Turn signal & flasher fuse keeps blowing!

[daddykevin]

Can someone tell me why I keep blowing the fuse for my turn signals and flashers? It happened yesterday, I replaced the 10 amp fuse, and now it happened again today. Everything else works fine.

 

[Auburn]

Sounds like you may have a short. Did you replace any of the bulbs recently? maybe a worn spot in the wiring harness? Maybe a ground spider?

 

[luvtoride]

I once had an issue with the brake lights & horn fuse blowing. Turns out the original owner had not upgraded to a wiring harness for the extra power consumed by the aftermarket horns. Over time it caused the fuse to continually blow. Did you add any electric hungry aftermarket parts by chance?

 

[ionbeam]

Putting on a blindfold and throwing a dart at the board -- The Hazard Switch on the dash panel is part of the turn signal system. I mention the switch because it lives in an area that is often farkled and the dash panel that the Hazard Switch is installed on gets moved when performing service as well. If the fuse blows you almost certainly have a short in the signaling system. The other 'out of sight' player is the flasher relay. Can you blow the fuse by turning on the Hazard Switch too? Do all the running lights work?

What service, maintenance, farkling, abuse or cleaning have you done recently, even if you don't think it's related? I hope something comes to mind or you will be doing a lot of harness tracing. Time to buy a box of fuses. Or, jump the fuse socket with a straight wire and turn on the signals -- the harness wire that has all the insulation instantly melt off in a puff of magic smoke is the one that had the problem Err, mebby not.

 

[Harald]

Putting on a blindfold and throwing a dart at the board -- The Hazard Switch on the dash panel is part of the turn signal system. I mention the switch because it lives in an area that is often farkled and the dash panel that the Hazard Switch is installed on gets moved when performing service as well.

To save the OP extra head scratching while looking for the hazard switch on a dash panel, this feature is only located there on Gen I bikes. The 2006 and newer (not sure about 2013) have the hazard switch built into the right handlebar switch cluster.

 

[ionbeam]

To save the OP extra head scratching...The 2006 and newer...have the hazard switch built into the right handlebar switch cluster.

Damn that blindfold. And not having a Gen II. The question about what have you done recently still stands.

 

[Fred W]

That fuse only goes to the 4 turn signals (through the flasher module), the running lights in the front and back, and the license plate light. That's it.

The blue wire for the rear tail light (aka running light) is a very common place to pick up a handy switched 12V signal for farkles. Per previous recommendations, check for that kind of thing first. But there have also been occasions where a light bulb filament has burned out and while the remnants are bouncing around inside the bulb, have caused a short circuit that will blow this fuse.

 

[allrider]

When was the last time you flushed the blinker fluid?

 

[odot]

Change the battery. After that doesn't fix it, go buy a can of replacement smoke from autozone and then find out which wire you pinched when you were cleaning the jesus nut with mother's spray on cleaner.

 

[daddykevin]

Thanks for the input, even the serious attempts to help. Here's what has been done to the bike. I've added the Skene Design Conspicuity lights, front and back. These are LED's and have very little draw. They are tied into the signal system. They've been working fine for 6 months.

The fuse just blew yesterday, I changed it out with another 10a fuse and rode home, then back to work today, then another 10 miles to an appointment, and then they were gone again.

I have had trouble with ground spiders in the past, I've had the recall done, which did nothing to help.

Should I try the trick where you cut the wires going into the spider and solder them to a heavier gauge ground wire?

 

[RadioHowie]

Thanks for the input, even the serious attempts to help. Here's what has been done to the bike. I've added the Skene Design Conspicuity lights, front and back. These are LED's and have very little draw. They are tied into the signal system. They've been working fine for 6 months.

The fuse just blew yesterday, I changed it out with another 10a fuse and rode home, then back to work today, then another 10 miles to an appointment, and then they were gone again.

I have had trouble with ground spiders in the past, I've had the recall done, which did nothing to help.

Should I try the trick where you cut the wires going into the spider and solder them to a heavier gauge ground wire?

I'd suggest removing your "Conspicuity" lights from the equation for a day or two, and see if your fuse-blowing problem goes away.

IOW, remove the change from stock and see if the problem leaves or remains.

 

[odot]

....and I suggest you buy a battery from walmart to keep our chinese types happy....otherwise we will end up with austerity.....and you know what that means...

You found a ground somewhere......find it....and you will find peace in life....

otherwise.....don't get married.....or remarried in yer case........

