Blowing main fuse on 12 TE310

[Zeke Contreras]

I have an issue with my bike blowing the main fuse and still haven't found the root cause.
It first left me stranded in the desert by blowing the main fuse after 30 minutes of riding. The bike would just turn off and roll to a stop with all the lights on the dash off.

If I would pop in a new 15A fuse, then it would be back up again. After popping in a new fuse, it would blow another one within a few minutes and all the way back to camp.
I started unplugging my head lights, turn signals, and rear lights after each time it blew a fuse to see if it was one of those components. It kept blowing the fuse after removing those components.

I already looked under the tank for exposed wires since it sounds like a short. I wasn't able to find anything obvious. I also tried replacing the fuel filter thinking the fuel pump was working too hard to cause it blow. The fuel pump is priming when I hit the run/kill switch.

It does seem to blow consistently once the bike has warmed up. When the bike is cold, the main fuse doesn't blow if I take it for a quick ride.

I kinda gave up on the problem and dropped it off at George at Uptite. He also rode it around behind his shop and of course it didn't blow. He certainly seems pretty reputable here on Cafe Husky so I'm confident he will find the problem.

Has anyone else had a similar problem to mine? I saw other threads about corroded connectors as a possible issue.

 

[OlderHuskyRider]

Is the main fuse on your bike a 15 amp fuse?

 

[Zeke Contreras]

Yep, its a 15amp fuse.

 

[jrsride2002]

I had a similar problem on a different bike, in my past. I found it to be a pinched wire. Pinched between the plastic fender and steel frame....

Just a thought. Best of luck bud,
~Junior

 

[Shovelhead85]

Yep, its a 15amp fuse.

I looked at the wiring diagram for your bike- we can narrow it down with semi-low confidence to the green wire (kinda shorter?) that goes to the power relay OR the (much longer) green-with-a-red-stripe wire, which powers the important stuff: injector, 02 sensor, coil, and the fuel pump (but not ECU directly).

An aside: there is an off-chance that the power relay has an internal problem and is causing this short, but realistically its gonna be the green/red wire or one of its components somewhere. Here is a simple rule for you to follow to ID this problem: ANY/EVERY green/red wire on your bike needs to be inspected, especially at the terminal ends. Look for small rubs, pinches, burns, melts, arcs, loose or exposed wire strands, etc.... you'll find it eventually. Don't forget to give a good look to the sheath or conduit the wire may be routed through.

If I was gonna lay any money on it, I'd a take hard a look at the Oxygen sensor wire- it is living in a pretty harsh environment and exposed. The coil would be my next guess; then maybe the injector. And I doubt if it's the fuel pump wire (at least internally; maybe where it goes into the tank).

Please let us know if you find it- especially if I blew the diagnosis. Thanks.

PS- if your bike is a '12 TE 310, the manual/wiring diagram you are using ('13) is way wrong... completely different wiring looms and colors (and if you have a '13, change my advice to red/orange). But the components are close. Funny thing: in your image, the starter relay fuse (#15 with arrow) is a spare; I believe you can see the actual 20 amp ATM fuse (bigger guy) just behind it on the other side. Also, I have found quite a few errors in the wiring diagrams (wire color mostly, but in this example the fuse is diagrammed as a 15amp, called out as a 30amp [green, yours?], but the pic shows a 20amp fuse which is what is installed [yellow, mine]) so be aware of that. I have a '14 TE 310 but I have not found a service manual for it (parts manual: yes) so I've been using the '13 book- and, except for some small things (e.g., '14s have oil drain bolts/magnets), it seems to be the same. If anybody can point me in the right direction of an existing service manual, I'd appreciate it.

 

[Zeke Contreras]

The wire for the rear brake light and tail lights come between the fender and steel frame near the battery. It does look tight there, but I disconnected the lights in the rear and it still blew the main fuse.

A friend of mine was telling me that it could be the voltage regulator and a spike of current might blow the fuse as well.

