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Battery SLOWLY Dying

  • Thread starter Thread starter Legionnaire
  • Start date Start date
And from the forum menu, upper left, select UserCP, then select Edit signature. Enter your bike(s) and we will no longer wonder what bike you have.
 
BigD_83 said:
I don't think you have anything to panic about.

If you haven't done so, you need to check that you are getting full voltage at the coil when it is cranking.

You should also check the primary and secondary resistance of your coils to make sure you are getting good spark.

A quick search for "Hot Coil" in titles only, any date came up with this bit of reading for you. This should shed a little light on the issue.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/search.php?searchid=2915598
Click to expand...

Good idea, all these threads are just like mine! I will go home and swap the coils to see if the hot coil switches or not, then try and trace back the wire that is causing all the problems.

Also I forgot to answer the points question, but what does that mean?
 
Legionnaire said:
Good idea, all these threads are just like mine! I will go home and swap the coils to see if the hot coil switches or not, then try and trace back the wire that is causing all the problems.

Also I forgot to answer the points question, but what does that mean?
Click to expand...
Points are a mechanical version of a signal generator, with springs and mechanical advance. Many of the earlier GSes ran them.

I believe your '81 450L has a magnet-based signal generator on the end of your crankshaft, and it works by opening and closing the signal circuit as the magnets pass their pickup. Pretty foolproof system there, but either system can be in a closed position when you stop the motor, keeping current flowing in the respective coil.

That's my understanding of it, but I'm sure someone else would be able to give you a more elegant explanation.
 
Testing

Testing

It sounds like you know your battery is good now. You should just go through and test all your electric stuff. On the Bikecliff Website(aka Basscliff) you will find all the procedures for Testing, The stater, coils, igniter box, RR, Under (Electrical Odds and Ends) on the site. It will save you going back and rechecking things. I just done it myself, with a 4 dollar multimeter from the Harbor Freight Store. Also if you don't have one make a remote gas tank so you can run the bike with the tank off. I used a plastic car radiator over flow container. Makes it easy to reach things. Did you put the exhaust gaskets in or replace them when you put the pipes on? The exhaust bolts get loose, at least on my bike I have to keep them checked.
 
BigD_83 said:
Points are a mechanical version of a signal generator, with springs and mechanical advance. Many of the earlier GSes ran them.

I believe your '81 450L has a magnet-based signal generator on the end of your crankshaft, and it works by opening and closing the signal circuit as the magnets pass their pickup. Pretty foolproof system there, but either system can be in a closed position when you stop the motor, keeping current flowing in the respective coil.

That's my understanding of it, but I'm sure someone else would be able to give you a more elegant explanation.
Click to expand...

Yeah I read that my bike has one that auto adjusts itself or something, so I don't need to worry about messing it up, but how would I know if it was closed? Because when I went in to fix my pressure plate I had to take the signal generator off a lot, I put it on to the same way I took it off, but it makes me nervous I had to adjust something back to stock, but I do believe it's self adjusting.

It sounds like you know your battery is good now. You should just go through and test all your electric stuff.
Click to expand...
I will definitely follow BASSCLIF's guide fully because I really need to get this sorted out good idea with the extra gas tank thing!

EDIT: I also don't have any exhaust gaskets, it didn't before and I had no problems
 
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Legionnaire said:
Yeah I read that my bike has one that auto adjusts itself or something, so I don't need to worry about messing it up, but how would I know if it was closed? Because when I went in to fix my pressure plate I had to take the signal generator off a lot, I put it on to the same way I took it off, but it makes me nervous I had to adjust something back to stock, but I do believe it's self adjusting.

I will definitely follow BASSCLIF's guide fully because I really need to get this sorted out good idea with the extra gas tank thing!

EDIT: I also don't have any exhaust gaskets, it didn't before and I had no problems
Click to expand...
Step by step to eliminate the problems. Try to tackle one thing at a time.

According to the parts fiche, you SHOULD have exhaust gaskets:

http://www.boulevardsuzuki.com/fich...y=Motorcycles&make=SUZUKI&year=1980&fveh=2093

They might actually be in there if you didn't remove them, and just may not be doing their job of sealing any longer.
 
Legionnaire said:
Most definitely I am gonna take it nice and slow!

I'll look for them, but I also don't have the stock exhaust anymore
Click to expand...
Stock exhaust or not, you're going to need something malleable in there to take up the spaces caused by 30 years of abuse. Small gaps can sometimes plug up with carbon, but that's not really the most reliable way to seal up your exhaust.

Have a very close look. I'd be willing to bet the old gasket, and possibly gaskets, are smashed in there so tight you've just missed them.
 
BigD_83 said:
Stock exhaust or not, you're going to need something malleable in there to take up the spaces caused by 30 years of abuse. Small gaps can sometimes plug up with carbon, but that's not really the most reliable way to seal up your exhaust.

