SEAX - July 2007 - Essex Crusaders

Page 18
To my dismay I was unable to detect a
fault in that harness… worse still, t
was looking like the fault was in the
main loom from where it started in the
headlamp to where it came out to go
into that multi circuit gizmo. With
some pertinent text advice guiding me
logically and preventing me from going
mad, I had even identified which wire
was at fault. Thanks for your help
there Gary.
The problem was that whilst just replacing the wire would work, that would again be
treating a symptom and not addressing the cause. Gary chirpily told me that the industry
fix for a suspected fault in the loom was to replace it……. That made me feel so much
better!
Taking a deep breath I decided that I had to slice open the main loom sheathing that bent
around the headstock as that must surely be the culprit for a break or chaffing.
To my dismay the wire inside were clean and fresh as the day they were sealed in there.
Whilst I was closer than ever, I know knew that the culprit blue/white wire had a fault
somewhere in the main loom between the headstock and battery box.
Over another coffee I reasoned that a careful examination of all the loom I could get to
would be better than to start trying to cut it open willy-nilly. Patiently as ever, Nikki
directed the torch as I peered in the nooks and crannies where the loom ran beside,
around and through the frame. As eased a section away from where it lived a polished
metal section of carb mount attracted my attention, shouting out to me; ‘Its my fault!’
Looking at the back of the loom at the polished area, sure enough, there was an area of
worn through insulation (isolation!) and the wire that was exposed was blue/white with a
small area of copper exposed. This was the fault that had been causing the short to the
starter! Carefully cutting away the insulation in the area revealed that only that wire was
affected so it was re-insulated and the loom repaired.