# Brute wiring harness replacement.



## mmelton005 (Oct 12, 2011)

Any hints,tips,tricks to replacing a whole harness? I am STILL fighting a 2wd/4wd flashing issue. Dealership said wiring harness needed replacement. Tech told me that there was a wire on the plug that goes into the controller has electricity on it and it's not suppose to. I'm just praying this fixes it. Any help would be awesome:bigok:


----------



## HoNdAnAsTyRIDdEr09 (Aug 26, 2009)

Not really pull plastics an everythangs right there


----------



## jrpro130 (May 10, 2009)

Same as above, just di-electric grease everything and replace it with a NEW one not used one and just take off the side plastics and rear, no need to take off front


----------



## mmelton005 (Oct 12, 2011)

Ordered my new harness today. There isn't much information on the replacement of this. I did read on another forum that is it easier to install the new harness as you are un-installing the old one. Do you guys think it would be easier to work back to front or front to back?


----------



## jrpro130 (May 10, 2009)

Honestly there isn't a whole lot of information because there isn't a lot of people that do it! But it's VERY straight forward. You replace what you take off...

I worked back to front for both installing and uninstalling. I did take off my cvt snorkel which made it a lot easier. 

If you have any quetsions feel free to PM me


----------



## mmelton005 (Oct 12, 2011)

:/ I'm not looking forward to it honestly. It's been a HORRIBLE battle to get my 4wd system to work correctly. 

Thanks for all your input and help. I found a brand new harness for 198 shipped, which wasn't too bad. Did you say that you can do it without taking off the front plastic? So far I've stripped down the rear,sides, and floor boards and just looking at it would seem the front needs to come off.


----------



## jrpro130 (May 10, 2009)

Yea I did NOT take off front because of my radiator. I just took off cvt snorkel. I took off rear plastics though, I'm pretty sure you have to to get to the fuel wiring


----------



## mmelton005 (Oct 12, 2011)

Sounds good. Is there anything else I need to do why I have everything apart that comes to mind? I just wish this harness went bad when I swapped plastics! haha oh well.


----------



## brute21 (Mar 12, 2010)

I went from back to front replace one connector at a time. While you have everything off go ahead and poke holes in the external gas tank thing so it will drain better. It's going to take you a weekend to do it but you will be pleased with the results after. Be careful when unplugging old connectors and take your time!


----------



## mmelton005 (Oct 12, 2011)

thanks for the advice. When it comes to dielectric grease, do I need to use just a small dab or a large amount? I've never used it before.


----------



## jrpro130 (May 10, 2009)

I actually cut my gas tank cover off on the right side.

I use a decent amount of di-electric grease. It doesn't hurt I'll tell you that!!!


----------



## filthyredneck (Feb 10, 2010)

I agree, dielectric grease everything as you put it together. I use the spray can of electronic cleaner to spray out all the connectors on the bike before I put the new harness connectors in them. I also went an extra step and filled the back side (wire input side) of any open backed connectors on the new harness to hopefully prevent or atleast slow down corrosion from caked up mud and exposure to water since thats what keeps taking out everybody's harness. I've changed out 2 so far plus did a frame swap so had to transfer one from the old to new frame. I dont bother with trying to work with one connector at a time, I just remove the old harness and begin installing the new one. I start actually around the middle....get it attached to the frame and make sure the ground wire hooks up by the rear coil and also that it's far enough back so the cdi wires reach where they should. I just find this way to line everything up easy for me. Take your time, it's not half as hard as your thinking it will be. You can pm me as well if you run into any probs.

"Killing Time Using Tapatalk 2"


----------



## mmelton005 (Oct 12, 2011)

thanks everyone for their input. I don't think it will be that bad. I will keep that in mind.


----------



## KidRock (Nov 19, 2010)

I did the whole swap with only the right side cover off. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## mmelton005 (Oct 12, 2011)

Went ahead and stripped it down completely. I know it was extra work but I can see exactly where everything goes.










new harness.










this looks like it's already starting off on the wrong foot. Shipping "Genuine Kawi" parts in a HONDA box! 










Heading to the parts store to get some eagle one acid to clean off the mud stains and zip ties and die electric grease, then the fun begins!:bigok:


----------



## filthyredneck (Feb 10, 2010)

^LOL, good luck man. Its not too bad at all, especially since it looks like you wash your bike good when you get done riding it.


----------



## mmelton005 (Oct 12, 2011)

That wasn't so bad at all. little under 3 hours. I ended up taking out the electronic tray,cvt tube and the battery and tray made it alot easier, but i believe it could be done without removing those. dealership was going to charge over $1000 for this! glad I done it...lets just hope it fixed my problem


----------



## filthyredneck (Feb 10, 2010)

$1000! Thats insane! I definitely need to stop working at the plant and open my own shop. 

"Killing Time Using Tapatalk 2"


----------



## mmelton005 (Oct 12, 2011)

filthyredneck said:


> $1000! Thats insane! I definitely need to stop working at the plant and open my own shop.
> 
> "Killing Time Using Tapatalk 2"



They called me and said, "Yeah your brute is going to need a 4x4 switch and a wiring harness. We have all the parts in stock and it will be right at $978 with parts and labor." I was already loading up the trailer to come get it before I hung up the phone! $225 dollars in parts and 4 hours of my labor. It's done...I love this site!:bigok:


----------



## mmelton005 (Oct 12, 2011)

update: Got the battery hooked up and I STILL have the stupid flashing 2wd/4wd lights. I'm about to go crazy  Does anyone within 100 miles of western ky have ANY idea what could cause this? apparently between 3 months of messing with it and 2 shops diagnosing nothing has worked. I would have NEVER changed my secondary spring if I would have known this was going to happen....

-new 4wd switch
-new wiring harness
-belt and diff actuator are working. 
-speedometer is working correctly. 

Any ideas before I make this thing target practice?


----------



## No_Substitue_For_A_Brute (May 4, 2011)

mmelton005 said:


> update: Got the battery hooked up and I STILL have the stupid flashing 2wd/4wd lights. I'm about to go crazy  Does anyone within 100 miles of western ky have ANY idea what could cause this? apparently between 3 months of messing with it and 2 shops diagnosing nothing has worked. I would have NEVER changed my secondary spring if I would have known this was going to happen....
> 
> -new 4wd switch
> -new wiring harness
> ...


At what interval are the lights flashing? Manual has the key for the code and can help narrow down what the problem is.


----------



## mmelton005 (Oct 12, 2011)

No_Substitue_For_A_Brute said:


> At what interval are the lights flashing? Manual has the key for the code and can help narrow down what the problem is.


phreebsd who I think is a genius on the brutes said it was flashing like the front diff actuator was "throwing the code". Purchased a new actuator....Didn't fix my problem. This has been an on going battle for months now  here is the original thread. 
http://www.mudinmyblood.net/forum/23-kawasaki/16598-4wd-flashing-issue-2.html


----------



## mmelton005 (Oct 12, 2011)

I FIXED IT!!!!!! It ended up being the actuator control box under the seat. It would be the most expensive thing on the bike but oh well I'm just happy....anyone need a good used wiring harness?!?


----------



## brutemike (Mar 23, 2010)

mmelton005 said:


> I FIXED IT!!!!!! It ended up being the actuator control box under the seat. It would be the most expensive thing on the bike but oh well I'm just happy....anyone need a good used wiring harness?!?


Glad to hear it fixed and it always nice to have spare parts especially a four wheel actuator lol.

(2011 750 I should be working on it instead of talking about it)


----------

