starter fuse popping

[bigbad400]

everytime i start my quad and go for a little ride shut the thing off and it wont start again untill its all cooled down and the fuse is swaped out, if i try to change the fuse hot it pops it the second i turn the key over. my fuse box seems to have lost its cap but im not getting it wet or anything, i ride sand and gravel. what causes this **** and how do i fix it? any help or sugestions would be great.

you have a bare wire somewhere...this happened to my wife a t a poker run last year...i trailed the 2 quads sideways on the trailer when i usually have one in the bed and one on the trailer. the 400ex was in the front and the rear fenders flopped around a little. it was enough to wear through a wire bear the battery. about half way through she started having the same probs that you were. we used both mine and her spare fuses to finish the ride.

got the bike home and started the search for the bare wire that was shorting it out...

[REPOMAN]

when i mine did it i had a bare wire near the key switch under all the covering.

[bigbad400]

thanks guys, ill start the search, what other things could it be? moisture? bad ignition switch? it does it when i turn the key, ill put a new one in and as soon as i hit the key it pops, so wouldnt it be something to do with that as apposed to the starter botton, or would it fry the fuse even without hitting the starter button?

rule out one thing at a time...

as soon as you turn the key, you are drawing power into the wiring. the bare wire is shorting as soon as the current passes the short...

[quad2xtreme]

Originally posted by speedyquad
a wire near the battery...

same here.

[bigbad400]

so this may be a bad idea but if i put a big fuse in there and started it, would it fry the bad wire like im hopping or will it kill one of my components?

you could very well fry one of your components. just start going over the wires...there will be a bare spot...

[quad2xtreme]

wish I could find a picture of a burnt up quad to post. Never put a larger fuse in. Generally, it will heat the whole wire and melt the plastic off before it burns through in one spot.

[bigbad400]

there is nothing freyed broken bend or damaged in any way that i can see on the whole wire harness, but there is one spot on the wires to the killswitch were someone had taped it all up, so i unwrapped it and found a solid green wire and a yellow and green wire hooked together with a double end connector, the wires were wiggly but only slightly, i put a new connecter on but aint got no fuses, id really like to know what the deal is. why those two are connected, what they do.

i also realized another thing, i had all my lights off, put a new fuse in and turned the key, fuse still good at this point, i started the quad, still good, and i turned on the top light switch, fuse popped. i think its in the killswitch itself, does that sound right?
without seeing damaged wires how does the aveage joe figure it out?

i can pull start the quad so its not a total short, i just cant use lights or electric start.

what kind of kill switch is it? is it a tether switch?

i just looked at mine...the yellow/green and green wires are for the clutch. i am guessing you have an aftermarket clutch lever and perch. those two wires tell the cdi that the clutch is pulled in so you can start the bike in gear. since the have been cut and spliced together...you can start it in gear without the clutch pulled in...

[bigbad400]

yes i can do that, i cant tell if its aftermarket clutch its silver looks like any other one ive seen, it came with aftermarket bars thow. so then by prosess of elimination, its got to be the kill switch and no its not a teather one, its stock.

kill switch or light switch area...or at the lights themselves...