 

[JamesK]

Not that this is a great thing to do to solve a real problem, but I'd step up in the fuse size just a bit, say a 15A fuse. This might solve your issues if the LEDs or other circuitry in the Conspicuity lights may have started to degrade, thus drawing a higher current. The 15A fuse will not burn up your wiring if there is a real short in the signal circuit. If this doesn't work, disconnect the C lights like RadioHowie suggested.

 

[ionbeam]

Take a look at the filament of the blown fuse. If you have a shorting problem the filament area will be black and burned. If you have excess current draw, like 15 amps on a 10 amp circuit the fuse filament will be melted but clean and free of burn marks. A short will have you looking for chafed wires or wire strands at connectors, excess current draw will have you looking at things like your Skene Design Conspicuity lights.

 

[Fred W]

If the conspicuity lights are tied into the running lights as I imagine they are, you should disconnect them temporarily and see if the fuses stop blowing. If you happen to have access to a DC Ammeter you could insert the meter in place of the removed fuse that keeps blowing and see what the actual current is with and without the added lights. It may be that one of those lights has an intermittent short circuit in it.

 

[faster675]

Hmmmmm...... Looks like this thread never got solved? Or the o.p. Never left the solution? anyhoo. ... I am having a similar problem, and wondering if anyone can tell me where (exactly?) the right front turn signal wiring is routed. ... Or, is there a routing diagram in my fsm?

Here is my "similar" turn signal problem story: about four years ago, i started blowing right front turn signals every 12 months or so. ... Now, my front turn signal and fuse both seem to fail "any time" i use the emergency flashers or the right turn signal. .... There are no farkels attached to my turn signal system.

Any (more) thoughts or further suggestions for solving a turn signal short problem?

Oh yeah. .. The last time (after the fuse blew) i replaced the fuse and bulb, i turned on the ignition and tested the turn signal and emergency flasher - it worked fine, so i thought i had fixed the problem. ... It worked for about twenty miles. .. Then it quit working again. ... When i replaced the fuse - with the right front bulb removed, everything worked fin - and the fuse didn't blow. ....

 

[Bustanut joker]

Sounds like a filament problem with that bulb. I've had that happen

 

[RossKean]

Quite possibly some corrosion in the socket. You should check that only the dimmer of the two filaments is on as a running light (not both or the brighter filament). Check that the brighter filament is working with the flasher (not both). I had this problem with a Yamaha Venture. Didn't blow fuses but took awhile to get it all cleaned up and working properly.

 

[Fred W]

Hmmmmm...... Looks like this thread never got solved? Or the o.p. Never left the solution? anyhoo. ... I am having a similar problem, and wondering if anyone can tell me where (exactly?) the right front turn signal wiring is routed. ... Or, is there a routing diagram in my fsm? Here is my "similar" turn signal problem story: about four years ago, i started blowing right front turn signals every 12 months or so. ... Now, my front turn signal and fuse both seem to fail "any time" i use the emergency flashers or the right turn signal. .... There are no farkels attached to my turn signal system. Any (more) thoughts or further suggestions for solving a turn signal short problem? Oh yeah. .. The last time (after the fuse blew) i replaced the fuse and bulb, i turned on the ignition and tested the turn signal and emergency flasher - it worked fine, so i thought i had fixed the problem. ... It worked for about twenty miles. .. Then it quit working again. ... When i replaced the fuse - with the right front bulb removed, everything worked fin - and the fuse didn't blow. ....

This is somewhat perplexing. Light bulb filaments and fuses both blow (burn open) for the exact same reason: excess current flowing through them. What is perplexing is that it generally takes a short circuit (lower resistance) to create excess current flow. If there were a corroded light bulb socket or flaky wiring you would expect the continuity to be interrupted, ie an open circuit condition, which would result in the lamp not lighting, but no blown fuses nor blown bulbs.

Are you certain that the bulbs were actually blowing and not just quit working intermittently?

Also, what sort of light bulbs are you putting in there that keep blowing?

One side of the lamp is tied to ground, the other side gets full battery/alternator voltage applied to it when it is supposed to be lit. There is really nothing that could be wrong with the wiring or bulb socket that would explain the bulbs continuously blowing.

The filament of the bulb normally has enough internal resistance that with the whole battery/alternator voltage applied it will not flow enough current to blow the fuse. If the bulb blows the filament can move around and create a short circuit inside the bulb which would then blow the fuse. This might explain your situation: If you are putting a wrong sized bulb in that keeps burning out for some reason, that could also be taking out the fuses.

If there were a short circuit anywhere in the system, it would blow fuses, but not light bulbs.

Another possibility is that your voltage regulator may be allowing the alternator voltage to go too high, which would possibly result in light bulbs blowing. Need to check the charging voltage at the battery when the engine running to rule that out .