P500 40 A Fuse Blowing - 140 miles into my new p500 - help!

[Scottylof23]

Hey all,

Just bought a pretty yellow p500 last month. Put the first 82 or so miles on it with no issues. Took it into the shop to have a Warn winch and plow installed at the same time as the first service, then took my new toy out for the Utah elk hunt. Well, about 2 hours (another 40 miles or so) of riding in (reasonable riding, not much/any water other than shallow puddles, no crazy terrain), I pop the machine into 4WD for the first time to chug up the one steep hill in L gear. I stop the machine at the top, won't start again. 40A fuse is blown. I'm pissed at this point, but at least I have a backup fuse and it's new, it's a honda, I should be fine, right?

Wrong. Next morning, 5 AM, riding through freezing cold in the dark to get to our spot, about 30 minutes into the ride, the headlights cut out and my power is gone. I can't shift until speed gets to about 8 MPH, then I can get down to 2 gear and get going again, lights at about 75% power...until power and lights cut out again every 3 minutes or so, go through the same routine. I limp it back down to the cabin, sure enough the 40 A fuse is blown again and it won't start.

I just took it to the dealer who sold the machine to me and installed the winch, and they are telling me today that the machine is running fine once the fuse was replaced and that they can't find any problems with it. So now I'm screwed out of a year of elk hunting, and I have a brand new p500 that I can't trust to run for more than an hour or two at a time before leaving me dead in the woods. I'm hoping they can find and fix the issue by tomorrow night so I can head back up and get my first elk.

Any of you p500 experts have any advice for me? I really want to love this thing again.

 

[Admin]

 

[sthomp54]

Have you tried disconnecting the winch at the battery to see if the problem goes away? Also, they could have skinned back some wire during installation and caused and intermittent short...which can be hard to find.

 

[Scottylof23]

Yeah I thought that the winch had to be the issue as well since it's the only thing that changed (though I guess I only put 5-10 ish hours on it before that), but they say they didn't splice into any wiring, just used whatever wiring harness/connectors are available for accessories and plugged her in. They are running through different things to try to find the issue, but I think they are having a hard time because once the 40A fuse is replaced, it runs fine...until it doesn't.

 

[solrus]

Have you tried to take off + and - winch clamps and take through same test again, obviously have few spare 40A fuses. Try to inspect battery box for any wire overlap and shortage.

I also have circuit brake installed on + clamp for winch.

I have winch, power steering installed and did not have this issue.

 

[tjoreo]

I don't know how they wire the winch on the P500 but I'm wondering if it could be a loose connection at the battery. I installed my own winch on my 700 with the power leads directly to the battery. When I went to install the power leads on to the battery, the supplied 6mm bolts were just barely catching a thread. I had to get some longer bolts to install it right. Just a thought.

 

[Scottylof23]

I have this sneaky feeling that the dealer who is looking it over right now will declare it fine, and I'll be forced to do just that: I'll do my own wiring/connection inspection, then head up into the mountains again with a handful of 40A fuses and try to run it around with the winch unplugged. So weird though, the winch hasn't been used in any instance, it would have to be a fault somewhere within the winch that's drawing power when not engaged (the point of a switch is to restrict flow of power when not engaged, right?), and shorting besides. This is not what I was hoping for when buying a Honda and having the dealer do all work while it's under warranty.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, guys. I'll try them out...and I suppose ask the dealer to swap out the winch if the machine runs fine without it hooked up. Only problem is that with it running fine until it craps out, I feel like I can't trust it even if I run it for several hours fine without the winch hooked up.

 

[solrus]

I have this sneaky feeling that the dealer who is looking it over right now will declare it fine, and I'll be forced to do just that: I'll do my own wiring/connection inspection, then head up into the mountains again with a handful of 40A fuses and try to run it around with the winch unplugged. So weird though, the winch hasn't been used in any instance, it would have to be a fault somewhere within the winch that's drawing power when not engaged (the point of a switch is to restrict flow of power when not engaged, right?), and shorting besides. This is not what I was hoping for when buying a Honda and having the dealer do all work while it's under warranty.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, guys. I'll try them out...and I suppose ask the dealer to swap out the winch if the machine runs fine without it hooked up. Only problem is that with it running fine until it craps out, I feel like I can't trust it even if I run it for several hours fine without the winch hooked up.

