Main Wiring Harness

Hmmmmm..............Bummer.

This past weekend while at the WORD! rally, I experienced some electrical problems. While not enough to keep me from running the rally and getting home, they were serious enough to cause me concern, which it turns out, was justified.

Left house for the rally Friday morning at 4am in the dark and everything was a go. A few hours later I join up with vectervp1 and when we stop, he says, "Hey, your light aren't working." Sure enough, they aren't anymore. Odd. Shortly after arriving in Ely for the rally, the first thing we check is the fuse - it's blown. So, put a new one in and all is well again. Run the FJR for about 10 minutes, and ride it about 3 blocks to my hotel.

The next morning I start her up and let her warm up for a few minutes while I load. I take off to get gas and make it about 200 yards when the lights flicker on and off a couple times and then go dark. I then smell a strong odor of something burning. I was doing about 25mph. Fuke!!! :angry2: Rally starts soon. I figured the smell was the fuse going. I also figured there is no reason to put a new fuse in as obviously I have some other problem.

I was seriously bummed and was going to chuck the whole rally and work on my FJR when Warchild talked me into running with my PHIDs pointed down. Glad he did so, as it turned out to be a fairly successful rally for me. At some point around now, when stopped and idling for a while, I see my temp gauge at the max 6 bars and it's blinking! Fuke again!!! :angry2: :angry2: Seems my radiator fan is no longer working either. Once moving, temp goes down to normal 3 bars rather quicky. I figure the radiator fan fuse is blown also, and am wondering WTF is going on with my 146,000 mile FJR which has ALWAYS BEEN DEAD RELIABLE!!!!!

A short time later I crossing some 7000+ foot pass at 6:30 in the morning and it is freaking cold! Plug in the electric vest and NADA!!! Heat troller light goes out. FUKE X 3!!!!! :angry2: :angry2: :angry2: I am seriously pissed now, wondering WTF I have got myself into and wondering why I am running this rally. How am I going to run all through the coming night with no normal lights nor heated gear?

Fast forward to the end of a very successful rally for me. While running with PHIDs only was not ideal by any stretch of the imagination, it worked. Once again, kudos to Warchild for getting me out of my funk that morning and inspiring me to be a member of, "The World's Toughest Riders" instead of a "Whiny-Gash Pansy Crybaby". I owe you one, buckaroo.

So, while discussing my electrical woes with my new electrical guru, kaitsdad (Hal), I learn from him that the strong odor of something burning would NOT be a fuse, and he tells me to look for burnt wiring. Perhaps caused by corrosion from the age of my bike. This now seems to lead to the headlight wiring taking out the radiator fan wiring too. Hmmmm......makes sense, no?

I don't bother doing anything else, wanting to get home to my garage. So, I return un-eventfully which brings us to today, when I open up the FJR.

First up is the heat troller for heated gear even though this is the least of my worries. All wiring is right there when I take off the left lower faring. Hmmmmm, as I jiggle the wires, the heat troller's read light flickers, telling me I have an intermittent connection. Try as I may, I could not find anything wrong with any of the wiring. To make a long story short, after 30 minutes of frustrating troubleshooting, it just starts working again. No flickering when jiggling wires. Good, but I wish I knew what the initial problem was. It may have been the butt splice connectors. Perhaps the tech didn't connect them adequately after the last valve check or something - the last time that panel was off. Whatever.

So now onto bigger and better problems. Both headlight and radiator fan fuses are blown. No surprise. In that area, main wiring harness looks good. I hit the diagnostic screen and get several error codes including a "19" and a "21". Both relating to open circuits, one in the sidestand swtich, one for the coolant sensor. WTF?! Among several possiblities for the error codes, both list "wiring harness" as an area to look. Hmmmmmm. Getting warmer? Also while in diagnostic mode and haphazardly checking the different troubleshooting sections of the service manual, I come to find that headlight relay #1 is not checking good.

At this point the tank is propped up, but I haven't removed the t-bar or anything. Main wiring harness looked good from the fuse box to where it enters the frame and goes into the engine area which I can't see yet. Well, I replace the headlight fuse with a good one thinking the blown one is why headlight relay #1 is not working. Good guess. It tests good, headlights blinking on and off during diagnostic. So now I start it up to see what would happen. Headlights come on. After a few seconds I grab the main wiring harness, and move it around. Nothing. After another 10 seconds or so, HOLY ****!!!! Look at all that smoke coming from the top of the engine. I look down and see FLAMES!!!! Fook me!!!! Shut this bi-atch down!!!!

Houston, we have a problem. That's the bad news. The good news is at least I am going to find out what it is. Of course the bad news again is that it will be something I ain't going to try to fix myself.

So I take off the T-bar, pull the cover to the side and low and behold, this is the fuked up **** I find. First pic shows the area I am in. Problem is right in the center where the bright spot of the flashlight is.



