fuse and wire problem

[Anonymous]

1980 Gs850GL
my headlight and turnsignals were blowing fuses. well I corrected some connectors and it for the time being has stoped blowing fuses. But the fuse for the headlight and the one for the signals is hot. the rest are not.
What is up with that? Does this mean I still have a short somewhere? thanks

[UTgws]

Check and make sure that all connections to the fuse block are good clean and tight, and make sure that the fuse holder is clean and securely holding the fuse too. Fuses should not be hot and that indicates high current in the circuit. It could be connections at other places too.

[Anonymous]

since the harness is old but this is the only problem i have with it. I have spent hours looking for a broken wire to no avail. I want to by pass the harness. I have a handlebar toggle switch i could by pass to as I also have a inline fuse holder to use also. My problem is it is only 2 position switch and not three (for high/low beam). Does any one know of any place that makes a toggle that will mount on handlebar that would work for the headlight? thanks

[earlfor]

CJ. I have had the same problem on the headlight circuit. Inside the headlight shell, you will find (I believe on your bike) two multi wire plastic plugs/connectors. One is probably going to be 5 or 6 wires and I think the other is a 4 wire. Pull them apart and check them both. The 6 wire one should be the one that power comes through to get to the headlight. On my bike, the inside of the plastic connectors were corroded beyond what I could clean up due to lack of interior access. I cut the multi connectors loose and connected the wires with crimp on butt connectors. That solved my problem.

The only drawback is if you ever want to replace your wiring harness, you dont have quick disconnects for the front half of it by doing this.

Earl

[RacingJake]

Why would she (sorry ) want to replace it ? it's only 25 years young

If you ain't riding a ball of fire down the road then I wouldn't worry about it 8O 8O .....................Okay it was a joke 8)

If your going to buy a wiring harness you might as well get the other half :?

Can you tell I've been out riding my HD

[Anonymous]

well i cut that last year when i had this problem and it solved it. I checked all those to see if they came loose maybe i need to check again. anyway what about the toggle switch? I could do that correct.

And by the way I am a her not a him. lol
yes she is 25 years old but that is not the only plastic connect I have cut since I have owned her to cure old desinigrated plastic connects. So a new wiring harness unless I rewire the hole bike (not something I want to do during riding season). Let me know about the toggle switch please. thanks

[earlfor]

You can buy a three position (on/off/on) toggle switch at Home Depot, Lowes, or probably about any auto parts store or Radio Shack. For a headlight, any rating of 10 amps or more will work fine. Probably cost 3-5$. They also sell waterproof boots that fit over the toggle for about $2.

Also, replace the lighting fuse in the fuseblock. Sometimes, an old one can have a hairline crack and build up internal corrosion you cant see.



Earl

well i cut that last year when i had this problem and it solved it. I checked all those to see if they came loose maybe i need to check again. anyway what about the toggle switch? I could do that correct.

And by the way I am a her not a him. lol
yes she is 25 years old but that is not the only plastic connect I have cut since I have owned her to cure old desinigrated plastic connects. So a new wiring harness unless I rewire the hole bike (not something I want to do during riding season). Let me know about the toggle switch please. thanks

[RacingJake]

Re: fuse and wire problem

1980 Gs850GL
my headlight and turnsignals were blowing fuses. well I corrected some connectors and it for the time being has stoped blowing fuses. But the fuse for the headlight and the one for the signals is hot. the rest are not.
What is up with that? Does this mean I still have a short somewhere? thanks

Sounds like your problem is in the fuse block assy since it's affecting two circuits. Make sure you are using the right amp fuse. Check the fuse block and clean the terminals, make sure you have good connectings. Also check that main wire from the fuse block to the battery too.

Then clean the handle bars switches just don't loose those tiny parts and springs. Heck even the ignition switch may be causing you some problem?

[earlfor]

The lighting fuse should be a 10 amp.

Earl

[Anonymous]

Also, replace the lighting fuse in the fuseblock. Sometimes, an old one can have a hairline crack and build up internal corrosion you cant see.

