Author Topic: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???  (Read 2726 times)

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Offline olc101

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DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« on: June 27, 2011, 10:05:39 PM »
I was hooking up my battery after getting my new blinkers and taillight squared away finally everything was  working in sync as far as lights are concerned. Every thing electronic was working .As I hooked up the positive cable from the starter solenoid to the battery the top of the solenoid hit the frame and sparked. The negative battery bolt got very hot and now NOTHING COMES ON when I hook up the battery. What did I do????? ??? ???
1973 CB750

Offline HondaMan

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2011, 10:40:01 PM »
I was hooking up my battery after getting my new blinkers and taillight squared away finally everything was  working in sync as far as lights are concerned. Every thing electronic was working .As I hooked up the positive cable from the starter solenoid to the battery the top of the solenoid hit the frame and sparked. The negative battery bolt got very hot and now NOTHING COMES ON when I hook up the battery. What did I do????? ??? ???

Did you check the fuses? They are often not working so well, from the years: the clips that hold the fuses are often dark and corroded. This makes them heat up, crystallizing the solder in the fuse itself, and a sudden surge like that one can then break the fuse element. Try checking the MAIN (15 amp) fuse first, on the bottom of the three fuses. The middle one is for the headlight, the top one for the taillite.

Finally: if the fuse clips are looking gnarly, try polishing them with a stiff wire brush (a .22 caliber gun bore cleaning brush is perfect!). If they are just all done for, I make a new fuseholder that uses the blade-type ATC automotive fuses, as the last resort. ;)
See SOHC4shop@gmail.com for info about the gadgets I make for these bikes.

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Link to Hondaman Ignition: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=67543.0

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Offline olc101

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2011, 07:26:11 AM »
All the fuses are intact and the clips are in fair shape. As soon as this happened I checked them and they were fine. Is there anything else I can check for? Is it even possible to short out a harness?
1973 CB750

Offline Damfino

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #3 on: June 28, 2011, 07:50:24 AM »


Just for yucks & grins, try removing each fuse and replacing it with a new one. Sometimes a fuse can look fine when in reality it's f**ked...
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bollingball

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2011, 09:14:09 AM »
HondaMan: I would not consider your fuse holder a last resort ;) I bought one from you and wish I had done it sooner ;)
What I found even after cleaning my old fuse clips they would not hold there spring tention and would get loose in a short time and start over heating.

                             Ken

Offline HondaMan

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #5 on: June 28, 2011, 11:35:07 AM »
All the fuses are intact and the clips are in fair shape. As soon as this happened I checked them and they were fine. Is there anything else I can check for? Is it even possible to short out a harness?


That's pretty rare, and doesn't usually happen instantly unless there was prior serious damage.

From your description, the only part of the circuit I can think of that might have gotten really heated would have been the Green ground wire. This current path would have been from the terminal of the (+) battery, through the Red cable on that solenoid you hit the frame with, to the frame, then to the engine, to the Black ground cable, and back to the battery. The little Green ground wire underneath the seat lock bracket would have shared some of this current, too.

My next thought: check the battery voltage with a meter. Some of the cheap Chinese batteries we are seeing these days could potentially melt their internal busbar connections from such a high-current short. I have seen the insides of these batteries (Bikemaster comes to mind), and they are poorly cast and constructed. The Yuasa batteries are far better, and are made of purer lead, which will WAY outperform the Bikemasters I have used lately. :-/
See SOHC4shop@gmail.com for info about the gadgets I make for these bikes.

The demons are repulsed when a man does good. Use that.
Blood is thicker than water, but motor oil is thicker yet...so, don't mess with my SOHC4, or I might have to hurt you.
Hondaman's creed: "Bikers are family. Treat them accordingly."

