Blowing fuse.

[corpssgt]

Hi all. Last fall bought my wife a 2014 rs-s. It has about 600 miles on it now. We actually got some Feb. riding weather yesterday and when almost home I noticed she didn't have turn signals on the back. Looked into it today and found that it's blowing the fuse for driving lights/license plate lights. I replaced it all lights worked for a bit then out. Fuse blown again. Shoved the 20amp just to check and it got warm so pulled it out. Finally the question. Is this a common thing with the spyder? Anywhere to check before I let some kid go digging around on the bike? Thanks.

[oldguyinTX]

I would hazard a guess that it is a bad ground - battery or elsewhere - or a dead short in that circuit. Electrical problems can be a real pain, hard to trace and diagnose. I'm hoping that another forum member will have better information for you as to how you can figure this out. Best of luck.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

....Have you had a Hitch put on ???...and if so by whom ???... If the fuse isn't blowing immediately, it's going to harder to trace because it may be a slightly skinned wire that due to vibration or bouncing suspension causes the short......If the spyder is sitting still it's OK.......I hope it's still under warranty.......Mike :thumbup:

[wyliec]

Did you install anything since you purchased the spyder?

I noticed your spyder may have been put away for little bit for the winter. You don't have rodent problems, do you? Sometimes they like to nest in spyders, and chew wires.

[corpssgt]

A smooth spyder backrest is the only mod. I went ahead and pulled it off in case it goes back to the dealer.

[jtoro1]

I suspect a pinched wire in the harness and since you installed the backrest is in the general area

[GearHd]

Could be something different but last year our one week old 14 ST-L was blowing that exact fuse. We brought it back to the dealer and they found a connector had popped out of the back of the fuse block. It was shorting against something. It's been fine ever since.

Also, ours had only about 200 miles in it before it started to blow the fuse. Its got 4500 on it now and hasn't blown another fuse since. The ST and RS are very similar in chassis and wiring.

[wyliec]

A smooth spyder backrest is the only mod. I went ahead and pulled it off in case it goes back to the dealer.

Since your spyder is still in warranty, taking it to the dealer is a good idea, as is removing the backrest.

[corpssgt]

Could be something different but last year our one week old 14 ST-L was blowing that exact fuse. We brought it back to the dealer and they found a connector had popped out of the back of the fuse block. It was shorting against something. It's been fine ever since.

Also, ours had only about 200 miles in it before it started to blow the fuse. Its got 4500 on it now and hasn't blown another fuse since. The ST and RS are very similar in chassis and wiring.


Good info there. Thanks for that. I really hate letting a dealer touch my bikes. I ride a Concours14 and i'm not afraid to tear into the maintenance. I've adjusted the valves and done all the other maintenance on it. It would seem with all the extra room in the spyder it would be much easier to work on.

[GearHd]

You're welcome. I'm with you, I hate dealers touching my stuff. I looked at the basics trying to find the issue but I gave up after a while. The dealer only had it a day and they did a good job. They also replaced the battery while it was there.

[DrewNJ]

Check the wires that run to the rear license plate light. They run along the right side of the fender bracket IIRC and I've heard of a few falling out of the clips and wearing through.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[Chupaca]

Seeing as you are not afraid to dig in.. elimination could help. disconnect the possible culprits and re connect one by one to see if it is one of those circuits. If not then go to the harness. I have old breaker fuses (don't know if you can even get them anymore) that pop and then reset which make life a little easier when chasing electrical problems..:gaah:

[billybovine]

Some good suggestions. I would start by unplugging the licence plate light. Connector on the right side of the swing arm. Also the the front fender tip lights. The connector is on the A-arm. Don't' remember if it is the upper or lower. If that's not it. Then I would start disconnecting the the more main connectors. To help with that get the service manual available online. The wiring diagram will give you the connector code names. A table on the diagram will give you the zone. There is a diagram of the zone locations. If you need any help decoding the wiring diagram you can PM me.

[corpssgt]

Found a dealer that can get to it pretty quick and since I don't have the wiring diagrams I guess I'll run it up to them. Need to get a service manual on this thing. Thanks for all the replies.

[GearHd]

I'd remind them of the fuse box, I'd hedge my bets on that being the cause.

[corpssgt]

Wife said her bike can't go to the dealer. Anyone with a manual want to chase down the diagram for me. Plan is to unplug rear turns front running lights, license plate and rear running lights anything I'm forgetting. I'll plug one in at a time till the fuse blows. I bought five fuses and don't want to blow them all too quick. Also gonna check out the back of the fuse block.

[GearHd]

It can't go to the dealer? Why? And I'll bet it's not a light.

[corpssgt]

It can't go to the dealer? Why? And I'll bet it's not a light.
Because she knows I can fix it. I don't have the service manual yet. I guess I taught her right. Nobody loves your bike like you do. I'm betting it's either a scuffed wire or behind the fuse block but you gotta troubleshoot to find out. It's not rocket science. I'm an electronics tech so this isn't a big deal just don't have the manual or wiring diagrams to help.

[GearHd]

The beauty of dealers is they've usually seen this before so they know right where to look. My dealer had seen the fuse block issue before so they knew right where to look. Like you said, it's not rocket science and that's what a warranty is for. Good luck.

[corpssgt]

Really don't mean to sound anything but appreciative for help on the site. There are good dealers and mechanics and not so great. I haven't delt with the Canam dealers in the area so I don't have the trust with them yet. When I took delivery of the bike the front tires had 7psi. Seems like a bad deal to me. No trust there. Hopefully one of the other dealers in my area will earn my trust. Just hasn't happened yet.

[corpssgt]

Just in case this happened to another someday I'll update. I disconnected all connectors to the lights that the wires go to. Once I got them all disconnected put a new fuse in turned the key and pop fuse blew. Dead short somewhere. Having never taken the plastics off and I'm going out of town for a week I dropped it at the dealer. Here is where my trust issues pop up. He didn't know where the parking brake was when he went to pull it into the shop. 😵 I update when they find the cause.

[GearHd]

Wow, now I see what your fears are. Believe me, I hate dealers too but my worst fear was there was a short buried in the harness somewhere and I wanted no part of that. I figured if they messed something up they'd be on the hook to fix it, not me.

I had a brand new car with an issue that the dealer messed up so bad that the factory wound up lemon lawing it.

[corpssgt]

Update: Turns out it was a shorted wire before the plugs to the turn signals. Dealer found it pretty quick. I haven't gotten in there yet to see what fix he used i.e. electrical tape or whatever. Thanks for the replies.

Corpssgt