Sorry to be dumb but not getting what you mean by lighting fuse in the fuseblock. I did replace fuse in both the headlight and signal section of the fuse box. As they were blowing left and right. Is that what you mean?

Now last year when this happened and I found the plug in the headlight housing melted and I wired direct I did not have 10amp on hand but had 15amp and used them with the intentions of getting 10amp to replace them. I forgot. But if it was because I put a 15amp in and not a 10amp that should have caused a problem way before now correct? or would have just created the extra heat un-benost to me and now causing problems.

I work for a cable company and our repair department made me a switch to use for the headlight if I do not solve this the right way. Then I can remove the fuse from the box correct? I will have an in-line on the switch so it can blow fuses instead of headlights.

thank you for all your help. will look into the suggestions tonight before attempting to toggle the light.

I will say I thought I had found the problem last night and put it all back together and tested and retested other than the fuse getting hot it all worked fine. This morning I was going to ride to work and decided to test one more time. and when I turned the bike on I was ok. but as soon as I turned on the signal my headlight went dim and they out it went. Fuse blown.

[Anonymous]

Sorry all that was not a quote. just the first line

[Anonymous]

Well I worked for hours and could not find the culprit to why my headlight fuse blows and why it gets hot. So I put the headlight on a toggle switch which works great and was able to ride to work today.

My question is: I put a 3 way switch in (on/off/on) and I put in a in-line fuse holder and a 10amp fuse. Wired to headlight but left the ground that is in the harness to headlight. That is the only connect to the wiring harness the headlight has now. My concern and with your help possibly the original culprit. The fuse holder gets warm. Not nearly as hot as the fuse box did but warm. Is this normal? Or is the culprit the ground wire?
The only reason I did not cut the headlight ground from the harness and ground it on the frame or headlight housing was I did not know what else this possibly grounds. You know if one problem but create yourself another. Anyway is this a concern or normal? If this is possibly the problem does anyone know if this grounds anything else ..like turn signals or something even more important? Thanks cj

[earlfor]

The ground wire coming from the headlight bulb socket can be cut and a wire spliced to it to ground it anywhere you wish. I did this on my 1150 three years ago and it has never given me a problem.

Earl

Well I worked for hours and could not find the culprit to why my headlight fuse blows and why it gets hot. So I put the headlight on a toggle switch which works great and was able to ride to work today.

Earl

My question is: I put a 3 way switch in (on/off/on) and I put in a in-line fuse holder and a 10amp fuse. Wired to headlight but left the ground that is in the harness to headlight. That is the only connect to the wiring harness the headlight has now. My concern and with your help possibly the original culprit. The fuse holder gets warm. Not nearly as hot as the fuse box did but warm. Is this normal? Or is the culprit the ground wire?
The only reason I did not cut the headlight ground from the harness and ground it on the frame or headlight housing was I did not know what else this possibly grounds. You know if one problem but create yourself another. Anyway is this a concern or normal? If this is possibly the problem does anyone know if this grounds anything else ..like turn signals or something even more important? Thanks cj

[Anonymous]

Thanks Earl. Could this be my culprit to why the in-line fuse holder is warm? What did you ground yours too? Can I ground it to the screw inside the headlight housing? thanks cj

[earlfor]

I crimped a ring terminal connector on the ground wire extension and used one of the mounting bolts that hold the coils down. Makes for a tight, protected from the elements, ground connection. A poor ground could be your culprit, yes. As for your fuse box getting warm, I would compare input voltage to it and output voltage on each of the box's circuits/fuses. It should be the same. Any difference in readings on the box is going to be internal resistance/corrosion. The rear panel of most boxes is removable and you can get inside to clean them out. (some dont appear to be removable, but they are cleverly disguised :-) )

Earl

Thanks Earl. Could this be my culprit to why the in-line fuse holder is warm? What did you ground yours too? Can I ground it to the screw inside the headlight housing? thanks cj