 

[Shovelhead85]

Couple of clarifications and corrections (I should wait until I'm sober before writing I guess): The green wire goes into the power relay. The green wire with the red stripe is coming out of the power relay. The power relay itself is switched (controlled) by the ECU via the yellow wire w/ a green stripe.

the starter relay fuse (#15 with arrow) is a spare; I believe you can see the actual 20 amp ATM fuse (bigger guy) just behind it on the other side.

whoops- I am always getting ATM & ATC fuses mixed up (grrrrr- and I just found out that ATC & ATO fuses are pretty much the same thing. This after 30 years of mild confusion). The 3 fuses on the right side of the bike are the tiny ATMs (15 & 20 amps); the single fuse on the left side of the bike (and a spare?) is a regular ATC. Yours may be a 30amp (green), mine is a 20amp (yellow). And, in the end- probably has nothing to do with your problem.

Quick tip: you can sometimes use the little ATM fuses to replace a regular ATC... but the legs, which are skinner in width, are also thicker in depth, so be judicious. Those suckers are hard enough to get out of their own sockets.

 

[Zeke Contreras]

An aside: there is an off-chance that the power relay has an internal problem and is causing this short, but realistically its gonna be the green/red wire or one of its components somewhere. Here is a simple rule for you to follow to ID this problem: ANY/EVERY green/red wire on your bike needs to be inspected, especially at the terminal ends. Look for small rubs, pinches, burns, melts, arcs, loose or exposed wire strands, etc.... you'll find it eventually. Don't forget to give a good look to the sheath or conduit the wire may be routed through.

I got my bike back from Uptite and the problem was still not fixed. I rode it for a short mile before it blew again. I had some time this weekend to take a look at it.
I believe I got it narrowed down to the harness for the left hand switch as being the problem. I haven't got it to blow the fuse yet while this is unplugged. I still neeed to do some more riding to confirm.
It did look like the cable for the horn was pinched where it went through the frame and also where it was tucked behind the radiator plastics. The horn has the green and red wire that you are talking about. For the time being, I just moved the horn cable above the radiator hose where it passes through the frame and also left the wire hang in front of the radiator plastics. The connecter for this harness also has a brown spot (burn maybe) near one of the ends, but I don't see the wire cut open near that.

If it still doesn't blow, then I'm going to have to cut the loom open and inspect the wires on that section of harness. I feel like I finally made some progress on this since it hasn't blown.

 

[Shovelhead85]

I got my bike back from Uptite and the problem was still not fixed. I rode it for a short mile before it blew again. I had some time this weekend to take a look at it.

Hi Zeke-

First- could you please pm me with your email address? I'm still on double-super-secret probation and it took 1 day shy of two weeks for my last two posts to appear. And that's also why your post took so long to appear- it was sandwiched between two of mine waiting in the "approval queue".

2nd- using the correct manual & picture from the 2012 TE 310 shop manual (pg M.11, top photo), please indicate exactly which fuse is blowing (say to me: Fuse 14, Fuse 15, or Fuse 16; or an alternative is to tell me exactly the color combinations of the 2 wires coming out of the blown fuse holder. Now that I think about it, definitely give me both wire's color combos from the blown fuse holder- just in case someone has moved the fuse holders around).

3rd- the horn does not have a green & red wire... although, according to the wiring diagram, it has a green and black wire. However, I have found some errors in my 2014 310's wiring diagram so I'm not gonna bet my life on this. Speaking of errors: the "kinda shorter green wire" mentioned a couple of posts above should read "gray wire". I blame the Italians- instead of using "Gr" as the abbreviation for "green" in the wiring diagram, to them it means "gray" (hey, throw me a bone- I was slightly drunk at the time ).

4th- hold off on the exploratory surgery (cutting the loom) for a bit; let's narrow this thing down first. And think about any wiring mods or work you've done on the bike in the last couple of months; it might be a clue.

I'm thinking we can solve this. Also, if you don't have the right manual LMK when you pm me and I'll email you a copy (and definitely pm me your email address so I can help you figure this out)

later,
Scott

 

[Zeke Contreras]

I'm thinking we can solve this. Also, if you don't have the right manual LMK when you pm me and I'll email you a copy (and definitely pm me your email address so I can help you figure this out)

It seems I may have solved my problem after taking this bike apart many times. I have ridden at least 25 miles now without it blowing up. It would normally blow within 5 miles of riding. I did find a burn mark on a plastic connector from the left hand switch that was sitting inside the frame between the radiators. I didn't find exposed wire, but wonder if it could have been pressing against the radiator and arcing from the terminals. I just taped that section up really good with electrical tape.
I'm still skeptical, but will keep riding.