2002 Softail Keeps Buring Ignition Switch Pigtail Up

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Mar 27, 2015 | 10:59 PM

Bohemian

Thread Starter

Cruiser

Joined: Aug 2008

Posts: 161

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From: Las Vegas

2002 Softail Keeps Buring Ignition Switch Pigtail Up

Been a pretty much trouble free bike, until about two months ago, when driving down the road, lost all electrical without warning...
no lights, no start after...

Shop here in town towed it and fixed it, and showed me that the pigtail that plugs into back of ignition switch had melted one of the wires...

They replaced the ignition switch & put a new pigtail on it and I was back on the road again without issue until today again without warning, lost all electrical while going down the road...
no lights, no start after...

This time I had it towed to my house so I could do some personal investigation prior having it towed to shop again...

Pulled out the meter & checked the battery and its fine...

Pulled off the dash and I see the same fricking thing that happened the last time... burnt up pigtail that plugs into back of ignition switch...

Have not found any related threads yet herein or around the interwebs...
so here i am...

I was able to find the ignition switch OEM Part Number: 71313-96

But was unable to find one for the pigtail...
Anybody know what that part number is?

Besides the elusive H-D OEM pigtail part number does anybody have any ideas WTF is going on here?

thanks in advance.

Mar 28, 2015 | 09:45 AM

the blob

Road Warrior

Joined: Sep 2006

Posts: 1,570

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The only thing that comes to mind is , maybe the voltage reg. Is shot and your getting too high of voltage.
What's the voltage at idle at the battery?

Mar 28, 2015 | 10:11 AM

Bohemian

Thread Starter

Cruiser

Joined: Aug 2008

Posts: 161

Likes: 7

From: Las Vegas

Quote:

Originally Posted by the blob

The only thing that comes to mind is , maybe the voltage reg. Is shot and your getting too high of voltage.
What's the voltage at idle at the battery?

No Lights, No Start...

No-way to check voltage at idle presently, because it won't run or start, I got nothing...

DOA

Battery Voltage at rest is 12.99...

Mar 28, 2015 | 11:33 AM

Seasoned HDF Member

Joined: Mar 2012

Posts: 100,455

Likes: 19,810

From: Centennial, CO

My suspicion, and I'm no electrical guy by any stretch, is the switch itself is bad and trying to draw too much power through the pigtail, leading to the melted wires. I am surprised a fuse hasn't blown before the wires melted however. These problems usually start at the end user component, in this case, the switch.

Mar 28, 2015 | 11:54 AM

jam436

Supporter

Joined: Jun 2012

Posts: 2,912

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From: Pittsburgh, PA

Quote:

Originally Posted by the blob

The only thing that comes to mind is , maybe the voltage reg. Is shot and your getting too high of voltage.
What's the voltage at idle at the battery?

High voltage by itself would not melt wires.
High amperage is a different story...

Mar 29, 2015 | 06:47 AM

Warp Factor

Outstanding HDF Member

Joined: Aug 2012

Posts: 3,217

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From: Detroit

I'd suspect a short to ground somewhere downstream of the switch.

Mar 29, 2015 | 07:04 AM

Cobra1

Road Warrior

Joined: Sep 2014

Posts: 1,871

Likes: 1,324

From: DeLand, Florida

Can you trace the burnt wire far enough to get a color or pin assignment in the ignition plug? Looking at a schematic I see three wires. Is that what you see?

Last edited by Cobra1; Mar 29, 2015 at 07:17 AM.