30 Amp Fuse over-heating issue

Problem : 30 amp fuse over-heats and eventually blows. Other fuses show signs of stress, as well.
The bike is runs great, but this needs to get resolved...just not sure where to start looking. Been going on for about a month.
I have a Lowrance Global Nav Sport GPS connected, and it shows the bike voltage stays at or just below 14 volts while cruising about. It does not go above that.

Are you running other non-factory electrical components? The electrical systems on KZs generally do not tolerate additional loads well. I understand that the Dynatek ignitions draw more power than the factory setup, and you mentioned a GPS receiver, too. Neither one would likely be a problem alone, but the combination, plus any other aftermarket electrical components, plus 40 year old wiring and antique fuses may be too much.

what is your GPS current draw? what coils are you using? is your headlight on all the time?

Apart from the GPS and coils, Volt drop due to aged connectors and wiring might mean that you are drawing more current to compensate for a reduced voltage.

Power (Watts) = Volts x Amps

There are uprated generators available I think, work out your current load and compare to the alternator output first, about 180 Watts on some.

'Bike voltage' at battery , coils or fusebox may be different.

Cleaning Motorcycle Electrics

Get some of the De-Oxit electrical contact cleaner and figure on spending a good day going from the front of the bike to the back. It’s a plastic safe cleaner/preservative. www.deoxit.com is their website.

On the older Kawasaki's, a majority of electrical connectors are inside the headlight housing requiring removal of the headlight, then the fun begins.

Do one set of electrical connectors at a time to avoid mixing up what connects to where. Usually disconnecting, spraying with De-Oxit and reconnecting is about all you'll need.

However, when encountering the green crud of corrosion, a brass wire brush may be needed on the pins you can reach.
Some 400-600 grit wet and dry sandpaper strips rolled into a tube should reach the male and female pins in the more difficult to clean connectors.

Smoker’s pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and wooden toothpicks work as cleaning aids.Really small electrical connectors may require the use of a welders tip cleaning tool assortment.

Most pins in the connectors are coated with a thin plating of tin, and others may be nothing more than copper or brass.

If moisture is added, the resulting corrosion lowers the voltage/current being carried causing dim lights, slow engine cranking, slow turn signal response and lower input voltage to the ignition coils resulting in weak spark.

The left and right handlebar switch pods will need attention too as they have circuit functions like turn, horn, run/stop, and start.
Usually a spritz or two with actuation of the switch is about all needed for these switches unless corrosion is detected and then careful disassembly is required.

The ignition switch may or may be not sealed to allow spraying the internal contacts. I urge caution if attempting to open this up as springs, and ball bearings may fly out never to be seen again!

If your bike has the older style glass tubed fuses, I suggest replacing them as vibration can cause internal failure. AGX is the type used, and most auto parts stores can get them for you.

Clean the fuse holder clips, looking for signs of overheating(discolored insulation, signs of melting).
I use metal polish on a cotton swab, followed by spraying another clean swab with the De-Oxit and then rubbing the inside of the fuse clip.

All battery cables must be clean and tight for maximum current transfer. Check the cables going from the Negative(-) battery terminal/post to the engine mounting bolt

Also the one going from the Positive(+) terminal to the starter solenoid and from there to the starter motor.
If any battery cable feels ”Crunchy” when flexed, replace it as possible corrosion is inside the insulation.

Each "Bullet Connector" will have to be sprayed to ensure good connectivity, especially the ones going to the energizing coil of the starter solenoid.

The alternator output “Bullet Connectors” are usually behind the engine sprocket cover and will need inspecting and cleaning too.

The turn signal light sockets will benefit from a spritz from the contact cleaner along with the tail light/brake light socket.
Some brake light switches can be sprayed on the actuating rod, with the spray running down inside to the electrical contacts, others may be sealed requiring replacement if the switch is intermittent in operation.

Some people put the Di-Electric Grease on cleaned terminations/connectors, I don’t, as I’ve read/heard it can cause problems when it gets hot, actually insulating the connections, so the choice is yours to use or not.

Using WD-40?
Bad idea! WD40 is a bad thing to use on wires, contacts, etc.! More than one person on this site has suffered the effects of using it that way. Use Deoxit or some other contact cleaner to clean that WD40 off anything electrical before that WD40 crap sets up and becomes an insulator.


As a matter of fact dielectric grease isn't a great idea either. Dielectric is essentially an insulator for the purposes of conducting electricity. I've spent many hours cleaning dielectric grease out of connections. It heats up, liquefies, then gets wicked into contacts. The contact area that actually carries current then is reduced and heats up more.

Just got done replacing headlight connectors on a Civic. They were full of grease (that looked cooked), and the bulbs were dim. Only chopping off the connectors and replacing them got the bulbs back to full brightness

I think I've covered about all of the electrical systems on the bike.........


“I spent a weekend going through every electrical connection and switch on the bike with a little scotchbrite pad and DeOxit - what a difference! Everything was brighter, gauge backlights, indicator lights, turn signals, I was getting a nicer spark, it fired up quicker, etc. Well worth my time. WELL worth it! “
From a forum member at www.kzrider.com


Re: Cleaning the many and various Motorcycle electrics.
I used the De-oxit D-5 spray on all the electrical connections of my 78 Kz1000 that had sat for twenty years .

When I parked the bike in 92 I was starting to have troubles with some of the electrical system, but after pulling everything apart and giving it a spray , reconnecting the connectors and working them back and forth a few times, then gave them another shot of spray to wash them off before the final reconnection.

Everything still works perfectly and has for over 7000 miles this year.

I am extremely happy with the results , a lot of the connectors were green when I started and after the cleaning they looked new ( shiny gold )

I found the Deoxit D-series, D-5 spray in a 4 oz can at a big electronics store called Frys in Illinois, don't get the small cans at Radio Shack , they are different and meant for computer type stuff.

store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.188/.f

Great advice!
It didn't seem to matter if the GPS unit was plugged in, turned on or not.

I may have determined the cause of the problem, but will have to see how it goes for a couple days...
Previously, the yellow stator wires had poor connection at the bullet connectors, due to oil wicking to them through the wire insulation. I think that contributed to the initial fuse over-heating and blowing. I corrected the connector issue, but heat-damage was found inside the fuse box, where the white wire connection was not tight on one 30amp fuse prong, and the thin plastic back-cover had melted to the white wire insulation, which had turned brown from heat.
Last night I replaced the fuse box with a spare, and the system seems to be working well today, but I'll keep a close eye on it.

Common problem, bad or corroded fuse clips, the fuse gets red hot, melts plastic and burns out. I had this in the back of my mind for many years while riding long distance at night on KZs. If a current day vehical, they would recall all of them and make them upgrade the fusebox design to something that is not a deathtrap.

RonKZ650 wrote: Common problem, bad or corroded fuse clips, the fuse gets red hot, melts plastic and burns out. I had this in the back of my mind for many years while riding long distance at night on KZs. If a current day vehical, they would recall all of them and make them upgrade the fusebox design to something that is not a deathtrap.

Why isn't one available? Exact fit...I mean, really. :blink:

I believe you will find that the stock Kawasaki unit is still available (part number 26004-1011). It was used on MANY models up through 2005. Parzilla lists it at $61.79; others may offer it for less $$. Ed

650ed wrote: I believe you will find that the stock Kawasaki unit is still available (part number 26004-1011). It was used on MANY models up through 2005. Parzilla lists it at $61.79; others may offer it for less $$. Ed

I have two more on-hand, just in case...
An alternative (of the exact-same unit) for new style fuses should be available, designed to bolt into the same spot, with the same wiring and connector-end.