2004 Starter Solinoid blowing 30amp fuse

[publicsafety418]

I ran the Br/L wire from fuse box all the way through until it stopped at the ignition switch. No bad wires. So now where do you think I should look?

[SteveS]

I ran the Br/L wire from fuse box all the way through until it stopped at the ignition switch. No bad wires. So now where do you think I should look?

Did you inspect the insides of the fuse box for any possible short circuit or overheated parts?

What you are looking for is that wire making electrical contact with another wire, most likely black (ground), or a metal object that is grounded. The insulation on the wire would be broken or pierced somehow. Also there should be a branch wire (same color, Brown/bLue) tied in at either end or spliced in anywhere along the length of the wire that you have traced. It could be at another place on a buss bar as well. This wire goes to the fan motor circuit breaker. You may need to unwrap the wire harness to inspect the Brown/bLue wire every inch of the way.

Before you go to that extreme, you should make a verification test as to whether it is the culprit. With all of the fuses unplugged and the fan motor circuit breaker disconnected, and the ignition switch in the off position: Use an ohmmeter to verify that there is a low resistance between the Brown/bLue wire and the battery negative terminal. If you get a low resistance (under a few Ohms) you do indeed have a short somewhere in that run of wire.

[publicsafety418]

Could you please explain how to do that. Also I went ahead and upgraded the grounding as Kenny G advised in the first reply. I did a ground from the engine case to the frame then also did the pigtail to the frame.

[publicsafety418]

Well here goes. Got the new ignition just now in the mail. Installed it and the light would just barley shine, so I put 30amp fuse in and she fired right up. I still have no tail/break lights. Guess I will be researching the other post to find answers for that. Thanks for all your help and input. Now I get to wrap the wiring harness back up. I am guessing I had an issue with the ground I added to the other ignition switch.

[SteveS]

Well here goes. Got the new ignition just now in the mail. Installed it and the light would just barley shine, so I put 30amp fuse in and she fired right up. I still have no tail/break lights. Guess I will be researching the other post to find answers for that. Thanks for all your help and input. Now I get to wrap the wiring harness back up. I am guessing I had an issue with the ground I added to the other ignition switch.

That is good news. I assume that you meant ignition switch was replaced? If so, it looks like your old ignition switch had a short to ground within it. The ignition switch has a black wire from ground going into it. The ground connection is used to energize the starter relay solenoid when in the start position. It would seem that the Brown/bLue wire and the Black wire connections were shorted together within the ignition switch.

[publicsafety418]

Ok Steve it's doing the same thing again. Blowing the 30amp fuse. I took the new ignition switch out and pulled it apart and it's melted inside. So that means I have to many amps going to that switch right. So how do I figure out is causing that. There is no short on the front half of the harness because I have taken that apart and put back together. Could it have something to due with taillights, because they still are not working. I love my rhino but dang it's pissing me off. I am on my way to get a push button setup now, and go that route. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[SteveS]

Ok Steve it's doing the same thing again. Blowing the 30amp fuse. I took the new ignition switch out and pulled it apart and it's melted inside. So that means I have to many amps going to that switch right. So how do I figure out is causing that. There is no short on the front half of the harness because I have taken that apart and put back together. Could it have something to due with taillights, because they still are not working. I love my rhino but dang it's pissing me off. I am on my way to get a push button setup now, and go that route. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

It is strange that the new ignition switch is melted down as well. The mains fuse should be protecting the switch to its 30 Amp fuse rating.

If you are planning to install an independent momentary pushbutton switch to trigger the starter relay, then cut the black wire and the bLue/Black wire going into the ignition switch. Use the bLue/Black wire coming out of the wire harness there to hook up into the momentary switch. Hook the other terminal on the momentary switch to a known good ground. Have you done the ground improvement mod yet? This involves cutting the ground pigtail away from the battery negative terminal and rerouting it to a known good frame connection point. It is also necessary to add a heavy gauge (the bigger the better) wire connection between the engine case and the frame.

You may need to replace the ignition switch yet again if it has been damaged from the internal short. Having disconnected the Black and bLue/Black wires, the damaged switch may still be usable as there is then no internal connection to ground. Use your current limiting test light to ensure that the short has gone away. when you turn the ignition switch to the run position. It should not light up to full brightness when the key is turned to the run position and should not light up in the start position either, since there is no ground connection at the switch.

If you have verified the proper functionality of the ignition switch, then then using a jumper to connect the bLue/Black wire to ground should crank the engine over as long as the machine is in neutral or when you have the brake pedal depressed (brake lights at the back of the machine light up). This should work even as you have the current limiting light bulb replacing the 30 Amp fuse (protecting the wiring from damage).

If you want to make sure that the tail light circuit is not involved in this shorting out behavior, pull the lights fuse out of the fuse box. This would be a good idea for the time being. We can diagnose this circuit after you have gotten the engine starting and running without overloading the ignition switch.

[publicsafety418]

I have done the ground upgrades. Also I put the Black and the black/blue wire on a momentary/push button. Put the other 2wires on a toggle switch. Now it will crank but won't start. And the 2 wires going to the toggle switch are getting extremely hot, to the point you can't touch them for long at all.

[SteveS]

I have done the ground upgrades. Also I put the Black and the black/blue wire on a momentary/push button. Put the other 2wires on a toggle switch. Now it will crank but won't start. And the 2 wires going to the toggle switch are getting extremely hot, to the point you can't touch them for long at all.

Do you have your current limiting light bulb plugged in place of the 30Amp fuse? You want to have it in place of the active fuse (on the same side as the red cable from the battery). There is a second fuse on the black cable going to starter motor side. This fuse is the "spare" and the socket is not connected to anything. With the test light in the circuit and the circuit closed by the "ignition switch" that you jerry rigged in, the bulb probably will glow fairly dimly due to the CDI being powered up. Full bright would be the dead short situation. The test light glowing dimly or with moderate brightness will reduce the voltage feeding the CDI and that might explain engine "not running", especially if the CDI is an aftermarket CDI.

So, if it will crank the engine when you close the jerry rigged "start switch" and the test light is not lighting up brightly, you know that there is no dead short. At that point shut both switches off and replace the test light with a known good 10 Amp fuse and try again. Keep in mind that you do not have the automatic current limiting that you did have with the light bulb and be ready to shut the switches off immediately if anything acts up due to too much current flowing. Do not turn the headlight switch on with this smaller fuse in the mains circuit. The idea here is to limit the max current with the small fuse, just in case. The ignition circuit will not need anywhere near 30 Amps but rather more like less than 5 Amps. With a fuse in the circuit rather than a light bulb, there will be no appreciable voltage drop that might keep it from running properly. The small fuse rating will help protect your circuitry better, as it will blow at a lower current flow. You will eventually need to change it back out to a 30 Amp fuse after you are confident that there is no short to be found.

Also, keep in mind that the carb may need priming if you are running the stock vacuum operated fuel pump. Get around this by using an electric fuel pump or a squeeze bulb marine fuel pump to get the carb supply line primed.

[publicsafety418]

I do have the hand primer added and it's a great add on for $11. The headlight switch was on and as soon as turned those off it fired right. The wires don't get hot unless the headlights are on so I'm guessing the issue is in that part of the harness. I still have no lights in the rear of the rhino so guessing all that is tied together. Thanks for all the help and I will post some pics of my new ignition setup tomorrow. I put the toggle in the glove box.