Link to Hondaman Ignition: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=67543.0

Link to My CB750 Book: https://www.lulu.com/search?adult_audience_rating=00&page=1&pageSize=10&q=my+cb750+book

Link to website: www.SOHC4shop.com

Offline HondaMan

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #6 on: June 28, 2011, 11:36:50 AM »
HondaMan: I would not consider your fuse holder a last resort ;) I bought one from you and wish I had done it sooner ;)
What I found even after cleaning my old fuse clips they would not hold there spring tention and would get loose in a short time and start over heating.

                             Ken

Thanks, BB!
Everyone else seems to like them, too, so much that I had to temporarily pull them off the website for a few days. I ran out of the metal back plates, have to make some more, can't keep up lately. :)
See SOHC4shop@gmail.com for info about the gadgets I make for these bikes.

The demons are repulsed when a man does good. Use that.
Blood is thicker than water, but motor oil is thicker yet...so, don't mess with my SOHC4, or I might have to hurt you.
Hondaman's creed: "Bikers are family. Treat them accordingly."

Link to Hondaman Ignition: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=67543.0

Link to My CB750 Book: https://www.lulu.com/search?adult_audience_rating=00&page=1&pageSize=10&q=my+cb750+book

Link to website: www.SOHC4shop.com

Offline olc101

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #7 on: June 28, 2011, 08:45:28 PM »
I cleaned the terminals and replaced the fuses unfortunately nothing came on. I don't have a volt meter but I hooked up the original taillight to the battery just to see if it had juice and it did. The battery is always on a trickle charger as well so I take it its fully charged. If I go out and get a volt meter how much should the battery be putting out 12volts? I also tried using small bolts as fuses just to see if it would work, no go....  . What should I do next  :-\ go out and get a volt meter? a battery? a new blade fuse holder? a new harness?

This really sucks my next step was to put gas in the bike and try to fire her up, everything else is done after a two year build.
1973 CB750

Offline mrbreeze

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #8 on: June 28, 2011, 08:57:50 PM »
Sorry to hear but sh!t like this WILL happen when you play with the tricity. If ya gonna play with the tricity........then yeah....ya should have a DVOM. They can be had for cheap or you can get sophisticated and buy a top of the line model used for checking out sh!t on the space shuttle. Seriously....all you really need can be had for $15-30 or more. I'm not sure what you did but if you had the DVOM and an idea of how to use it....you can figure out what you fried right away. Good luck man!!!.....get it runnin' and quit lettin' yer smoke escape!!!
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Offline Spanner 1

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #9 on: June 28, 2011, 09:17:46 PM »
You don't need a meter.... yet. You can use the tail-light to diagnose further..... put one wire from the tail-light to the battery NEG., then touch the other t/l wire to each fuse , Main, Headlight and Taillight. With ignition. 'on' the lamp must light everytime. Be sure to touch to each end of each fuse, must light everytime if fuses good. With ign. 'off' , just the Main fuse will light the lamp, again both ends of the fuse..... try that, report back  ;) One wire stays on the Neg, battery pole for all above........

One more thing....... your battery Neg. wire could not get hot by mearly touching the solenoid post(s) to frame ( ground ). Whatever you did created a solid short circuit from battery + to battery -. You know the battery + and battery - do not both go to the solenoid, right ?.... just sayin'  :)
« Last Edit: June 28, 2011, 09:25:31 PM by Spanner 1 »
If your sure it's a carb problem; it's ignition,
If your sure it's an ignition problem; it's carbs....

Offline trueblue

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #10 on: June 29, 2011, 03:50:03 AM »
have you undone the battery terminals and cleaned them, when they get a spike like that it can cause them to lose contact.
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Offline HondaMan

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #11 on: June 29, 2011, 04:30:08 PM »
A long shot: unplug the keyswitch from the wire harness, then jumper the BLACK wire to the RED to see if the bike turns on. This would indicate a burned-out switch contact. The taillight will not turn on with this arrangement, so don't expect that: for the taillight to come on, you must also jumper the BROWN to the BROWN-WHITE at the same plug, at the same time.
See SOHC4shop@gmail.com for info about the gadgets I make for these bikes.

