2003 Vmax 24,xxx miles Odd Neutral switch behavior.

[Dave.R]

Hey Guys!

Here's one for the electrical gurus.

• Turn signals, neutral, horn, tach dead.
• Replace the 10 a fuse, good for 5 miles, blows again.
• When in neutral, the tach does not work. When in gear, clutch in, the tach works, but nothing else does.
• Also, the bike can be cranked in gear, no clutch pulled.

Am I correct in thinking I have a smoked neutral switch or maybe a clutch switch?

Bonus info that may help. This happened after my fuel sender left me stranded, didn't indicate (bulb works) and I ran out of fuel. While refilling with those terrible new cans, I spilled a fair amount of gas around the nozzle and filler splash guard. Maybe this leaked down to something? Not sure it matters but in troubleshooting any little bit helps.

 

[Fire-medic]

See what's in-common for those functions, and then look for a grounding-out wire or wires.

Maybe check out the turn switch pod for bad connections, Looks like the horn goes there too (pink wire).

Use some WD-40 on the switch for the clutch lever.

https://www.vmaxforum.net/threads/how-to-recondition-the-clutch-side-switch-pod.20783/

And for good measure:
https://www.vmaxforum.net/threads/h...f-the-throttle-side-switch-housing-pod.17272/

https://www.vmaxforum.net/threads/how-to-recondition-the-ignition-switch.17281/

Looks like the tach and the horn share a ground, so check your grounds.

 

[Dave.R]

Update: Went out to poke around on lunch. Replaced the fuse, every thing works bike off, horn, turn signal, Neutral light, tried hitting the turn and brake at the same time to see if it was anything like that, no problem.
We for a ride, after a quarter mile it all died again, I'm thinking a chafed wire is bouncing around.
Interesting note, The tach tries to work, maybe its just residual juice, but it reads at like half RPM's until it slows down or the clutch is pulled.

 

[brian hicks]

Intermittent faults can be a nightmare. I would pull all the covers off and carefully examine the wiring. Particularly around fuse holders and connectors and for chafing against the chassis. Use proper switch cleaner and not WD40. There is no easy answer and without being there in person to see for myself I can't say any more. Things such as the diode block give it a gentle tap with a screwdriver handle to see if it does anything.

 

[RempageR1]

Probably a wire indeed. If you have a multimeter, find the side of the turn signal fuse that goes into the bike. This is the side that has 0V between battery ground and that side of the fuse with the ignition on. Next, turn ignition off and keep the pins of the multimeter as they are (1 side on battery ground, 1 side on the output side of the signal fuse). Put the meter to ohms and read the value. It should be above 1 ohm. Now start moving the wiring harness until you see the value change (go down). In my case, it was the front brake switch that had a short.