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Blown fuse after washing bike.

  • Thread starter Thread starter BBoh21
  • Start date Start date
B

BBoh21

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Is it normal to have to wait quite a while after washing your motorcycle before being able to ride it? I washed my bike Saturday and blew my main fuse when trying to ride it 30 minutes later. I tried again about an hour and a half after washing and it still blew. The next day it ran just fine. I'm assuming residual water on the bike was causing it to ground and blow the fuse, but I would've figured it wouldn't take that long to dry off after sitting in the sun. It's not like I soaked my bike or anything either, just two quick hose downs, one before and one after cleaning. I haven't ridden it in the rain yet, so I'm not sure how that'll effect the bike.
 
What was happening as the fuse blew?
Were you turning the key ON?
Were you pushing the starter button?
Were you riding?

Knowing this will help locate the problem, but your culprit will likely be found between the first and second trip through the fuse box. Not much in that loop besides the ignition key and the R/R.

How long do I usually wait? Almost never. But I always take a can of WD-40 to the wash with me. :encouragement:
It's especially useful in drying off the plug wires.

.
 
This hasn't happened to me before. But water could definitely cause a short. I would check your wiring harness for areas where water could pool up across multiple connections(causing the short). Check your connectors too. You might have some worn out or missing boots. Next time you wash the bike, Hit it with your leaf blower or compressed air to dry it off before you start it up. Focus on getting your wiring nice and dry.
 
I was simply turning the key on. I put the fuse in, turned the key on, and within a couple seconds the main fuse was blowing without trying to start it up or anything.

It's been running perfectly fine since I waited the full day to ride again, so I fee like it was just the washing that caused it, just wasn't sure how normal that is, maybe I just soaked the electronics a lot more than I thought or something (first time washing my bike). It's got me concerned about getting stuck in the rain and my bike blowing the fuse and getting stranded or something like that.
 
Last edited:
SocialAnomaly99 said:
This hasn't happened to me before. But water could definitely cause a short. I would check your wiring harness for areas where water could pool up across multiple connections(causing the short). Check your connectors too. You might have some worn out or missing boots. Next time you wash the bike, Hit it with your leaf blower or compressed air to dry it off before you start it up. Focus on getting your wiring nice and dry.
Click to expand...

The boot for the negative terminal for my battery is missing, so that could be what is causing an issue...
 
Did you power wash it or just hose it down? I rarely do either unless it is really bad and then I make sure I keep it off electrical components as much as possible. 98% of the time I use a spray bottle and some cleaning rags made from old towels. No excess water anywhere.
 
The boot on the negative battery terminal is not gonna be an issue as there aren't other components in close very proximity. It's more likely something in the harness or other connectors. I would guess the short is coming from somewhere closer to the front of the bike, like around the headlight, gauges, and ignition switch. Unplug the batter and clean those connections up. Also make sure the boots are in good shape. Use WD-40 to clean the wires and connectors. "WD" stands for Water Displacement, after all, and will help seal the connections and repel water.
I do in the end agree with MrBill on not getting excess water where you don't need it.
 
BBoh21 said:
I was simply turning the key on. I put the fuse in, turned the key on, and within a couple seconds the main fuse was blowing without trying to start it up or anything.
Click to expand...
In that case, the problem is after the ignition key, but before the fuse box. Look for a problem with the wiring harness, see if it is rubbing anywhere that might have worn through the insulation. Pay particular attention to the ORANGE wire, as that is the switched hot lead from the key that powers the other three fuses in the fuse box.

BBoh21 said:
The boot for the negative terminal for my battery is missing, so that could be what is causing an issue...
Click to expand...
Uhhh, ... no. If that were the problem, it would not be waiting for you to turn the key on. If a missing boot on the negative terminal is a problem, then all four of my GSes have that same problem, but they seem to be running just fine.

Because it happened after you turned the key ON, the problem is after the key. Because only the MAIN fuse blew, not the other three, the problem is before them. There is NOTHING between the ignition key and the fuse box except a couple of connectors, through which that orange wire passes. Check the orange wire and those connectors. One connector is at the steering stem, another will be just before the fuse box. Not sure if your bike has another one between those two.

.
 
I say the fuse box got full of water and shorted all the fuses..thus this indeed would cause just the main to blow. In any case, it wont hurt to run some silicone RTV around the seams.
 
SocialAnomaly99 said:
This hasn't happened to me before. But water could definitely cause a short. I would check your wiring harness for areas where water could pool up across multiple connections(causing the short). Check your connectors too. You might have some worn out or missing boots. Next time you wash the bike, Hit it with your leaf blower or compressed air to dry it off before you start it up. Focus on getting your wiring nice and dry.
Click to expand...


12V really is not enough voltage to push a lot of current ( I suspect less than 1 amp) so there is really no way to blow a 15 amp fuse by bridging two wires with water. If it was you couldn't wash the top of a battery off or leave a stream of water flowing across.

At 120V that is something different and figure 10 times the current but without blowing a 10 amp breaker.
 
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