2001 California Special wiring problem

[Luap McKeever]

Trying to get my wifes Cali ready for re-inspection and hit the turn signals...nothing.    Check the fuse and it is blown.  Replace the fuse, hit the signals again and smoke coming from the right side under the tank, after a slight flicker on the dash turn signal indicator.  Oddly enough, the fuse didn't blow this time, but there are two wiring harness connections on the right side that get very hot. Pulled the tank and stripped the sleeve back to reveal a melted brown wire in one of the harness connectors.  Now the headlights dont work. But the fuse block also gets very hot without blowing any fuses.

These two wiring harnesses go up into the dash. I'm thinking the problem would be in the dash somewhere, but wanted to throw this out there in case someone else has had a similar problem.

Thanks in advance.

[Kiwi_Roy]

Luap,
         The brown (marrone) wire may be the one from ignition switch terminal 3.
The reason it's not blowing a fuse, there is none in the ignition switch circuit so proceed with caution.

The Brown wire goes back to the fuse block to feed fuse 3 & 4 since the fuse block is getting hot without blowing a fuse I suspect you have a short to chassis there.

Its to take care of a situation Like this I have been advocating adding a large fuse 35 - 40 Amps where the small wires join the battery

Update,
It may be the wire colour is throwing me off as the flashers show up on terminal 2 of the switch VE which goes to fuse 2 feeding the flasher circuit and also the tail light Dusty's rear fender might be a good place to start looking perhaps the tail wire has melted into the flasher wire somewhere.
I often find using a lamp in series with the battery helps locate a short, unplug the ECU and headlight bulb. The lamp will flash if you create a short or go out when you lift it

[Kiwi_Roy]

You have seen what can happen with unfused wiring, it would be easy enough to get 150 Amps in the red wire from battery to switch and the brown wire back to the fuses. Depending on how hot the wires got they may still be ok.
This is how I suggest to proceed.
Unplug the ECU for safety
Unplug the headlight at connector (4) just below the headlight - just to shed the load
Wire a headlamp globe in series with the battery as I showed in sketch sent earlier
(this lamp will provide a decent amount of current but limited to a safe level, it also gives a very visual indication of current into the loom)
Turn the key on, hopefully the lamp will light brightly to show you still have a short (the ones that disappear are the hardest to find)
Open and close the Kill Switch to eliminate a short past there
Pull each fuse one at a time
Put the fuses back
Unplug the two connectors (27) & (28) leading to the tail area
If at any time the Test Light goes out it indicates you are narrowing in on the problem.


Do you have mice in the garage, they love to chew on wires.

Don't you have any special privilege, your post was threatening to slip off page 1  ;D

[Luap McKeever]

Thanks for the advice fellas.  I found and fixed the problem.  It was behind the dash/indicator panel. Still unknown how it could happen, I've never been in there at all.

Don't you have any special privilege, your post was threatening to slip off page 1  ;D

No special privilege here.  I try to follow the rules too  ;D

Thanks for the diagrams. It helped for sure.