2006 Sportster Electrical Ignition Wiring Short and Flicker

[multimurray]

I have a 2006 Sportster XL1200.
The problem I'm having is I'll be riding and my electronics will start flickering. My speedo drops to zero all lights on tach go out (flicker on and off) and the headlamp flickers. The bike will normally stay running with extra throttle, but pops, backfires and overall runs like **** while its shorting.

One morning while leaving for work I started my bike to let it warm up. It started shorting while sitting there then went dead. I tried wiggling wires to get the power to come on played with switches the key, nothing worked. but I did notice that even when everything else was off, no headlight no neutral light, no blinkers, and no back light on the tach. when I turned the key on I heard the tach make noise like when the tach calibrates itself when you first turn the key, even though it make noise I had no visible power. When there are no shorts everything works fine blinkers, switches lights.

I have been reading Forums for days so I'll explain what I have already done.
The battery is good when I have power it starts without hesitation. already cleaned all and re-connected all main terminals. (battery, starter, frame)
the diagnosis code I got was P0562 Battery Voltage Low & P0563 Battery Voltage High. I have checked the main fuse, most wires and connectors. my next step is to pull my ignition switch and tank.

I was the most impressed with the forums on this site and I noticed there are some electrical experts here, please help, I'm so frusterated and confused, and I really dislike the service our local Harley shop gives.

Thanks, Daniel

[stephenw]

Have you had the handlebars or handlebar controls off?

[multimurray]

Yes I checked the connections inside the controls also, everything looked good. I just pulled my tank, checked all connections and wires there. made sure everything was secure and connected well. so ill put it back together and see if it still flickers. so far im leaning towards the red and black ignition wires.

If i missed something in the switches what exactley would I be looking for? or do I need a volt tester?

[HarleyCruiser]

Daniel are you still here? Don’t want to spend fifteen minutes replying unless you are going to stick around to read it.
Do you have a manual with a schematic?

[multimurray]

Yes I have a manual, I'll check to see if it has the schematics. I'm sure it does.
but I washed my bike yesterday and it acted up again. shorted out would hardly run backfired and popped. I'm thinking its the ignition switch getting wet or possible the relay. would a wet ignition switch cause the bike to act the way it is? and I'll be on all day.
thanks

[rjrivero]

Check the simple things:

A loose ground wire or loose battery wire will cause this kind of issue.

Wires to the ignition switch can also cause this kind of MASS failure.

The wires to and from the voltage regulator can also be problematic.

I'm willing to bet it's something rather simple. With your bike throwing the HIGH and LOW voltage code, I'm thinking it's a loose connection somewhere.

[multimurray]

I checked the main battery connections but ill check the ignition switch and the volt regulator thanks.

[HarleyCruiser]

Diagnosing a intermittent open short is the hardest. Best time to find it is when it is acting up.
If it is worse when wet then get a squirt bottle and start with the switch.
Yes a bad switch will do this, so will a lose wire on the switch.
My guess is someplace after the starter where the wire runs to the main breaker and switch.
If it was the main ground or the wire going to the starter from the battery you would be having starting problems all the time.
Once they ground out OPEN they usually stay dead until they get moved around.
If squirting water on the ignition switch does not create the problem then you need to start with your schematic when you are having the problem.
Usually a bad switch problem will come and go if you turn the switch off and on, wiggle it.
To start running down the current with a schematic, I like to use a ice pick current checker.
It looks like an ice pick with a bulb in the handle and a wire coming out the handle.
You can get them at any auto parts house, they are about ten bucks.
Make sure you get the twelve volt one.
Put the wire clip on a ground and touch the ice pick to the wire in the connection or bare wire. You can even poke the wire to get to it, but be sure to seal the hole if you puncture it.
Start at the starter, then work your way forward to the main breaker, until you do not have juice. This is where your schematic come into play.
Your manual will have a schematic and tell you where the connections are which terminal and which color wire it is.
I like to make a copy of the skematic and blow it up, then follow it with highlighter.
The older Sportsters had jumpers in the quick connections that were flat pieces of metal with holes that jumped between two terminals.
These were notorious for getting loose.
Don’t know if your bike has these.
You can see on the schematic if the line just goes between the two terminals.

[multimurray]

First off I want to thank everyone for the help.

The problem was the fuse panel, theres no drip loop leading to the fuse box. thus letting whatever water gets in under the seat run into the fuse box.
I lowered my oil tank just a little, didn't completely remove it cleaned the box with water and baking soda. dried and cleaned all the terminals, used dioelectrode grease. gooped it up put everything back together and no problems since. its a good idea for everyone to do that especially at the back of the fuse box where the water can run in.
when I pulled all the fuses there was only one with rust. the rest just had little corrosion.
Thanks again everyone and hopefully this post will help someone in the future.

[etienne chabot]

I've had the same type of problem a year ago with my 2006 Sportster 883. The dealer cleaned the + and - connections and it runned Ok until last month. Then my bike started to run exactly as in you initial post. I check ALL connections including the ground wire to the electric starter. Nothing seemed loose at all. I didn't take chance and I tightened them all. Since then, it seems ok. I do not understand why it does that even if one bolt is not perfectly tight...