Ok.....it’s been a baaaaad day. Woke up this morning in Stecoah, NC ready for a fantastic day of riding. Turned the key (2015 c14) and I got a low battery indicator on the display. I checked with the local auto parts store and eureka! They had my battery. They loan me tools and I start swapping the battery. All was going well until I had a black and yellow wire ( in a solid black sheath) that I “thought” wired to the positive post. I get it all buttoned up and start to attach the ground to the frame and I get sparks and the black an yellow wire wire melts before I can remove the ground. I am afraid I have fried my wiring harness. Any input, advice, condolences accepted.....
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Probably Fried my Wiring Harness (C14 2015)
- Thread starter 208377
- Start date
Check and most likely replace the 30 Main fuse on the starter relay. Check to see how far the wire is damaged as well, post a few pics as well.
As for replacing the harness,,, good luck, Just the main harness costs $1065 from ronayers. As well as it suxs to install!
As for replacing the harness,,, good luck, Just the main harness costs $1065 from ronayers. As well as it suxs to install!
Probably not the fuse. Power went out on that black/ yellow wire to everywhere that wire hooked up to. It will have acted as the fuse and carried current until it burned through at some location. I don't have a c14 to trace that wire back. The most current will have gone to other ground points. (Direct Short) The additional damage could be from the heat melting insulation on wires in contact with it. That wire needs to be unwrapped as far back as it is damaged and the wires next to it inspected.
This chart may be of some assistance, thanks to Fred Harmon, though it's of the series 1 model.
Jpd 11958 is correct. IT looks like the 30 amp fuse is behind the starter relay. A direct line from the frame ground to the positive side of the battery won't go through that fuse. The wire acted as the fuse when it melted and opened the circuit. See attached close up of the wiring diagram from Fred.
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How do I upload pictures from iCloud? Or is there an easier way?
And....has anyone on here ever replaced the wiring harness yourself?
If you have pix on your phone, do this....no acct required:
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Ok....hope you guys can make heads or tells out of this. I tried creating a patch between the thoroughly burned through pieces. One looks like it was braided copper only, no sheath. Can anyone confirm that? and.... the ground that leaves the battery (Black yellow) where does it go?
after I created the patch to resolve what I thought were the issues, I tried to turn it on and no dice....does it matter that I have the gas tank off? Would I have to reinstall the tank before testing to see if my grounds were good?
after I created the patch to resolve what I thought were the issues, I tried to turn it on and no dice....does it matter that I have the gas tank off? Would I have to reinstall the tank before testing to see if my grounds were good?
When I look at the schematic, If I understand you properly, you supplied positive 12V through a ground wire that leads to:
1. frame ground &
2. Joint connector 8 &
3. Joint connector 9
I would hope that it was a direct short circuit back to frame ground and no where else.
However, electrons will seek all paths when possible.
You will have to cut open that harness to isolate and inspect each wire to locations 1,2, & 3.
I would trace the burned ground wire to the next frame ground and verify it has not burned open.
I would inspect each wire along that path to make sure it did not melt open any other wires.
I would check to make sure each wire is not melted and welded to the ground wire along that path.
I would ohm out all the wires in along that path to connectors 8 & 9.
I would not apply power to anything until you are 100% sure each wire is in good shape.
I also wonder if it would be a good idea to install a 30A fuse in that ground path to prevent a future mishap?
Here is the tool I use to troubleshoot wire harnesses.
It is worth its weight in gold if you know how to use it.
The Model 620 can weed out shorts, Opens, intermittent opens, and intermittent shorts.
Sorry you had this problem. Whenever I'm working around my battery I take photos and work with extreme fear of an explosion, wearing safety goggles and light gloves.
In my opinion, this is a design flaw, having three or more wires leading to the battery. I believe there should only be two, that being the GROUND lead and +12V lead. I have almost made the same mistake myself.
Good luck.
1. frame ground &
2. Joint connector 8 &
3. Joint connector 9
I would hope that it was a direct short circuit back to frame ground and no where else.
However, electrons will seek all paths when possible.
You will have to cut open that harness to isolate and inspect each wire to locations 1,2, & 3.
I would trace the burned ground wire to the next frame ground and verify it has not burned open.
I would inspect each wire along that path to make sure it did not melt open any other wires.
I would check to make sure each wire is not melted and welded to the ground wire along that path.
I would ohm out all the wires in along that path to connectors 8 & 9.
I would not apply power to anything until you are 100% sure each wire is in good shape.
I also wonder if it would be a good idea to install a 30A fuse in that ground path to prevent a future mishap?
Here is the tool I use to troubleshoot wire harnesses.
It is worth its weight in gold if you know how to use it.
The Model 620 can weed out shorts, Opens, intermittent opens, and intermittent shorts.
Sorry you had this problem. Whenever I'm working around my battery I take photos and work with extreme fear of an explosion, wearing safety goggles and light gloves.
In my opinion, this is a design flaw, having three or more wires leading to the battery. I believe there should only be two, that being the GROUND lead and +12V lead. I have almost made the same mistake myself.
Good luck.
