Cal 1400 Lighting/horn fuse blows at random (SOLVED!)

[John in PA]

It's the 15A fuse which covers the following, according to the owner's manual :Low beam/high beam, passing, brake lights, daylight running lights (if applicable), hazard button illumination, horn.

This fuse has blown twice, seeming at random, in the 1200 or so miles I have put on the bike since new. This doesn't exactly make me really comfortable riding the bike at night or in traffic.   I'm aware of the potentially loose taillight wiring under the back fender. I've checked it, mine seems to be up out of the way, and stable.  Running the bike, everything working fine, and the fuse blows out of the blue, yielding a "SERVICE" indicator on the dash display.  I've tried running daylight LED's, headlights only, headlights with fog lights, high/low beams, honk horn, etc, working handlebars back and forth from lock to lock, all combinations that I can think of.  I can't induce the fuse to blow, yet it blew again the other day, again, not even using any switches, horn, etc.

Any known headlight wiring issues in the current Eldorado/California headlight similar to the problems in the Norges years ago?

I might get someone to apply the brake and wiggle those fender wires to see if I can get it to act up.  Other suggestions?

[John in PA]

Bump?

[Kiwi_Roy]

Can you post a close up of the blown fuse failing that describe how large the gap is.

[Kiwi Dave]

Try measuring the current flowing through the 15A fuse.  You may be close to it's fusing value.  Perhaps just increasing it to a 20A may make the problem disappear.  If it doesn't then you have to keep diving in.

[John in PA]

I'm thinking more like a "make and break short" somewhere, triggered by random vibration.  I can hit the horn (big draw), high/low beams, with without fog lamps lit also, and it doesn't blow.  Yet, I can be riding along with NONE of those drawing, and it will blow without warning.  I did put a 20A in as  a bit of insurance, but if it goes again, I guess I'll have to do some serious detective work.

[Kiwi_Roy]

John,
         If you look at the blown fuses the ones that have been blown by a short often look different, a large gap rather than a small gap caused by a simple overload.

My technique in looking for an intermittent fault is to replace the fuse with a headlamp bulb, the filament is low enough in resistance to supply most loads with little Voltage drop, both filaments in parallel for larger loads like yours then start wiggling wires, the lamp will flash each time you get a short and you quickly zero in on the problem with no more fuses blown.

[John in PA]

Sounds like an excellent troubleshooting procedure.  Hopefully I won't need to use it (knocking wood, fingers crossed!!) 

[Kiwi_Roy]

Sounds like an excellent troubleshooting procedure.  Hopefully I won't need to use it (knocking wood, fingers crossed!!) 

So how many fuses have you blown now John?

[John in PA]

SOLVED!

I remember being taught a mantra in veterinary school that when working out a diagnosis to remember these four words: "Common things are common." I knew to look for the "dangling wiring under the back fender" issue, and had checked that area once or twice, and even made *sure* the wires were attached to their little OEM keeper under the fender, supposedly out of harm's way.

BUT, at the WNY rally, as John Henry and I were comparing notes and mods on our 2016 Eldorados, John, who knew about my fuse issue, looked much more closely and noticed that the wires had come off their keeper again, and had indeed had insulation worn away, exposing conductor material in such a way that, no doubt, a short would occur at random from time to time.  Fortunately, I had electrical tape and zip ties in my toolkit, and we did a field repair to the damaged taillight wires and then ziptied them to the fender underframe in such a way that they'll never accidentally come loose again.

Takeaways?

"Common things are common" enough that if a known issue exists, explore it *deeply* before crossing it off the list of "possibles."


Get a buddy to double-check your work just in cases a second pair of eyes/brain cells will pick up something you missed or didn't consider. (KUDOS and many thanks, John Henry!!)


In this particular case, the OEM clip retainers that are  supposed to hold the multi-pin connectors and wires tight against the inside of the fender and away from the rear tire are WOEFULLY INADEQUATE.  Whether it's just vibration, an occasional piece of road debris thrown up,, or a strong bump that compresses rear suspension enough get the tire to touch the connector and remove it from its perch, the factory retainers are not to be trusted.  I would strongly urge all Cal 1400 owners to zip tie the connectors and wires for taillights and turn signals to the frame under the rear fender behind the license plate, as this location puts those vital connections furthest from the rear tire.

And, as my case is not an isolated issue, I think this should be an NHTSA recall, and for those of us aware, including dealers, this definitely merits a preemptive strike, since for the cost of a few zip ties, a tragedy could be averted.  When that fuse blows, not only are taillights lost, but headlights, running lights, brake lights and horn.  Bad enough to lose those things in the daylight, but how about at night?

 Disaster looms otherwise...

[Kiwi Dave]

Another thing to check on the Cali 1400 rear end is the bolts that hold the rear fender (mudguard) to the frame, and those to the little sub frame at the rear.  There was a bulletin I recall when the Cali 1400 was first released, but Loctite has met its match here.

[John in PA]

Thanks for the heads-up, Dave. Do the Eldos have essentially the same attachment points?  And are you saying Locktite does the trick, or that some other approach is better?

[Kiwi Dave]

Thanks for the heads-up, Dave. Do the Eldos have essentially the same attachment points?  And are you saying Locktite does the trick, or that some other approach is better?

I'm not sure about the Eldo, I don't own one, but it's essentially the same bike with a different rear fender.  Perhaps it doesn't have the same problems.

Loctite didn't stop me losing some replacement bolts.  Regular attention is the key.