2004 viper causing me grief

cheroy

cheroy

New member
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
23
Age
51
Location
Nova Scotia Canada
2004 Viper 700S
Mileage – 3840

I recently purchased my first Yamaha sled. I have and do own other yammy toys so I figured a Yamaha sled is the only choice.

I had it out this past weekend for the first run and here is what happened

Shortly after hitting the trail I looked down to see that my speedo display was blank and it was about that time I noticed my grips and thumb warmer were no longer warm and the machine started running rough, and would bog when I came onto the gas.

I stopped and reluctantly shut er down….waited and attempted to restart. No problems there. Started easily, however the display was still out and that the head light were super dim…almost off. I unplugged the display but the head lights did not seem to come back, so I assume it’s not the display. I did notice signs of overheating of the display. The edge of the display and center button of the needle was obviously melted.

I took it up the field and found from time to time the engine would bog but that symptom slowly went away but the headlights were still dim, but the display started coming back to life but was very dim as well. I parked the machine and decided to look at it again the next day

Next day I inspected the wiring harnesses for chaffing and possible shorts to ground. The harnesses look good but it’s difficult to tell in certain areas. Really the sled looks mint under the hood so I assume all grounds are in place but I don’t know where they are in order to check them

I plugged the display back in started the machine and since then everything seems to be working fine….no bog, bright lights, and a working display.

To me this seems like some sort of intermittent electrical problem. Power for the electrical sub systems come from the magneto and cdi. That could explain the bogging and funky display and light. Speaking of light I had no warning indicators on the display prior to or after it went out (I should have saw a warning light eventhough the display was dim).

I did do some voltage check and all is within spec. I know that in order to check magneto and what nots I am required to do ohmic checks, but I did not trace the harnesses…pull apart and test….i wanted to ride. I should note the machine did get rained on pretty bad before I rode it last. Perhaps moisture playin hell with me?

Anyone else experience anything like this before? Any advice is greatly appreciated…..sorry about being long winded.
 
Tie a long string on the end that goes to the hood connector. Pull the harness out toward the rear of the sled. Inspect and repair wiring as need. Get some plastic automotive wiring loom to protect the harness from rubbing thru again.Use that string to help pull the harness back under the engine.
 
A typical spot is under/ next to the mag side carb, rubbing on the front of the tunnel. Also check the wiring behind the louvered vents in front of your knees. My buddys Viper was rubbed through against the reverse bracket and shorting out(wires coming from ignition switch) and would shut the sled down completely. Can't stress enough to check it thoroughly wherever it sets against any metal, and use method described by Stein.
 
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The edge of the display and center button of the needle was obviously melted.
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Look there. Whatever was shorted probably burned up by now though. I would open it and look.
 
well in case anyone is interested .....

found it. no wiring harness problems :)

someone had used one of those little blue wiring clips for adding something electrical at one point in time....

well those little blue add a circuit wire clips are massive pieces of junk and anyone who uses them should be shot. they are absolutly no replacement for proper solder and heat shrink.

well whatever was added was subsequently removed. in doing so the added wire was snipped of the blue clip. as it turns out there were a couple of stray wires protruding from the clip and shorting out against the steerign cloumn.....arghhhh

in the end, repaired properly, now good to go. as a matter of fact it went and it went fast. works like a top.

thanks for all your help
 
Its called a Scotch Lock connector if you were curious and I agree, whoever invented those should be dragged out in the street and shot haha, Ive seen many electrical gremlins end up being those pieces of junk connectors.
 
KneeDown said:
Its called a Scotch Lock connector if you were curious and I agree, whoever invented those should be dragged out in the street and shot haha, Ive seen many electrical gremlins end up being those pieces of junk connectors.
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If used in the manner they were designed, they work good. But they were never ment to be used in an exterior application.

Not defending them nor the dummy that uses them on a snowmobile, just pointing out they do have a purpose.

Not using the correct exterior/waterproof double wall shrink tube is nearly as silly. In fact even more so because one assumes by looking at a single wall splice/repair that it's okay. Scotch lock connectors and single wall shrink tube are ment for interior applications.

You may never have a corrosion issue with single wall shrink tube but it is NOT what is used in an application that sees moisture.
 
snomofo said:
If used in the manner they were designed, they work good. But they were never ment to be used in an exterior application.

Not defending them nor the dummy that uses them on a snowmobile, just pointing out they do have a purpose.

Not using the correct exterior/waterproof double wall shrink tube is nearly as silly. In fact even more so because one assumes by looking at a single wall splice/repair that it's okay. Scotch lock connectors and single wall shrink tube are ment for interior applications.

You may never have a corrosion issue with single wall shrink tube but it is NOT what is used in an application that sees moisture.
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Learn something everyday, never seen a scotch lock used in an enclosed situation. Corrosion was always the problem that I ran into with them too, wire was pretty much dust at that point. :o|
 
KneeDown said:
Learn something everyday, never seen a scotch lock used in an enclosed situation. Corrosion was always the problem that I ran into with them too, wire was pretty much dust at that point. :o|
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I see them used to tap into a vehicle harness for remote start, add on alarm or other such under dash applications. As long as the correct color for the correct gauge wire is used the scotch lock splice works fine.

When used under hood or other exposed areas forget it. My favorite is using them to tap into trailer wiring. U-haul trailer rental was famous for this. Now they make splice kits that plug into the exsisting hardshell.
 
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