Blown Turn Signal Fuse |
On a recent ride, my trusty Burgman 650 left me stranded at a gas station. I signaled to turn into the gas station and as I was coming to a stop, I noticed that my dash had gone blank with the engine still running. Hoping that it was a fluke, I turned off the scoot. Upon turning the key back to the On position, the dash remained black with no function at the start button. Scratching my head, I pulled the scoot to the side and started the job of troubleshooting and finding the cause of the failure. This was a first for me as I had never had any issues of this magnitude. Below is a list of the symptoms I encountered:
Out of curiosity I turned the key to the park position to see what would happen there. The turn signals would work individually or in tandem with the hazard button. Dash would remain blank. I began inspecting all the fuses on the scoot, the 40 amp Main and CVT were Ok, they are located under the seat.
I then took the fuxe box out and checked the remaining fuses:
I pulled each fuse out and inspected them against the daylight to see if they had failed. At first glance they all looked good and I started suspecting something worse than just a blown fuse. I also disconnected and reconnected the battery just to be on the safe side and it made no difference. I pulled out my trusty tablet and began searching past posts on BUSA on for similar symptoms and it became clear that the turn signal fuse was the main culprit for such a major failure. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the turn signal fuse had blown and I knew right away what had caused it. I had recently added some LED turn signal reminders and there must have been a short in my wiring. I disabled the wiring for the LED turn signal reminders. I replaced the 15 amp turn signal fuse with the sapre in the fuse box. Turned the scoot back on and everything came back to life as it had for the past 54k miles. The scoot fired right up and it was a big relief having found the source of the problem. The moral of the story is that if your dash ever goes blank all of a sudden while riding with the engine still running, it is a very good bet that your turn signal fuse has blown. To solve the problem you should first try and identify the source of the short, and then replace the blown fuse. I have added a few extra 15 amp fuses to my tool box just in case. I carry additional 10 am, 20 am and 40 amp fuses that the scoot uses. As I learned, it isn’t always possible to tell a bad fuse by simply looking at it. I have added a simple light pen for such testing purposes to my daily tool bag. I also carry a voltmeter on longer trips for more accurate troubleshooting. I hope you never suffer a similar failure, but if you do, start by checking your turn signal fuse and have the right tools on hand to properly test it. |
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