Looking at just the last photo. I can see additional damage to other wires. No you will not have a bare copper wire in the bundle, the insulation has been melted off. You will have to keep opening up the harness to find and fix all damaged wires. Hooking a ground wire directly to the positive terminal is a direct short and that wire will get red hot like right now. You just can't disconnect it fast enough. Minor damage to other wires might be able to be fixed with liquid electrical tape. Brush on insulation coating, but the main wire will need to be replaced, end to end.
You hooked a ground wire to the positive terminal of the battery and it melted. With any luck when it melted it did not short any of the lines from the ECU Modules. This may not be as bad as it looks. This by itself would not cause the main 30 amp fuse to blow.
You will need to repair any damage that the heated wire did to the other wires and than replace the Black/Yellow wire. Unplug the 2 modules located under the rear of the seat. I would use a current limited power supply at this time to power up the motorcycle. Do not try to start the bike!! I would than power down and reconnect each module separately and reapply power with the power supply. If the bike does not draw excessive current with both modules reconnected, take the power supply off and reconnect the battery.
Good Luck!
You will need to repair any damage that the heated wire did to the other wires and than replace the Black/Yellow wire. Unplug the 2 modules located under the rear of the seat. I would use a current limited power supply at this time to power up the motorcycle. Do not try to start the bike!! I would than power down and reconnect each module separately and reapply power with the power supply. If the bike does not draw excessive current with both modules reconnected, take the power supply off and reconnect the battery.
Good Luck!
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Question for those who have worked on all series of the ZG1400...neither my '08 nor my '12 has a black/yellow-striped wire that has a ring terminal on it in the vicinity of the battery connections.
There is, however, a wire of the same color with a blue connector that's attached to the battery box clamp. You unplug the connector when removing the battery for service. Did Kawasaki change this at some point?
There is, however, a wire of the same color with a blue connector that's attached to the battery box clamp. You unplug the connector when removing the battery for service. Did Kawasaki change this at some point?
Are you moving ahead with the repairs from the shop?
I recognize not the way one would like to spend a month - would think you could locate a totaled C14 and steal the harness and other components as needed.
Have you checked with you MC insurance, there may be something on there to help?
5K is a lot of money - if you have exhausted all efforts and made that choice I get it, just seems to be too much a bite for me...
I hope, whatever direction you take, you're back onto your MC soon with many smiles that helps you forget about this incident.
I recognize not the way one would like to spend a month - would think you could locate a totaled C14 and steal the harness and other components as needed.
Have you checked with you MC insurance, there may be something on there to help?
5K is a lot of money - if you have exhausted all efforts and made that choice I get it, just seems to be too much a bite for me...
I hope, whatever direction you take, you're back onto your MC soon with many smiles that helps you forget about this incident.
Ok....so this is how it all finally played out..as a last ditch effort I contacted my insurance company. I explained to them what happened including all of the gorey details. They indicated that it would be covered by my comprehensive policy and that an adjuster would be contacting me in the next few days. This was a couple of weeks ago. Long story short, they did cover it and I picked up a new Vstrom 1050xt Adventure today. Whoop!
Glad you checked the insurance - I anticipate the C14 repair / replacement parts would have cost more than your insurance deductible and hopefully no jump in rates. I thought insurance was a long shot but worth the call.
So - was the C14 then totaled and they took ownership or did insurance repair and you traded?
Back on 2 wheels!
So - was the C14 then totaled and they took ownership or did insurance repair and you traded?
Back on 2 wheels!
Totaled and they took ownershipGlad you checked the insurance - I anticipate the C14 repair / replacement parts would have cost more than your insurance deductible and hopefully no jump in rates. I thought insurance was a long shot but worth the call.
So - was the C14 then totaled and they took ownership or did insurance repair and you traded?
Back on 2 wheels!
WOW. Totaled? I had rodent damage to all my harnesses. Happened back in late august. Shop has the bike since Sept. my insurance covered mine just over $4900. Due to shut down still waiting on two harnesses. Oh and mine is 2013 14 with just over 47000 miles.
Well the mechanic at my shop may have made the difference. He gave them a quote of 5300 to fix. They said ok. No problem. He called me and said woooo...I need them to understand that if I do this $5300 of work, that may not fix it. I want an open ended check in case it doesn’t. I said, ok... let’s conference the adjuster in. He explained to the adjuster that the electrical damage could be widespread and be nebulous......and possibly NOT fixable... the adjuster understood and a few days later said they were totaling. My problem was different than yours in that I sent power down the grounding path though....who knows what I may have done damage wise.
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Also take solace in that you weren’t the idiot that fried your Motorcyle!!!! Argh..that one hurt. Lesson learned again though. Take your time...and pictures when doing maintenance.
Lots of good info in this thread. I didn't know insurance would pay for damage done by hooking up a wire to the wrong thing. So if one attempts a valve adjustment and botches it badly enough to bend valves, will insurance pay to fix that? Or, lets say that you drop stuff in the engine and it destroys the engine. Are they paying for that? Really? If this is the case, it should take a lot of pressure off of the owner that does his or her own maintenance!