"Shizer" happens, this is electronics not mechanical break down ( that would give bad taste for this machine) so dont get adverse reaction now. Unplug winch. Visually inspect all wires and test ride.

Keep me updated. I'm heading for antelope hunt this Saturday!!!

 

[Scottylof23]

Yeah. I think I'll love this machine once this is figured out. Before this issue, I've been super impressed (though I need to get a windshield and cargo box). It's been everything I hoped it would be.

I'll let you all know how it shakes out...would be nice if the dealer could figure it out without me having to poke around, but it might be time for me to dust off my engineering diploma and head out to the garage to tinker on my own. I'm gonna get electrocuted, I know it.

 

[tjoreo]

Well hopefully in the terms of electrocution, the 40 amp fuse will work like it supposed to. Just joking. There is another forum on the web that pertains to the honda pioneer and there is a moderator by the name of "toodeep". From looking at his posts he is a wealth of knowledge and what he says is the gospel. From what I understand he is a honda mechanic by trade, but he always seems to figure out everyone's problems. My be worth a try.

 

[jak9922]

It could be in the winch or controls itself and bouncing around could cause the short also the winch should be on its own circut so having it blow a fuse that effects the machine running could be that dealership did pooh pooh work and just tapped into anything they could find for controls a winch definitly should be run on its own circut start to finish

 

[Scottylof23]

Quick update - the dealer put a new fuse in and drove it around and used the winch for a couple hours and couldn't blow the fuse. They also inspected every wire and connector and couldn't find anything that needed tightening or anything. So basically I'm left with a machine that appears fine until it blows the fuse and loses power intermittently. I'm going to pick up a bunch of spare fuses tonight and go drive it around the mountains (it blew both times around 9000 feet elevation) this weekend and hope for the best. Once it blows I'll unplug the winch and keep going to see if that solved it. Such a pain in the butt.

One more thing...apparently the winch just plugs in? I'm not familiar with the wiring setup yet but you all make it sound like there is supposed to be wiring straight from the winch to the battery?

 

[solrus]

Quick update - the dealer put a new fuse in and drove it around and used the winch for a couple hours and couldn't blow the fuse. They also inspected every wire and connector and couldn't find anything that needed tightening or anything. So basically I'm left with a machine that appears fine until it blows the fuse and loses power intermittently. I'm going to pick up a bunch of spare fuses tonight and go drive it around the mountains (it blew both times around 9000 feet elevation) this weekend and hope for the best. Once it blows I'll unplug the winch and keep going to see if that solved it. Such a pain in the butt.

One more thing...apparently the winch just plugs in? I'm not familiar with the wiring setup yet but you all make it sound like there is supposed to be wiring straight from the winch to the battery?

From solenoid to battery , that supposed to disconnect the circuit while it turned off, when ignition is on then it closes a circuit when electricity is applied.

battery ---solenoid ( ? may be bad solenoid) ---winch

 

[tjoreo]

I'm sure hoping you find your problem, and I will definitely be watching for a good outcome. On the honda accessories website is the instructions for the winch install. After 16 pages of mumbo jumbo, the main power for the contactor/solenoid if they installed per instructions, comes off the starter solenoid, and all the extra plug and play should be just to install the signal wire (winch in/out) from switch to contactor. I am still led to believe that there is a loose connection/broken wire from battery to starter solenoid or to main power wire before the 40 amp fuse and when you put the extra draw of headlights, maybe fan clutch kicking on after climbing big hill, and shift motor is too much for it. Just my 2 cents, but I sure hope you find out at home.

 

[jak9922]

SMH!!!!!!!!! when u install a winch run power cables straight to the battery with the supplied circuit breaker/fuse it come with run it on it OWN'!!!!! Circuit do not tap into any existing circuit!!!!!!

 

[solrus]

Quick update - the dealer put a new fuse in and drove it around and used the winch for a couple hours and couldn't blow the fuse. They also inspected every wire and connector and couldn't find anything that needed tightening or anything. So basically I'm left with a machine that appears fine until it blows the fuse and loses power intermittently. I'm going to pick up a bunch of spare fuses tonight and go drive it around the mountains (it blew both times around 9000 feet elevation) this weekend and hope for the best. Once it blows I'll unplug the winch and keep going to see if that solved it. Such a pain in the butt.