A close up. Fuke me!!!! :angry:



Yup. That is one crispy main wiring harness sportsfans. Don't know how well you can see, but the rubber hose next to it is part of the coolant system and a chunk of that has been burned off. Good thing things weren't any worse or I would have coolant spurting everywhere and been dead in the water. In fact, looking at area, I am wondering if that metal clip on the coolant hose isn't the root cause of the problem. Over time it chafed the wiring harness, breaking into it and then chafing individual wire insulation? I thought for sure that was it, but after studying things more, the burnt wires extend from that area a bit, and maybe it was just the wiring and corrosion or something. What think you all?

One last piccie. I just rubbed the burnt area with my finger and this is what it looked like:



Broken individual wires are obvious now.

So, what to do, what to do. This looks like a major PITA to change, and not something I want (or can) do myself. Just for kicks, I call U-Motors and retail for the main wiring harness is $404.95, and their price is $311.86. Yikes! Not a cheap part. Oh, but wait, nearest one is in FUKING JAPAN, though they say sometimes it only takes 4 days to get here.

Well, I still have 2 and a half months of my 4 year Y.E.S. warranty left (thank God) so me thinks I am going to roll the dice and try a new dealer and really hope it will be covered under warranty. Not real excited about the thought of another sub-standard dealer service screwing up a major job like this, but I sure need to save the $$$$, and I am not so sure I could replace this without screwing something up.

End of saga................................

So far.

I really recommend that anytime you have this area open, check your main wiring harness in this area and make sure it's not chafing against that coolant hose clip. BAD things can happen.

Skooter,

Sorry to hear about your mishap. In a way you were lucky...it could have much worse. It is almost a given with those great pictures you posted.

Good luck with the repair... and I'll be sure to watch out for those sharp objects!

Skoot, what's amazing to me is that you were still able to ride it.

Just a guess, but I'd say the cost of the harness is minimal compared to the amount of labor to remove/install the thing.

Even if you have a sub-optimal dealer work on it, at least they'll be able to do the major part of the replacement, and then you can fix whatever is necessary.

I do find it interesting that the obvious burnt part is not near any connector - so it certainly points to that coolant hose clamp abrading through the insulation, allowing the conductors to connect. Ask the dealer to keep the original harness for you, or at least let you look at it - I just wonder if there's another spot as well.

**** dude, thats sucks wet wooly monkey dick.

Theirs a guy with a front harness on EBay right now. Probably parting out a wreck. Might want to contact him and see if you can snag the main..

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/05-YAMAHA-F...emZ380034573242

Yeah, I think you nailed it with your first impression. It was my first impression too from the pictures. I think the hose clamp looks like it is in a different position than it once was. See the impression in the rubber hose. It looks like the clamp may have previously been in an even worse position.

Once the clamp cut through the insulation the wires likely shorted to each other and the heat of the short burnt up the insulation from the point of the short and back (apparently higher) toward the voltage source and ground point.

It would be possible to carefully dissect the harness and splice in new wiring, but if you are still covered by YES then I'd definitely just let them deal with it.

You are looking at a substantial - substantial! - amount of work involved to properly install that bitch of a harness. I mean, you'll be taking the bike right down to parade rest.... :blink:

Serious bummer, man.

Okay, on to business...

Decisions need to be made after talking to the no-load dealer you end up dragging this bitch to. If it's going to be an massive time sink, or they give you tremendous **** for having a farkled-up FJR that has cartwheeled in the sky more than once, or they flat out refuse to touch your nasty-ass machine, *this* photo gives me hope:



This actually doesn't look too bad.

All ya need is a slow, methodical hand with an X-Acto knife to remove the tape a couple inches back on either side of the burn point. Then slowly, gently, and carefully peel apart the individual strands. You might be pleasantly surprised to see only a relatively small number of wires that are actually impacted by this. Cleaning and careful examination of the wires will reveal if the wire's integrity is still there, or whether splicing in a new segment is necessary. Hopefully, you can keep the latter to a minimum.

I concur that if that is the only damage, you should be able to repair only the impacted wires. Use a good adhesive lined shrink tube and properly solder in replacement grafts of wire. Re-tape the harness and you should be good. Carefully inspect for any further problems before going any further with re-assembly. The portions of the harness between that point and the battery would be highly suspect as they obviously heated up with a high current load, and could have melted the jacket inside of the harness in other places. I would not call you a pussy for replacing the whole harness on safety grounds. Crotch fires suck, especially the kind penicillin doesn't cure!

Not only that, but look closely at the rubber hose. The main indention from the hose clamp was higher and rotated further towards the wiring harness.

Skoot: move the clip up into that indentation on the hose and see how it lines up then. Looks to my eye like it will likely line up perfectly with the worn spots.

Sounds like a good addition to the FAQ and check list for next time everyone's under the tank.