The demons are repulsed when a man does good. Use that.
Blood is thicker than water, but motor oil is thicker yet...so, don't mess with my SOHC4, or I might have to hurt you.
Hondaman's creed: "Bikers are family. Treat them accordingly."

Link to Hondaman Ignition: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=67543.0

Link to My CB750 Book: https://www.lulu.com/search?adult_audience_rating=00&page=1&pageSize=10&q=my+cb750+book

Link to website: www.SOHC4shop.com

Offline mrbreeze

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #12 on: June 29, 2011, 06:07:21 PM »
Did ya know that by heart or did you sit down and study the wiring diagram before you posted? (I wish more people would do that).
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Offline olc101

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #13 on: June 29, 2011, 07:11:07 PM »
I got a meter and I'm working on it at the moment. My question is, should there be continuity from the yellow or black wires of the starter solenoid to any of the top posts of the starter solenoid? There is none at the moment. How do i know if the starter solenoid is the culprit?
1973 CB750

Offline Spanner 1

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #14 on: June 29, 2011, 07:17:00 PM »
No.
If your sure it's a carb problem; it's ignition,
If your sure it's an ignition problem; it's carbs....

Offline Spanner 1

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #15 on: June 29, 2011, 07:20:35 PM »
Can ya do the tests for voltage @ the fuses ??......... with your new meter set on DC Volts, lowest setting above 12Volts. Put the black lead to the battery NEG. ( make sure it's a good connection ) then touch the red lead as described above ^^^. ( Turn the ignition on first ).
If your sure it's a carb problem; it's ignition,
If your sure it's an ignition problem; it's carbs....

Offline olc101

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #16 on: June 29, 2011, 08:01:28 PM »
There is voltage. the problem is fixed :o . All I did was to lose the flimsy wire that was running from the solenoid to battery.I think it burned up but I haven't cracked it open yet .I used a huge gauge wire running from the solenoid to the battery and hooked up the red and white wire to the solenoid by itself. My best guess is that the wire was the bad link.
1973 CB750

Offline Spanner 1

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #17 on: June 29, 2011, 08:26:47 PM »
Woohoo !... O.K., but now would be a great time to spend an hour undoing each' bullet 'connection on the wiring loom and clean and reconnect. Well worth it. Ya want a reliable bike, yeah ? Be real fastidious with that big alt. plug ( Yel/yel/yel/wht/green ) and the rectifier plug...... shine each 'spade' and be sure the two halves are mating properly... Good luck.
If your sure it's a carb problem; it's ignition,
If your sure it's an ignition problem; it's carbs....

Offline olc101

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #18 on: June 29, 2011, 09:52:55 PM »
Thanks for the help guys! 
1973 CB750

Offline HondaMan

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #19 on: June 30, 2011, 04:04:40 PM »
Thanks for the help guys! 

Glad to help.

OK: who's the girl?
See SOHC4shop@gmail.com for info about the gadgets I make for these bikes.

The demons are repulsed when a man does good. Use that.
Blood is thicker than water, but motor oil is thicker yet...so, don't mess with my SOHC4, or I might have to hurt you.
Hondaman's creed: "Bikers are family. Treat them accordingly."

Link to Hondaman Ignition: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=67543.0

Link to My CB750 Book: https://www.lulu.com/search?adult_audience_rating=00&page=1&pageSize=10&q=my+cb750+book

Link to website: www.SOHC4shop.com

Offline mrbreeze

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #20 on: June 30, 2011, 08:31:16 PM »
Thanks for the help guys! 

Glad to help.

OK: who's the girl?
Enquiring minds HAVE to know!!!!
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Offline olc101

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #21 on: July 09, 2011, 05:34:44 PM »
Good question I don't know really.... ??? haha..But she's visually entertaining.
1973 CB750

Offline olc101

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Re: DID I JUST SHORT OUT MY WIRE HARNESS???
« Reply #22 on: July 09, 2011, 05:37:47 PM »
Goggle goggled it..... She's Miranda Kerr....
1973 CB750