Fried my horn wires.

[fatbiker]

Well, I'm obviously no electrical genius as I hooked up a new, bigger horn to my 2005 Max and somehow fried the horn wires and probably did other damage. My first indication that something was wrong was when I activated the left turn signal and the light on the instrument panel didn't blink. Both the front and back left turn signals worked great but not the instrument panel light. If I turn on the the right blinker everything works as it should. The second indication was when the main fuse blew and shut everything off completely. Fortunately I was not riding. As this happened I looked at the wires going to the horn and they were melting in front of my eyes. Kind of looked like a fuse to a stick of dynamite. I replaced the main fuse and the bike starts and everything works except the aforementioned items PLUS now the low fuel indicator light is on and the bike won't run unless in RES mode. The tank is full of gas.

I looked at the wiring diagram and I see that the horn ground wires connect to the turn signal ground but why is the fuel light on? Any suggestions on what it's going to take to fix the issues? I'm guessing it's more than just replacing the horn wires. Could I have damaged the turn signal relay too or maybe other components?

All suggestions appreciated!

Fatbiker

 

[ga_max]

You may have fried your switch. When I upgraded my horns I put a relay in so the horns could draw from the battery.

 

[dingy]

The stock horn circuit has 12v+ on it constantly, the switch interrupts the ground 12V- side.

If you are putting air horn (wolo) or similar, attached diagram shows how to install relay. I did this for Ventures which have 2 stock horns. Part inside dashed lines is new wiring.

Gary

 

[fatbiker]

Will check the switch when I pull it all apart.

Thanks for the diagram, I will install a relay once I get the system back to normal.

My main concern is 'What did I destroy?'. I know I'll need to replace the horn wires but how far back could the damage have gone? I'm not good with electrical so I'm wondering if I'm going to have to buy a whole new or used wiring harness to fix the damage.

Fatbiker

 

[sdt354]

I'm guessing you overloaded the shared ground side of the circuit. Only so much current can run through a wire of certain size and length, and at a certain temperature. Something to consider when changing anything electrical. You might get away with replacing some wire. Harnesses are available used.

 

[maleko89]

You should've popped your signal fuse before any damage was done. Replace that and re-check your signals, gauge lights, etc.

 

[fatbiker]

The signal fuse did pop and I did replace it but it didn't fix the left blinker problem. From the wiring diagram I can see that the turn signals share a ground wire with the horn so I'm sure replacing the horn wires will fix that problem. What I don't understand is why the FUEL light is on and the bike will only run in reserve while the tank is full of gas. I don't see anything on the wiring diagram to indicate that the FUEL light or the RES switch share a common ground or power wire with the horn. Just hoping I didn't burn up the fuel sensor or worse. I plan on working on this tomorrow and I will update. Thanks for all the input so far!

Mike S.

 

[silverado6x6]

I am using a dedicated wire from the battery with a fuse running up behind the left scoop to a Bosch relay, it's on #30 terminal, my horns are aftermarket with just one terminal so they are plugged into the #87, the two stock horn wires connect to #85 and #86 for the relay. But your horn switch itself needs to work, both wires.

 

[Miles Long]

I am using a dedicated wire from the battery with a fuse running up behind the left scoop to a Bosch relay, it's on #30 terminal, my horns are aftermarket with just one terminal so they are plugged into the #87, the two stock horn wires connect to #85 and #86 for the relay. But your horn switch itself needs to work, both wires.

That's exactly how I have my aftermarket horns (Framm Freeway Blasters) wired up. They are located inside the scoops, which have been extended to accommodate.
I also use the stock horn, but relocated it a tad - it's now just below the lower trees.
They all run off the stock horn button and wiring.
Cheers!
p.s. Mr. Silver - I see you're from Wasilla. Forgive me, but I MUST ask.......
Can you see Sarah Palin's house from where you are???????

