Fuse. 15A

I can't tell which one that is from the service manual, I think the regular manual has the fuse locations.

Good Luck.

-MD

Edit: If this fuse is blown, I don't think you'll have brake lights either.

-MD

 

[SkooterG]

I experienced this several times on my Gen I many moons ago. To operate my relay, I used the windscreen 'auto-retract' jumper wire that I had disconnected. After a while of working fine, all of a sudden I blew the 2amp fuse (only one on a Gen I) several times. It took out my relayed strip and with it horn and radar detector, and then also the windscreen control and neutral light. Don't know how your Gen II is wired compared to my Gen I, and if you are using the Auto-retract wiring for your relay, but you got the same problems I had.

After the third blow fuse in not too many miles, I switched the controlling hot wire to the extra hot horn wire I had and have had no problems in a couple hundred thousand miles.

 

[wfooshee]

Signalling fuse, and if so, you don't have brake lights, either.

 

[GL4435]

Signalling fuse, and if so, you don't have brake lights, either.

The signalling fuse was popped. Why ... I don't know. I didn't have break lights, or glove box operation as well as the wind screen, N light or horn ... after replacing the fuse, everything came back to life, and I hit the breaks, stomped on the horn, and moved the shield up and down while in neutral, still works without shorting out or overloading. I guess I will just keep an eye on it. Thanks for the input.

 

[GL4435]

Only made it 20mi and blown fuse again. I am going to remove the horn relay that I installed. Its really the only thing I can think of, and the only electrical manipulation that has been done. But this latest fuse blew while on the highway at 70mph doing nothing but traveling down the road ... the screen just went down, and I knew what happened. Maybe the relay itself has some vibration problem, and is shorting out ... I replace the fuse and everything works fine ... for a while, so its not a continuous short circuit. I hope its not the beginning of a spider issue, as I have read many other 2007's are having right now.

 

[wfooshee]

Doesn't have to be in that relay you added. Could be ANYWHERE in the wiring of the affected circuits. Obviously, the things you changed would be the first place to look, but any place a wire protected by that fuse exists, it might be abraded, cut, getting momentary shorts, etc. Could be very difficult to find.

 

[SkooterG]

What FJR circuit or wiring are you using to switch the relay?

 

[wfooshee]

Meant to add in my previous post that a spider issue would not be blowing a fuse. The spider issues will remove grounds from circuits, not short them to ground.

Scooter's question is a good one, though. Surely you didin't tap that circuit for your relay? Generally adding a relay for man-horns would be a new circuit direct to the battery, with its own fuse. Ground the relay coil through the horn button, disconnect the horns from the factory circuit and connect them to your relay contact.

 

[GL4435]

What FJR circuit or wiring are you using to switch the relay?

Meant to add in my previous post that a spider issue would not be blowing a fuse. The spider issues will remove grounds from circuits, not short them to ground.
Scooter's question is a good one, though. Surely you didin't tap that circuit for your relay? Generally adding a relay for man-horns would be a new circuit direct to the battery, with its own fuse. Ground the relay coil through the horn button, disconnect the horns from the factory circuit and connect them to your relay contact.

It is a purchased horn relay circuit, real no-brainer to wire, and yes it is wired direct to the battery, its own fuse, the horn button only activates the relay. But with this last fuse, I was not activating anything ... I was not powering up or down the shield, not hitting the breaks, was not in neutral or hitting the horn ... nada. Just riding down the road. (I should have thought that spider ground issue through, it would not create a short, just disrupt the ground. Well, at least that its not a spider issue is some kind of good news.) For a loss of anything else to do, I am just going to remove the horn relay, although I doubt it has anything to do with it. If it would blow right away I could find the problem. Frustrating

 

[HaulinAshe]

Sounds to me like the aftermarket horn relay has developed a short across its coil. That would blow the signaling circuit fuse everytime the horn button is pressed.

 

[wfooshee]

Not if the horn's not even on that fuse any more. That's what we have to make sure of with his kit. And he states that when his shield dropped last time, indicating fuse blow-age, he was doing nothing with horn, brakes, whatever.

About all I can think of to do (if removing the relay kit doesn't fix it) is put an ohmmeter on the plug for the signalling fuse in the fuse box, and start wiggling wires around the bike, watching the ohmmeter.

GL, can you specifically list every connection the kit makes? And what's removed from the original stock horn circuit? What I'm looking for is something incorrectly crossed between the two systems.

 

[GL4435]

Not if the horn's not even on that fuse any more. That's what we have to make sure of with his kit. And he states that when his shield dropped last time, indicating fuse blow-age, he was doing nothing with horn, brakes, whatever.
About all I can think of to do (if removing the relay kit doesn't fix it) is put an ohmmeter on the plug for the signalling fuse in the fuse box, and start wiggling wires around the bike, watching the ohmmeter.

GL, can you specifically list every connection the kit makes? And what's removed from the original stock horn circuit? What I'm looking for is something incorrectly crossed between the two systems.

It is a relay kit from Eastern Beaver relay and it seems straight forward to me. Its most likely a waste of time to remove it, but I will have the bike taken apart anyway.

 

[wfooshee]

My earlier question was mainly to find out that stock wiring was disconnected from the devices that the kit attached to, not just tapped. In other words, no stock wiring is still connected to the horns or the horn switch. If all that was done was tapping the stock wires as opposed to removing or cutting, then those circuits are still in play, and high-amp horns will mess it up. That's why I keep asking about connection specifics.