First no horn now won't start

[George in Spokane]

I was using the horn yesterday and it worked for a while but then stopped. Then I noticed my rear lights were out. Today she won't start. Normal smoke but it never seems to catch.

I checked all the fuses in the fuse box. They look fine. The manual says to check the big 60 amp "slow fuse" near the starter. It too looks fine. Am I missing something?


Thanks,


George

 

[kennyd]

How did you check the fuses? You cannot just "look" at them.

 

[George in Spokane]

Thanks for the quick reply. I just pulled them and looked to see that the "wire" was still intact. Should I change them even if they look good?

 

[kennyd]

You need to test them with a testlight or a meter...they can look good but still be blown.

Being that your problem definitely seems electrical-I would start looking at the ground connections from the battery to the frame rails...

 

[dave1949]

I checked all the fuses in the fuse box. They look fine. The manual says to check the big 60 amp "slow fuse" near the starter. It too looks fine. Am I missing something?

George

Is the 'slow' fuse one of those chemical heat sensitive lumps in the cable?

That might be hard to tell if it is bad by looking.

If you a have 12 vdc meter put the red lead on the first bare lug beyond the slow fuse on the cable going to the starter. Put the black lead on a good bare metal ground or battery negative terminal. You should read ~13 volts if the slow fuse is good.

 

[mrutkaus]

You have a horn?

Mike
CK30

 

[MikeInEburg]

If horn and lights are affected, I'd look under the dash at the wires on key switch. My guess is that some critter has been chewing, and that your starter still works, but fuel solenoid doesn't. Starter switch is one "common" item to all.
Mike

 

[LBrown59]

You have a horn?

Mike
CK30

So you noticed too.

 

[George in Spokane]

She's charging her battery as I write - thanks guys!

I took off the vertical section of the dash (easy) and took out the key switch cylinder. The wires and solder looked good but the unit could have been faulty.

Next I checked the slow fuse and I was able to pass 12V current through it. It's is a bent (W shaped) piece of copper. Next I went to the parts store to buy all new blade fuses. I was surprised that they also had the slow fuses; I guess it's an universal part. I swapped out all fuses including the slow one.

She started right up and all the electricals worked. Now I just need to find out why it blew. I think I'll wait for it to happen again to see if it was just a fluke.

Some of you guys don't have a horn? I guess we're even because in the manual it says I'm supposed to have a kill switch.

 

[MichiganIron]

The horn is one of the few differences between the CK35 and the CK25/27/30.

The Kill Switch comment in the manual is a "left-over" from the old power-off fuel systems. No longer applies with the power-on systems.