Having been faced with almost the same issue on a modern car harness, Dale's idea is the best one. Get in there, dissect it, and start cutting and splicing wires. If you don't have a REALLY good iron, buy one. You can probably splice the entire bundle if it comes to that in a half day once you get on a roll.

Cut, strip, flux, solder, shrink. And repeat.

What strikes me is -- did this moron dealer you went to have to remove or move that hose clamp? It's really hard to tell, but it almost looks like that clamp had 2 impressions in that hose. Maybe.

Good luck. Oh, and I found that a trip to the junkyard got me a wiring harness from a junk car that had enough wire colors so everything didn't blend together.

You suck, slappy.

Greg if you need a hand with it give me some notice and i will roll out there and help you.

R

Fairlaner said:

Greg if you need a hand with it give me some notice and i will roll out there and help you.R

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Ditto me too.

I seem to remember, in a forum far, far away, someone diagnosing this exact same problem and the positive discussion of warranty and or YES. I did a quick search of .ws, but came up nil. Any other old-timers remember this?

Wow Skooter, that do look nasty!

Dale has a point though - a total harness replacement requires a major investment in time and effort for the home mechanic - that thing goes just about everywhere on your bike. If you decide to do that job yourself, plan to take several hundred digital pictures as you pull it out showing exactly how the thing is routed. Nice thing about digital pictures, the're cheap!

I had a harness get abraded to the point of failure with the radio on my '90 Venture. I had to unwrap it and splice in several wires to repair it. The difference was my wires were fine strand 24 gage electronic radio wire, if I breathed wrong while handling them I'd do more damage than repair. When I was finished, the repair lasted the life of the bike.

If this is the only area of overheated and shorted wires, an afternoon's investment of splicing in new wire would be the way to go.

I guess you could call it the "hot" ticket. :grin:

Brodie

Brodie said:

Wow Skooter, that do look nasty!
Dale has a point though - a total harness replacement requires a major investment in time and effort for the home mechanic - that thing goes just about everywhere on your bike. If you decide to do that job yourself, plan to take several hundred digital pictures as you pull it out showing exactly how the thing is routed. Nice thing about digital pictures, the're cheap!

I had a harness get abraded to the point of failure with the radio on my '90 Venture. I had to unwrap it and splice in several wires to repair it. The difference was my wires were fine strand 24 gage electronic radio wire, if I breathed wrong while handling them I'd do more damage than repair. When I was finished, the repair lasted the life of the bike.

If this is the only area of overheated and shorted wires, an afternoon's investment of splicing in new wire would be the way to go.

I guess you could call it the "hot" ticket. :grin:

Brodie

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I work electronics, and the area that fried looks like it wouldn't be too bad (fairly accessible) for splicing in replacements. Having said that, if it's covered under the warranty, why not have it replaced with a whole new harness? (Would mostly depend on whether your local shop has actual technicians or shoptards....) I wish you luck, either way.

Tek

I would definately do it myself. The thought of someone else doing it gives me the willies big time.

DailyCommuter said:

I would definately do it myself. The thought of someone else doing it gives me the willies big time.

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Having seen the handy work of some non electrical/electronic types makes me wonder if some people should try to fix their electrical harnesses that carries power to important things like headlights and the radiator fan.

I believe Skoot has a backup motorcycle and his bike is still under warranty so it may make some sense to have the dealer repair or replace the harness.

So, ya have to ask yourself, “Who can phuck up the job worse, me or the dealer?” Loosing your headlights at 1 am, a 1,000 miles from home sucks. Sitting at a traffic light with every bar on the temperature gauge lit because the fan doesn’t run sucks. Who you gonna trust to get you home, your workmanship or a dealers?

Take a good look at the condition of the strands of wire, if they are shinny & bright you should be able to solder things back together just fine. If heat has gotten to the wires they will have a dull, reddish color and even active flux (RMA type) won’t help solder wet and flow on the wires.

Whatta bummer Skooter! At least you did find the problem, it is clear cut and you know it can be fixed without any lingering doubts.

Edited to add:

When I route harnesses through areas where there may be friction or heat I will snip a few inches of split corrugated tubing and slip it over the wire bundle.

The hose clamp was likely moved during a valve clearance inspection. The wiring harness could have been moved closer to the hose clamp at that time too.

I don't remember how much I pushed and tugged on the wiring harness when I did the clearance check. I didn't take the hose off the coolant pipe so I didn't move the clamp.

The rubber sheet probably offers no protection for the wiring harness in that location.

The wiring insulation could have been cooked a bit in that location after many hours and miles of operation. AZ is a bit hotter than many locations. You may have lots more hours of 3+ bar coolant temps than the average rider. Cooked insulation can lose some of its flexibility.

Skoot, if your bike was in the tear down condition my bike is in right now, that would be an easy fix!!

Hope all goes well in your endeavor.

That really does look Horrible. But the fact that you were able to ride it is probably a good indication that its not as bad as it looks. You should deff give it a shot, you may be pleasently surprised. Good luck Skoot!