Sorry double post.

 

I'm super strong with electrical. The diagram shows the feed going to neutral and oil pressure indicators. Those are unplugged and the switches basically ground them. With the indicators unplugged, the switches out of the picture since they're disconnected from the circuit. So, the other leg on the diagram says "To 110" I think. Where's that diagram? Need to see that one. Off the top of my head, did you unplug the electrical connector to the fuel tank? I'm wondering if the fuel gauge sending unit is in this circuit.

 

One of these days I will figure out how to not double post...

 

It`s the wrong model bike in the diagram picture.

And It doesn`t look like a Harley FSM Wiring Diagram, looks like an aftermarket manual to me.

 

Crap. Bad data doesn't help a damn thing!

 

Mel, good morning, I hope all is well with you and your family during this crisis. Well it seems that I happen to have a bit of extra time on my hands at the moment. I am a old auto mechanic with over 35 years experience. What you have is a short to ground, generally a short to ground is caused by 1 of 3 things. First and most common would be a wire that is pinched, rubbing or chafing against ground. Ground is basically anything that is metal on your motorcycle, engine, frame, brackets etc. The other causes of a short to ground are shorted components and wires pinched together. In your case we are going to focus on the Orange wire coming from the 15 amp instrument fuse. This wire feeds power from the fuse to your gauges and indicator lights. I looked at some Electra Glide wiring diagrams online, I could not find one for your exact year, but I have a pretty solid understanding of the circuit. It appears that you have the main harness disconnect from the interconnect harness in the fairing. This should rule out all components in the fairing, the Orange wire we are focused on only powers the gauges and indicators so the problem would not be in the handle bars. So that leaves us with just the Orange wire in the main harness between the connector at the fairing and the fuse box. I would follow the harness from the fuse box up into the frame and do a thorough visual inspection of the harness wherever it is routed around anything metal, paying close attention to anywhere the harness touches metal, also look for anywhere harness is pinched between components or brackets, if the harness is routed near the battery look for battery acid damage to the harness. The answer to Your question about should you take the tank off? I would look elsewhere first, because the main harness is well protected in a hard plastic tunnel under the tank, if you don’t find the short then of course the tank will have to come off so you can rule out that area of the harness. Another area of concern is where the main harness flexes at the steering neck, you would have to have 2 broken or chaffed wires at this location to cause a short to ground. You would probably be able to make the short go away by moving the harness back and
forth if this is where the problem is. Last thing to mention, but the first thing I always look for is any modifications to the original wiring, are there any add on aftermarket devices wired in, are there any previous wiring repairs? I always look at this stuff first. Just remember that a hole as small as a pin ***** in the Orange wire allowing it to make contact with ground will blow the fuse. Sometimes I use a magnifying glass to inspect wiring. When chasing electrical problems you always have to just get in there and look until you find it. Electrical diagrams just tell you where to look. In your case you are looking at the Orange wire in the main harness between the 15 amp fuse and the connector at the fairing. I am going on the assumption that the fuse still blows with the main harness disconnect from the fairing harness.
Happy hunting

 

All good advice, Steve, but you must have missed the part in the original post where he states, "When I put a probe on either wire where the fuse would go and touch the other probe to any part of the frame I get continuity." If you go by the photo he shows with the probe inserted into the fuse holder, you see the fuse has been removed. So, that indicates he is showing a short, not only on the orange wire side of the circuit, he's showing a short on the other side. I'm using a 2001 FLT wiring diagram, which shows the other side of the circuit to be a red/black wire, which feeds the "light fuse" and then it goes on to the "key switch ignition relay" where it picks up voltage from the battery.

The reason I point this out is because if he has isolated the interconnect harness (orange wire) like he says he has, the easiest solution would be to concentrate on the orange wire from the fuse to where it connects to that harness. The problem is, if what he says is true about his meter showing continuity between the red/black wire, which should be isolated from the orange wire if the fuse is open or has been removed, he's got an issue with the key switch ignition relay or the ignition switch. Basically, if we go by the way he has presented his diagnosis, something is not quite right. The fact that he's showing the wrong wiring diagram for his bike leads me to believe we're not getting the whole picture. Unfortunately, the OP has become a ghost, so we might never get the whole picture.

 

GTG,
I tried finding the diagram on the SIP site and it's not available.

I don't think continuity to grd on the ign switch side is a problem if the other fuses are in place,( and the diagram posted is close to the real bike ) Look at the lights circuit, Ign switch side is common to Instrument fuse and if you follow the lights circuit it goes to ground through the running lights without a switch.

Hopefully Mel will come back and tell us where the short was.

How's the new Heritage?

 

When it comes to wiring diagrams, close doesn't cut it.

 

GTG, I didn’t miss the part about his continuity test, I just choose to ignore them because there is no reason to check for continuity to ground on the power supply of the circuit. I know that the supply side of the circuit up to the fuse is healthy just by the FACT that it supplies enough current (Amperage) to blow the fuse. On the other hand I would expect to see continuity to ground on the Orange wire if in fact it is shorted to ground as I expect.
The main point that I want to convey by my extremely long post is that testing with a meter is only helpful if you do the correct tests and understand the results. No meter required for this concern. A blown fuse means a short to ground or a overloaded circuit, the problem will ALWAYS be on the load side of the fuse. When you have a short to ground the only way to find it is to visually look for it, a bright flashlight and a magnifying glass are the tools I use. After analyzing the circuit wiring diagram and isolating the fault by dividing the circuit. Then I know where to look, there is no substitution for a visual inspection.
If the OP does decide to take another stab at fixing his bike himself, I think all the information he needs is here in this thread, waiting for him.
Mel, if you are out there, let us know what you find.