This is good to know

[cgamla]

Things like this are hard to admit to but I will do it just so someone else maybe wont. If just for instance you might need to weld the little spring hoops on your exhaust pipe and say you just get all gung ho and do it right on the bike and lets say you happen to put the ground on ohh maybe lets say the foot peg I have noticed that after the second weld the entire wiring harnes from the stator up to the ground by the cdi will melt and catch fire. Just thought I might tell you that. Sucks to be me huh?

[1.6i]

no freakin waaayy....

 

[Guest nightmare]

That is definately the school of hard knocks. I am glad you told me that so my dumb ### dont do that now.

[ogre03]

That sucks ass! Thanks for the tip though.

[banshee04le]

Welding current seek and destroy! Did the harness sustain a smooth arc long enough to get the tabs welded back on ? Seriously dude, that sucks. It could happen to anyone. Thanks for the heads up.

[TheBansheeMan86]

damn dude, that sucks! i think the reason it did that is because the pipes are ground out more to the engine through the wiring harness than it is from the foot peg

Edited March 16, 2006 by TheBansheeMan86

[cgamla]

Yeah your right about the ground path. Pipes contact the cylinder head but the engine and pipes were electrically isolated other than the ground from the stator. Now I need to build a new harness.

[Wallrat]

Good info...it was only a matter of time before I repeated your experience.

[vdubn]

You may actually have some other issues as well, depending on how long you actually were welding. Whenever welding, its imperetive that you get the ground as close to the welding location as possible. You need to especially make sure that the ground is in a location where the current won't have to find alternate routes.

 

The other issue that you may need to check, is your crank bearings. If the current routed through the engine, or attempted to, it can actually jump/arc through the bearings and pit them and/or the crankshaft journals.

 

I've seen pumps with pitted shafts, engines with totally messed bearings (both clevite and ball bearing types), from people putting the ground on the crankshaft and welding on the block itself.

 

Hopefully all of the current just went through your harness, and didn't toast the stator, CDI, regulator, etc.

 

By the way, it may be cheaper just to get a new harness, they are about $90 new form a few sources.

 

I'm not trying to rub in what I'm sure is already a sore subject, just trying to make sure that you check everything out thoroughly.

 

Good luck

[cgamla]

Right on brother vdubn

[Cotton eyed Joe]

The other issue that you may need to check, is your crank bearings.  If the current routed through the engine, or attempted to, it can actually jump/arc through the bearings and pit them and/or the crankshaft journals.

 

I've seen pumps with pitted shafts, engines with totally messed bearings (both clevite and ball bearing types), from people putting the ground on the crankshaft and welding on the block itself.

Good luck

488043[/snapback]

Back in my dads early machine shop days, he was working in a place where he saw a machinist do this very thing in an expensive manual lathe. The guy put the ground somewhere on the machine, and welded in a journal so he could machine it, and the current arc'd through the head bearings on the lathe. Trashed a perfectly good running lathe.

 

It was such a big deal that my dad told me that story back when I was about 8 years old, and I've never forgotten it. Some bearings are not only expensive, but a pain in the ass to change out.