EHC/BRAKE LIGHTS/WTF!!!

[2004hdfxsti]

I bought my 03 Big Dog Chopper about a month ago. It was after my harley was totalled after being rearended by a car at a stop light. I am starting to think I should not have bought this bike. I bought it and it came with 3 EHC modules.

When I turn the key on, the brake lights come on solid and then they will flicker to running lights, and then go back to brake lights. I have checked the switches in the controls and they are all good. I also have checked and have good continuity TO the EHC Module. All 3 modules seem to do the same thing. Could it be that all 3 are bad, or am I missing something? Do the Big Dog dealers have a way of bench testing them? My understanding is that some of the EHC modules have lights on them to indicate faults in them if there is a problem. These EHC modules do not have these lights.

 

[Chris04Masitff]

jus guessin but maybe bad brake light switch . also check for rubbed wiring under rear fender

 

[dingo]

Need more info please...... How is your battery ? Does the bike start ?

 

[2004hdfxsti]

The battery is good. It starts and all of the lights work (other than what is supposed to be happening in the back)

 

[2004hdfxsti]

does anyone have any ideas on what this could be?

 

[BadBrad]

I'm not sure if I'm totally understanding what is happening. On my wife's '03 (before we went to wire plus), the brake lights would "flicker" 3 times when you depressed the brake, then the brake light would turn solid. This was a safety device and the lights were meant to work that way. Are yours flickering on their own without the brake being depressed? It could be that one of your brake indicators is not adjusted and the bike thinks you are putting on the brakes, even though you physically are not. Lift up on your foot brake and push out on your hand brake and see if the light goes back to running. Then press your brake again and it should flash 3 times and go to solid.

 

[2004hdfxsti]

as soon as i turn the key on, the lights flicker 3x and then go solid. this is without pressing anything. The switches are good as we hooked up a meter to it, and when the brakes are pressed, the meter made a buzzing sound which is telling me the switch is good because when you dont hold the brake down, the meter made no sound.

Sometimes, the lights will go from solid to blinking a couple times and back to solid brake light. when this is happening, i am nowhere near any of the brake levers.

i can try and post a video to show what is happening. does this website allow posting of video in the forum?

 

[Five Five]

Something is sending a single to trigger the brake lights....check the front brake lever switch in the handle....disconnect it or isolate it see if thats it...

 

[CCRainman]

Sounds like a short somewhere. Don't think the EHC is doing it. Those were the old stlye Thunderheart EHC's which did not have the problems the new ones did.

 

[BadBrad]

Something is sending a single to trigger the brake lights....check the front brake lever switch in the handle....disconnect it or isolate it see if thats it...

:iagree:

That's what I'm sayin'. You're getting the signal somehow. If it's not the front, then disconnect the back. It's got to be one or the other. Let us know what you find.

 

[2004hdfxsti]

i am just curious with that, because it was hooked up to the meter, and it was engaging/disengaging properly according to the meter. I got a shot in my spine today as a result of the accident, so im laid up for today, so i will update as soon as i have a chance to get back at it.

 

[2004hdfxsti]

ok so i went at it and checked some stuff out anyway. I ran a jumper from where the taillight wire connects coming out of the EHC. I connected both rears to the jumper wire and the problem is still there which rules out a damaged wire underneath the fender.

So currently I have good continuity at the J4 plug and the brake levers from the meter test, and now i have no broken wires under the fender.

This is getting frustrating......

 

[BadBrad]

Have you disconnected the wires at the lever and brake pedal to see if that does anything? I'm not sure where it's located (could be built into the ehc) but there is a module that causes the lights to flash 3 times before going solid. Regardless, if you stop the signal at each brake I would think that one of those would be the culprit.

 

[2004hdfxsti]

i will check that next. O want to thank you all for the help with this. Riding season is coming to an end here in MA and I would love to get back out before it ends!!

 

[2004hdfxsti]

OK, I am starting to get a little pissed.............

So I figure to eliminate a problem, I would have my 3 EHC's bench tested. My "local" dealer is about an hour and a half away, and I have been talking with them on the phone, and they know what bike I have. I explained the problem and they said to bring the EHC's to them and they would bench test them. I dropped them off on Sunday, and here it is Tuesday, and no call from them....I call them, and the service department says to me that they don't have equipment to test EHC's from 03. they dont have any equipment to work on 03's.....This is the same guy who said I should trailer my bike to the shop so they could fix my bike.......needless to say, I drove an hour and a half on sunday, went through a full tank of gas (jeep doesnt get good mileage......at all......) and had to pay for them to be shipped back to me with no results...........pissing in the wind here! :bang:

 

[BadBrad]

Why don't you just trash your EHCs and go to Wire Plus? For the '03 models, it's just plug and play. You don't have all the pin connections like with the newer model Wire Plus. Disconnect the 3 plugs from your EHC, plug'em up in the Wire Plus, then you just have your dummy/dash lights to solder (8 or 9 wires if I remember).

 

[2004BC]

In order to solve your problem you have to do what the other guys have said to do before. Isolate and then methodically progress until you find the electrical anomaly.

1 - Get an electrical schematic for your bike.
2 - Find your brake light, front brake (hand lever) switch, rear brake (foot pedal) switch, and EHC.
3 - Now you can see all of the branches that the electricity can run through to reach your rear brake light. The brake light is just a slave that does what the electricity tells it to do.
4 - Now carefully start disconnecting the "branches" and test the rear brake light at every step.
5 - You can work from the EHC out or from the devices in.
6 - Just do one thing at a time and observe the result.

You will find where the problem comes from guaranteed. What to do after that is another story depending on the results. Good Luck!

 

[2004hdfxsti]

that is the thing. I have the electrical schematic, and we have good continuity from the levers. We used a volt meter (my uncle is very electrically inclined) and when we pulled the front brake lever and pushed the rear pedal, he put a setting on the meter so that when we pulled the levers, it would make a buzzing sound from all levers so i can tell we have good continuity from the switches.
and then i used jumper wire which is pointing to the ehc. I will pull the switches and replace them in case they are tricking me somehow.

 

[2004hdfxsti]

any idea on the price for that wires plus setup?

 

[BadBrad]

any idea on the price for that wires plus setup?

PM Jake (bdmridgeback) on this site. He sells them to us at a discounted price.