Had a meltdown today!

super1c

super1c

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Freeland & Otsego lake, MI
Well we got one more ride in. The trails were the best they have been all year. Little dirty and icy in the corners but no traffic and groomed trails all day. Heading home my sled just quit like i hit the kill switch and it was smoking like mad from under the engine. LIft the hood and find my harness melted from the coil all the way to the harness. So i undo the harness to find the ground melted and melted into the other wires causing the sled to shut down. Seperated the wires, taped them up and the sled fired right up. Everything worked perfect. Lights, warmers, all three cylinders, perfect?????? Got home pulled it all apart and it melted all the way up to the common ground at the harness. THe coils apear to be fine as the sled ran great. Any ideas what happened??? A rub through that shorted out?? Looking for any help on why this happened. I will have to go through each wire and cut, splice, and cover. Now i need a harness from the coils to the harness. Here are some pic's of my meltdown. You can see the bare ground.
 

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I see it.Man it all looks like a plate of spaghetti .I wander why it would happen like this .Always a first time for everything I guess..get her repaired now..
 
Thats weird.. my Yamaha raptor 660 did the same exact thing once. It was the ground also. Maybe trace where that wire goes to in the service manual and it might give a clue. When I fixed it, I used a 10 gauge for the ground and never had a problem since.
 
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It looks like it started at the coil and melted to the harness. That's why I can't figure it out. The harness is fine past the ground connection at the harness. Would a short at the harness end cause the ground to melt starting at the coil? Why did this happen is my struggle. I don't want to put it back together to have it melt again.
 
That's wierd. Haven't really ever seen one do that before. I had a similiar issue on a boat i bought last year because they had power going into a ground wire and it burnt one wire all the way up through the harness and caused a real mess. Hopefully you can get it figured out. If you need a new harness send me a pm, I have a couple.
 
Another question is would my apex bars with heated grips run in parallel or the HID's have anything to do with this?? Just thinking out loud looking for answer's. Its only the ground that burned up. :o| :o| :o| :o| Im at a loss so far as why it did this.
 
Wiring harnesses on Motorcycles and cars will do that to their wiring harnesses after installing auxilary driving lights without a load carrying relay.
That would be my opinion of whats happened here.
 
sideshowBob said:
Wiring harnesses on Motorcycles and cars will do that to their wiring harnesses after installing auxilary driving lights without a load carrying relay.
That would be my opinion of whats happened here.
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I can give an AMEN on that statement. A buddy put a set of second hand HID PIAA's on his jeep.......After nearly burning down his rig he bought first hand relays! These were approx 3"x5" rectangular bulbs/housings though, not sure what your running Super1c.
 
sideshowBob said:
Wiring harnesses on Motorcycles and cars will do that to their wiring harnesses after installing auxilary driving lights without a load carrying relay.
That would be my opinion of whats happened here.
Click to expand...
Why would that happen? Just trying to understand as the hid's use less power to run once lit.
 
I am not an expert on HIDs...but common sense tells me because the bulbs draw less energy and the HID system provides a lot more light, light is energy...like anything else nothing comes for free...the Ballasts must have a large amperage draw, especially on startup.

JM.02c
 
You either had a dead short (to the ground wires), or the ground wires and/or connections were not adequate for the load you are running. I tend to suspect a failed component shorted out to the ground wires. You had some significant current on that ground wire to melt the insulation. Did you forget to hook up an engine to chassis ground wire, or have a break in one of the wires or connections?

The best way to keep it from happening again is to upgrade the ground wires and connections, and test all components for power draw and shorting out.
 
Ding said:
You either had a dead short (to the ground wires), or the ground wires and/or connections were not adequate for the load you are running. I tend to suspect a failed component shorted out to the ground wires. You had some significant current on that ground wire to melt the insulation. Did you forget to hook up an engine to chassis ground wire, or have a break in one of the wires or connections?

The best way to keep it from happening again is to upgrade the ground wires and connections, and test all components for power draw and shorting out.
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Not sure if somthing came loose or rubbed through. I have been running all components all season, over 1000 mile without any trouble. I'll look for a short or signs of rub through. Once I stopped and taped it all up it ran fine another hour home?? I am running heated shield, GPS and hid's all wired to battery if that makes a difference.
 
In that case I think you simply lost a ground connection. I would simply upgrade and replace all ground wires and connections. Some times a wire can have a break in the conductor with no visible signs in the insulation. Doesn't hurt to run some current down it to test it out.
 
Ding said:
In that case I think you simply lost a ground connection. I would simply upgrade and replace all ground wires and connections. Some times a wire can have a break in the conductor with no visible signs in the insulation. Doesn't hurt to run some current down it to test it out.
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Thanks guys, looks like I'll have a mini summer project after all.
 
super1c said:
Thanks guys, looks like I'll have a mini summer project after all.
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If you looking for a not so mini project I have an SRX or two your more than welcome to give the Super1c treatment to.....you gotta bring it back when your done. From your "vipers go 144" and "father/daughter viper project" you know your way around all 3 them vipers. Not to mention the "XTC ditchbanger". Just a matter of time before you have it tracked down.
 
Ding said:
In that case I think you simply lost a ground connection. I would simply upgrade and replace all ground wires and connections. Some times a wire can have a break in the conductor with no visible signs in the insulation. Doesn't hurt to run some current down it to test it out.
Click to expand...

thats was my first thought too. a bad ground somewhere either from a loose or corroded connection. Or from a common problem from rebuilds (automotive or otherwise) everthing gets fresh paint, which looks great, but the ground connections need to be buffed back down to bare metal. I've seen this a few times with car restorations. just something to look at.
 
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