• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

79 gs850, cannot get solenoid to work.

  • Thread starter Thread starter syren
  • Start date Start date
S

syren

Guest
Starter button doesn't seem to be engaging the solenoids I have installed. When it first didn't work, I went out to Autozone and purchased a generic solenoid (pos,neg,12v connections). I push the starter button, nothing, no noise no crank no click. If I use a screw driver and connect the ends (pos,neg) the bike will turn right over. Spoke with a friend, he thought it was a bad solenoid. Returned it, got a new one, same issue. At this point I checked all the connections with a test light, 12v is good, posi, neg all good, getting light. When I connect light to the area where the 12v line is going in, i push the button, it lights up, I let it go, light turns off. Replaced fuses. Clutch kill switch is working (shorted wires together to rule it out), engine is in RUN position.

So at this point I was thinking OK, maybe it has to be a suzuki solenoid. I go online order a solenoid from a 79 gs850, they happen to send me two. I put one in, same issue, but the other in, same issue. I tried switching the posi/neg connections just for the heck of it and no deal.

At this point I'm not sure what else to try because it seems like all connections going TO solenoid are OK. If I make the connection myself with a screw driver to the pos and neg connections on the solenoid, the bike starts right up.
 
Last edited:
run a ground wire from the solenoid mounting bolt, to the negative post of the battery.
 
rustybronco said:
run a ground wire from the solenoid mounting bolt, to the negative post of the battery.
Click to expand...


This is a good idea and may be the easiest fix.



Look also for voltage loss in the circuits, as the bike may have loose or dirty contact areas that limit voltage through the circuit, leaving insufficient power to trigger the solenoid.

Check the voltage at the battery, then going into the starter switch, then the voltage coming out of the switch and reaching the solenoid. This is best done with a digital meter.
 
I ran a ground wire from the starter relay to the engine ground and it fixed my bike. One way to know this is the problem is to check for voltage at the yellow green wire at the connector just before the starter relay ---make sure the voltage tester has a good ground and make sure that you have the clutch lever in and the starter button pushed---with your third and fourth hand! If you get no voltage then you need to trace the circuit back doing the smae test. In my bike the next checkable point was in the head light and this checks the continuity of the disconnect switch controlled by the clutch lever--I found that to be bad and merely bypassed it.

Hope this helps

Terry

WBL, MN
 
Silly question, but I have to ask ...

did you try pulling the clutch lever, too?

There is a 'safety' feature that requires you to pull the clutch lever to activate the starter (unless that has already been disabled). Check the signal wire at the solenoid with a test light to see if you are even getting power to the solenoid before you condemn the solenoid. When you verify that you have power, also verify that you have a proper ground for the solenoid case. After that, there is no excuse for it to not work.

.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top