I need help please. My neighbor owns a 2011 FLHTP and was trying to install a trickle charger to his battery. He called me up with big problems. I went over and he said he was getting huge sparks when he attached the negative cable. I deducted there was very little amp draw from the neg cable to the battery post that quickly went to zero, indicating there was no short or anything that is drawing enough current to melt a battery terminal... I was able to attach the cables no problem with nothing else attached.., however there is some electrical component above the battery and from the best I can read in the manual it says top caddy but I am not sure. This is an electrical component with a large connector to the side. According to my neighbor the bolts that hold down the battery cables run thru this component that is as large as the battery, thin but basically square with cooling fins on the top and and appears to be made of aluminum and is black in color... There are 4 bolt holes one in each of the corners of this device..If I try to put the bolts thru this component it sparks like mad when I attach the neg terminal.. Well there is a direct short with the bolts installed as the unit is all metal and he literally melted the top of the battery posts trying to attach the cables.. This is an impossible setup the way I see it. The bolts touching the frame of the component are shorting the positive and negative terminals just by touching the frame the bolts go thru.I did a continuity test between the mounting holes and there is zero ohms, a direct connection between the holes because its all metal... He insisted the bolts go thru this component into the battery, I am not so sure.. The picture in the owners manual does not show the bolts going thru this component and it doesn't even label it in the picture that I do see. He insists it does but there were no bushings that were inserted thru these mounting holes that would insulate the bolts from touching the frame. However how else does this piece of equipment get held down, a strap of some sort..Its square with a large connector on the right side that has a little red secure tab to keep it from disconnecting.. If there were rubber bushings or some way to insulate the bolts I could see this working, but I wasn't there when he took everything apart and can only tell what I have been told.
Maybe he is incorrect in how this unit gets secured. Does anyone have a clue as to what I am talking about and can provide me with some insight. I can easily install the battery with the wires for the trickle charger and there is no spark and the bike fires right up, however this electrical component has to be held down down some how and he insists it gets bolted to the battery..

 

Don't know what it is but its bolted down.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=un...ml%3B800%3B600

 

When I click on the link I see the item its actually mounted to the back fender under the seat.. WTF did my neighbor do and how did he come to the conclusion it went on top of the battery??.. Thats the item that is bolted on the lower side to the back fender.. What is that and how could someone confuse that to mounting to the battery.. That answers my question, at least I know where it bolts as like I said I didn't see him take it apart...
If you know what that unit is, looks like a hard drive for a computer with cooling fins and about maybe 1/2 inch thick, the molex connector is rectangular in shape and fairly large as the harness is pretty thick itself..
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, I can't wait to go over there and see it now..
Crazy thing was he said the bolts that he used to take off the battery were no longer long enough and he had to get longer bolts.. This made no sense to me.. Because with that piece of metal on top of the battery of course the bolts were now too short.. However the way the harness is run the harness seems to run across the front of the battery and the connector is on the right side. So if you rotate that piece 90 deg clockwise, the connector that is on the bottom of the photo would then be on the far side looking at it in this orientation and the harness would then be in front of the battery... There was no mod or change to this bike was there? I assume I will have to just reroute the harness around the left side of the battery and the positioning would then be correct..
wow I looked high and low and was unable to find that pic... Thats why I came here to ask people who are a hell of a lot more knowledgeable then I am... THANK YOU VERY MUCH...

 

That my friend, is the ECM, they do mount on top of battery on touring bikes.

Dan B.
Central Ks.

 

I can only speak to an 08 Road King and an 11 Road Glide Ultra. On both the ECM is held on a plastic tray by locating pins molded into the tray and by clips standing up from the tray with barbs that grip the ECM. The tray is directly over the battery and serves as a battery hold down and as a mount for the ECM. The ONLY bolt is at the back of the tray and it goes through an eye on the back of the tray into a frame cross member. In these installations, there are no bolts holding the ECM to the tray. How did he get it home with a direct short? Once the ECM mounting gets figured out, I hope nothing expensive has been fried, but I fear there is a strong likelihood this will involve repairs much more expensive than the correct service manual.

 

Does the bike run? Sounds like it is direct shorted??? That ain't a cheap fix...

 

Hopefully the OP didn't go rushing off when he read my post, coming from the world of the Softail I thought the ECM would have been in the same place on tourers, ( standardisation is a wonderful thing ) with any luck this is the pic he's looking for.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?clie...l%3B1171%3B789

 

The bike did in fact start and run when I installed the battery without the ECM laying on top, no fuses were blown, it in fact had very little spark when I connected the neg, just a tiny normal spark that you would expect to see..Started and ran... I didn't see it taken apart so if there is a plastic tray it is somewhere he set aside and maybe forgot IDK... What happened is he sat the bike for the winter without keeping the battery charged. So he purchased a new battery and a trickle charger. It was when he tried putting it back together all this started... I did find that it was the ECM, but its all metal and there is no way it actually mounts to the battery terminals as its a direct short and explains why he literally melted the positive terminal on the battery that the inside mounting nut fell out.. Yea a mess.. I was going by what he told me and I didn't agree that it mounted to the battery, not without some anti-short bushings isolating the bolts from the ECM frame.
So I am looking for a plastic tray that sits over the battery, that I suspect in the manual call it a Top Caddy. The image in the book does show what looks like the ECM on top, then the top caddy removed and then the battery underneath.. I just never seen the plastic tray and I didn't see the book until it was time to head home when he found it and I was looking later at home... So look for some plastic tray that sits over the battery.. Then the ECM sits on the tray totally isolated from the battery underneath?
I wish to thank all of you guys for helping me help him. He knows nothing about electrical and I was trying to put back a puzzle without seeing what it looks like and without all the pieces... kinda makes it hard, which is why I am here..
You guys rock..

 

I did see the photo and thank you.. He is still asleep so I have time..lol The photo in the book never labels the ECM which is crazy, even in the description of removing the battery, NEVER mentions removing the ECM.. Shows a purge solenoid, HSFM Antenna, Cable Ties, Fastener and Hold-Down not visible, that is all the photo shows and I am like what is in the middle that they are not identifying...? I have my answer and now I have a much better idea on how this goes back together.. Thats why I hate coming in after people take stuff apart and they swear how it goes back together..

 

Now I have to hope he didn't fry the ECM as he was forcing the negative terminal on the battery even with it sparking like a rapist in an electric chair.. Thats how the terminal got so overheated from the direct short he melted everything.. It looks like molten metal and the battery nut actually fell out from the inside the surrounding mold... Thats when I was called in.. He was working on it for 2 days... Usually I like to snap quick photos with my phone just for reference before I start disassembling stuff... He unfortunately did not..
What a mess and if the ECM is fried, thats probably $350... All because he let the battery go dead over winter...