 

[silverado6x6]

I could if I drove 11 miles, turned right, made a left and then looked down her driveway. No big deal for me, I've known her before she was even the mayor, had a beer with her and her husband back then.
Good people, they don't walk on water, part the the waves, feed thousands with a loaf of bread, they are so ordinary and real it's arguably the most profound reason they are hated and chased after by some despicable parts of our society.

 

[Miles Long]

I could if I drove 11 miles, turned right, made a left and then looked down her driveway. No big deal for me, I've known her before she was even the mayor, had a beer with her and her husband back then.
Good people, they don't walk on water, part the the waves, feed thousands with a loaf of bread, they are so ordinary and real it's arguably the most profound reason they are hated and chased after by some despicable parts of our society.

Yes, if nothing else, she certainly came across as being a "Salt of the Earth" individual, during the 08 campaign. Perhaps the Dems lost votes because she was not seen as genuine.
"Hilary vs. Sarah" in 2016 - now wouldn't that spice up the American political scene (not that it reaaly needs it)
Canadian politics are so boring compared to south of the border. Just a few instances of political intitlement - misuse of government funds and/or services.
And once in a while a male parlimentary member will be accused of sexism for a remark to a woman member. That will stay in the news for months.
Cheers!

 

[fatbiker]

Update: bike is fixed and all electrical systems work as they should.

The sun finally made an appearance here in Houston so I decided to throw on 6 layers of clothes and face the fierce 58 degree temperature. Turns out that when I installed the new horn I did not do a good enough job of securing the electrical wires so of course they decided to make contact with the exhaust header and melt which caused the short. This of course blew out my horn fuse but not before melting both wires severely. The pink wire was burned almost all the way to the connector that plugs into the left handlebar switch assembly. This was an easy wire to replace as it didn't go to far. The brown wire on the other hand melted all the way from one side of the bike to the other and required me to remove a lot of electrical tape from the main harness until I found a good section of wire. If you remove enough electrical tape you will find where the brown wire meets with 2 other brown wires and they are all soldered together. Fortunately I found good wire about 3 inches before reaching this junction. Had it melted past that junction it would have been a much harder fix. So, that solved my horn problem.

The issue with the FUEL light staying on constantly and the issue of the TURN light not working when I activated the left turn signals was NOT related to the burnt horn wires. I recently replaced all of the instrument panel light bulbs with number 74 LED's in order to make them easier to see during the day as well as to save a little electricity. I have an old 86 Max that I installed the same bulbs in and never had a problem. For the 2005 Max I installed a 3 SMD LED bulb (white) in both the FUEL light socket and the TURN light socket. I also installed a 3 SMD LED (blue) in the HIGH (beam) light socket. This caused the FUEL light to remain on at all times. With the LED installed in the TURN light socket it would only flash when I activated the right turn signals. I found that if I switched the LED bulb 180 degrees it would then only light up when I activated the left turn signals. I installed a 1 SMD LED bulb and now it works like it should. The tachometer and temperature gauges have 3 SMD LED bulbs installed and work great. So does the blue 3 SMD LED in the HIGH (beam) socket. I installed 1 SMD LED bulbs (white) in the TURN and FUEL light sockets and they work great. Clearly the 2005 Max does not like 3 SMD LED bulbs in the TURN and FUEL light sockets or I was sent defective LED bulbs.

At the same time that the horn wires were melting and the horn fuse blew the MAIN 30 amp fuse blew as well. I assume that since I was wearing a heated jacket and gloves and they were plugged into the bike that they put a strain on the system hence blowing the main fuse. I installed a new 30 amp fuse, disconnected the jacket and gloves from the bike, and everything works and the bike runs great.

Thanks to everyone who gave advice and I hope the 3 SMD LED bulb issue helps someone in the future.

Mike S.
Fatbiker

 

[silverado6x6]

Frankly I am leaving the original bulbs in my gauges, those led mini wedge bulbs give me too many headaches.