One more thing...apparently the winch just plugs in? I'm not familiar with the wiring setup yet but you all make it sound like there is supposed to be wiring straight from the winch to the battery?

Yes only straight, not via accessory harness , "straight to the source baby" , if not then u overload other circuits. take pics of your wiring .

 

[hambone]

Did you find issue?
It could be one of those things where dealer was too embarrassed to tell you they really made a mistake. They might have fixed and not told you.
Just an idea.....

 

[Fairchild]

Hey all,

Just bought a pretty yellow p500 last month. Put the first 82 or so miles on it with no issues. Took it into the shop to have a Warn winch and plow installed at the same time as the first service, then took my new toy out for the Utah elk hunt. Well, about 2 hours (another 40 miles or so) of riding in (reasonable riding, not much/any water other than shallow puddles, no crazy terrain), I pop the machine into 4WD for the first time to chug up the one steep hill in L gear. I stop the machine at the top, won't start again. 40A fuse is blown. I'm pissed at this point, but at least I have a backup fuse and it's new, it's a honda, I should be fine, right?

Wrong. Next morning, 5 AM, riding through freezing cold in the dark to get to our spot, about 30 minutes into the ride, the headlights cut out and my power is gone. I can't shift until speed gets to about 8 MPH, then I can get down to 2 gear and get going again, lights at about 75% power...until power and lights cut out again every 3 minutes or so, go through the same routine. I limp it back down to the cabin, sure enough the 40 A fuse is blown again and it won't start.

I just took it to the dealer who sold the machine to me and installed the winch, and they are telling me today that the machine is running fine once the fuse was replaced and that they can't find any problems with it. So now I'm screwed out of a year of elk hunting, and I have a brand new p500 that I can't trust to run for more than an hour or two at a time before leaving me dead in the woods. I'm hoping they can find and fix the issue by tomorrow night so I can head back up and get my first elk.

Any of you p500 experts have any advice for me? I really want to love this thing again.[/QUOTE

Did this ever get resolved? We just bought a Pioneer 500 without any winch or plow and have very same problem. Unreliable. Blows main fuse on every trip- even short ones. Like within an hour. We've had it at dealer and they say they can't get the machine to do it again. So no problem.

 

[Scottylof23]

Just found this thread again and realized I never reported back. My bad.

The dealer was able to replicate the issue and claimed that there was an electrical connection that is placed vertically so water was dripping down the wire and getting into the connection when vibrations were caused by going over rough terrain. They called it a Honda design flaw and said that they talked to Honda about it but there is no official fix. They say they slimed the connection with dialectic grease and that should fix the issue. So my plan is to grease every connection I can find, tape any wires that aren't contained in conduit, and pray like crazy that I don't have the same issue again this year.

 

[rocmar]

Just found this thread again and realized I never reported back. My bad.

The dealer was able to replicate the issue and claimed that there was an electrical connection that is placed vertically so water was dripping down the wire and getting into the connection when vibrations were caused by going over rough terrain. They called it a Honda design flaw and said that they talked to Honda about it but there is no official fix. They say they slimed the connection with dialectic grease and that should fix the issue. So my plan is to grease every connection I can find, tape any wires that aren't contained in conduit, and pray like crazy that I don't have the same issue again this year.

Glad you got it fixed
...I did thread on that
....I feel it's worth taking
time...to grease every
electric connection. ...
where you think it
might get wet....
good winter project
....

 

[Alan aka Davinci]

Quick update - the dealer put a new fuse in and drove it around and used the winch for a couple hours and couldn't blow the fuse. They also inspected every wire and connector and couldn't find anything that needed tightening or anything. So basically I'm left with a machine that appears fine until it blows the fuse and loses power intermittently. I'm going to pick up a bunch of spare fuses tonight and go drive it around the mountains (it blew both times around 9000 feet elevation) this weekend and hope for the best. Once it blows I'll unplug the winch and keep going to see if that solved it. Such a pain in the butt.

One more thing...apparently the winch just plugs in? I'm not familiar with the wiring setup yet but you all make it sound like there is supposed to be wiring straight from the winch to the battery?

If it seems to be blowing fuses at 9000 feet and above you may need to replace with high altitude fuses.