2002-10-08
Another electrical gremlin rears its ugly head
Electrical problems seem to be my personal nemesis. My instruments went out today although, fortunately, the headlight continued to operate. What could the problem be this time? I was determined to solve this one on my own but just to make it interesting-- I hadn't brought the old, tattered printout of the wiring diagram that I made in China. Dumb. Now I had to track down the problem without the diagram or surrender and take it to a dealer.
The symptoms were:
The last symptom was particularly puzzling and without a wiring diagram it would be impossible to understand why the high beam indicator was malfunctioning as it was.
I removed the fairing and took the cover off the junction box that sits below the instruments (pictured.) The first thing I did was to wiggle the wiring harness and see if it made any difference. It did! Hey, the wiggle tests works! The lights came on and off as I wiggled the wires. There had to be a loose or broken connection somewhere. Unfortunately, after a few wiggles, it no longer affected the result. I must have wiggled something so loose the connection was entirely lost.
But how to proceed without a diagram? I pulled out my little voltmeter and began to take readings with the switch on and then off. But with no diagram, and no working bike to compare with, I was only wasting time.
Will I have to give up and take it to a dealer? It was a depressing thought. At least I wasn't stuck in China. There were plenty of Kawasaki dealers here. But I didn't want to give up. I stared at it and kept staring at it. I started to look at each individual wire. And then I saw it. A couple of loose copper strands! There was the loose connection! I remembered how it happened. Helge and I were looking for the electrical short in Nanjing. He cut some of the wires and later reconnected them with a crimp. They were coming loose from the crimp. I held them together, turned on the key, and the instrument lights came on. I reconnected the wires, put on a fresh crimp and wrapped it in tape. I suspect, though I can't be completely certain, this was also the source of the slow turn signal. Hurray for a small victory!