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2006 Foreman...won't turn off. (maybe it wants to be ridden)

5K views 35 replies 6 participants last post by  Jeepwm69 
#1 ·
Was out in the yard Friday afternoon painting and noticed the green neutral light on my 06 Foreman was on. Walked over and the display was lit up, neutral light was on, and the key was in the off position.

Hmmmm.

Went inside, got the key, flicked the switch on and off a few times, no change.

Checked to see if it would start with the key off. Yep.

Pulled the main 30 amp fuse. Stuff still stayed on.

Disconnected negative battery terminal. That did it. Hooked it back up, everything seemed to work ok.

Went out to check it a couple of hours later and the dang thing was powered up again with the key off.

So I unhooked the battery and left it.

First thing I plan on doing is swapping in a different key switch, see if that's the problem.

Anyone ever see this before, and if so, what did it end up being?
 
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#2 ·
Thats weird for sure. Pulling the main 30 amp fuse should cut positive battery voltage to all circuits on the bike. Do you have any addon accessories connected directly to the positive battery post that could backfeed/supply voltage to the harnesses downstream of the 30 amp fuse?
 

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#7 ·
Unhooked my winch contactor this morning, and the key worked....for about 5 minutes. Then back to the "on all the time" so it wasn't the winch contactor or switch.

I guess the next step is to try another switch.

Weird thing is, if I unhook the battery for a few seconds, everything works ok, then after a few minutes it comes on and stays on.

I'll try another switch after work. If that doesn't do it I'm not sure where to look next.

Isn't there a diode of some sort in the fuse box?
 
#8 ·
Ya there is a flyback voltage protection diode in it, but the weird thing is the bike powered up while the main 30 amp fuse was taken out. That weirdness led me to guess that there might be feedback coming from an accessory hot from the battery... apparently that ain't so. I'm interested in what you discover.
 
#11 ·
Had inlaws in town all weekend, along with 2 baby showers (I didn't go, but had to be on stand-by to load up all the gifts at the end of the showers) so didn't have a chance to do much, but I did go out and try a different ignition switch.

Still stays on.

The weird thing is, if I unhook the battery, and then hook it back up, it will stay off....for a few minutes, then suddenly the meter will power up, even with the key off.

I did pull the main fuse and that powers down the meter now. Gets weirder and weirder.

Going to pull up the wiring diagram on the FSM now to get the rest of the picture that Retro posted above.
 
#15 ·
sticky relay, bad off switch, including ignition switch, bad diode, accessory feedback, faulty ground. .25 cents worth.
 
#18 ·
IF you are pulling the main fuse & it is still powered up, you have to have a hot wire downstream of the fuse making a connection. ONLY way I can logically see it still having power....
 
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#20 ·
So u r thinking the winch connection may be culprit? Makes sense...
 
#26 ·
^^^ @fishfiles

You said you tried another ignition switch. When you disconnected the old one did the light go out?? I think you said it did not go out.

"Another quick test to do is to put it in reverse with the key off. The reverse indicator light that normally would not come on if the key is off, but if it does come on with the key off, that will be helpful to know because both the neutral light and the reverse light are powered from a common connection within the display meter. So does the reverse light come on with the key off and the tranny in reverse?" Credit to Ktriebol on Foreman Forum. I'm not this smart. :)

Please read the rest of Ktriebol's post. He goes into great detail about how to track down the problem being in the display.

https://www.hondaforeman.com/130-foreman-500/143074-neutral-light-when-key-switch-off-2.html
 
#29 · (Edited)
This morning I went out and messed with this a bit.

Put the 30A main fuse back in. Turned key on. Display lit up, everything worked like it should. Turned key off, display shut down. Leave it for a bit while I go move some wood I cut over the weekend (big limb down from a storm), come back and it's still off

It's ALMOST like it fixed itself, except....the oil change light is on every time I turn the key on. I can reset it, turn the key off, and when I turn the key back on, the oil change light is on again. Likewise, the clock doesn't want to keep time. If I turn the key off, the clock goes back to blinking 1:00. Set the clock, it keeps time until I turn key off, then when I turn it back on, clock is blinking 1:00 again. The meter is crystal clear, doesn't seem to have any moisture in it (would cloud the lens sitting in the heat), but I think this is definitely a meter problem.

I also noticed my dual zone heated grip controller stays on all the time. I can turn it on, and the lights are really bright. When I turn it off, the lights dim but stay on, and the grips still get hot. I unhooked those for the time being. I think the controller for the heated grips must have a short. OR, is it possible I have a ground issue that might be causing my other issues as well.......?

Very strange on the issue with the display coming on with the key off, because it seems to have stopped doing that, and I haven't really done anything to it other than let it sit for a few days with the main fuse out.
 
#31 ·
It still sounds weird even though it quit coming on with the key off. Maybe a bad ground like you said... maybe water inside a connector somewhere along with a bad ground somewhere else. Might have to take the fenders off to clean and dielectric grease the connectors.

It sounds like the meter has lost backup power since the clock isn't working with the key off. So I'd probably begin the process of elimination at the display connector.
 

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#32 ·
More and more I think the issue might be in the meter or meter connection.

Went out this morning and turned the key on, neutral light came on, but nothing on the display now at all. I didn't really mess with it, opting instead to take the front fender back off my daughter's 300. Going to get an OEM start/headlight switch for hers, and also need to bleed the brakes again.

Time is so dang limited now I'm not getting much done. I do have two (maybe 3) extra meters in the shop so when I get time I'll try swapping one of those onto the Foreman. This one is snorkeled so going to be a PITA getting the front fender off.
 
#33 ·
Pulled out my extra meters early this morning. Have one with 1600 miles on it (09), one with 3500ish on it (07), and another with 7600ish on it (07). The first two are in good shape, the third is rough, but it works.

Pulled front fender, unhooked meter, plugged in an extra. Worked fine. So did my 2nd used meter.

So I took the faulty meter apart. No sign at all of moisture in the housing. Everything looked clean and dry.

The third meter has a busted cover and two of the three mounting bolts pulled out of the back of the case. I decided to see if I could swap the good cases with the innards from the good meter and the cases of the faulty meter.

Two simple plugs on the back of the LCD display and board.

Took it back out to the bike and got nothing. Interesting.

Took the old faulty meter, plugged it into the wiring on the ragged out case, and bam, powered right up.

So basically I have an issue in the wiring, not in the actual LCD display and board.

So for now I've put the LCD display and board back in the good set of cases, with the wiring harness from that busted up meter, and it powered up fine.

Ran out of time and had to get to work, so will button it all back up tomorrow morning.
 
#34 ·
Wow, I don't see many bad harnesses from Honda. Thats gotta be a rare occurrence, or isn't it? Maybe its common with meters and we never knew... since those harnesses are flexed and twisted constantly with the steering stem? Its great that you had good spare parts so you could find and share the problem with us. But a bummer that it took time that ya ain't got to spare. :)
 
#36 ·
Got the old meter installed with a replacement wiring harness this morning, works great now.

My Heat Demon dual zone controller for my heated grips still won't completely shut off. Took it loose from the handlebars and it's full of water. Guess I need to get that out of there huh? LOL

Also put a new winch switch on as the old one was iffy at times, and when you need a winch, you need a winch.

So now just need to get the heated grip controller dried out, hose everything down good while I have the front fender off, and put it back together.
 
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