Have a very close look. I'd be willing to bet the old gasket, and possibly gaskets, are smashed in there so tight you've just missed them.
Click to expand...

So I took off my exhaust and can see REALLY REALLY old gaskets for the exhaust hha so rock hard by now, what I also noticed was one header was all white and one was sooty black... so does that mean one side is running super lean and the other super rich?

I tested my coils and this is what I got:

Left Coil:
Primary: 4 ohms
Secondary: 18.2k ohms

Right Coil: (The hot one)
Primary: 4 ohms
Secondary: Nothing!

So does this mean that my right one is bad? I tested it right, it really just got NADA! I swapped the coils to see what happens...

PS: My electrical is now staying solid, I can leave the brights on, with the signals on, everything running and it barely drops. Knock on wood though!
 
After a lot of reading I think this may be the source of all my problems... a bad coil can cause a rough idle, hard to accelerate, all which get worse when the bike gets warm. Let me know if this sounds right?

EDIT: I just found out that one of my pilot jets was full of gunk... no more overflow problems hopefully!
 
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So last night I swapped my coils around to see if the problem would jump to the other coil. Today I tried to start my bike and it just kept cranking but never actually started, I tried it a whole bunch but never actually started. I am assuming that my coil finally went kaput, does that what it sounds like to anyone else. After testing the resistance it looked like it was on it’s way out and I do strongly believe all my power loss problems were due to this. (My battery stood up to all this like a champion though!)

What should my next step be? I just want to buy new coils and get it over with, which ones should I buy I heard a lot about Dyna S Green… I think that’s it. Either way could someone point me in the right direction for new coils for a 1981 GS450E, thanks a lot! (I read all the coil threads and didn’t get too much help about aftermarket replacements)
 
Dang where is everyone :(

So I have been investigating my coil problem, and here are some pictures of the temperatures:

Left:
CMHuc.jpg


Right:
RCZ79.jpg


I was worried because one coil was getting hot and the other wasn't, but when the bike is turned on and not running of course the coil is gonna get hot, what I didn't think about was why the other coil isn't hot at all... so I checked the wires that plug into the coils and the right one read ~12v or exactly what the battery was at. The left one read ~10v and then slowly went down to absolutely nothing.

Right side is getting 12v with a BAD coil
Left side is getting intermittent volts, slowly drains to nothingness with a GOOD coil

I am confused as to how my bike even turns on and idles decently, anyone care to throw some ideas at me? Thanks!
 
I believe the coils you have keyed in on are correct. One of the 450 guys out there may have already used those.

When you posted your "nothing" reading for the secondary resistance on the right coil...was that a "0", or an "OL" on the meter?

It still sounds like you have wiring issues with your left coil, like a short only on that side. What do they read when you crank it over?
 
BigD_83 said:
I believe the coils you have keyed in on are correct. One of the 450 guys out there may have already used those.

When you posted your "nothing" reading for the secondary resistance on the right coil...was that a "0", or an "OL" on the meter?

It still sounds like you have wiring issues with your left coil, like a short only on that side. What do they read when you crank it over?
Click to expand...

Okay after a lot of research it seems like that is the most common, but my coils are 4ohms and those are 3ohms is that gonna be an issue?

It just stayed at 1 on the multimeter. I tried to test it tons of times, and it just stayed at 1.

A short? Okay well I searched throw the bundle of wires and things looked good, how would I test to see that because there are two orange/white wires that deliver power to both of the coils then, on the left side there is a white wire that seems to be giving me my issues.

I am not sure if I can test it and crank it over, because the plug I use to test the coil needs to be plugged in (molex connector)
 
The 4 - 5 Ohm coils are meant to be used with points, and the 3 Ohm are for electronic ignitions. Using a lower resistance coil with points can cause a whole different set of problems, from burning through your coils to burning up points. I'm not sure what you have, but being an 81 I believe you have electronic ignition, so the 3 Ohm coils should be fine.

With nobody else chiming in, I hope that is the correct advice for you...if it's not, I hope someone else will pipe up.
 
BigD_83 said:
The 4 - 5 Ohm coils are meant to be used with points, and the 3 Ohm are for electronic ignitions. Using a lower resistance coil with points can cause a whole different set of problems, from burning through your coils to burning up points. I'm not sure what you have, but being an 81 I believe you have electronic ignition, so the 3 Ohm coils should be fine.

With nobody else chiming in, I hope that is the correct advice for you...if it's not, I hope someone else will pipe up.
Click to expand...

Well dang... I ordered these from MikeXS:
http://www.mikesxs.net/product/17-6805.html

I just felt like spending as little money as possible and matching my ohms as of now which is 4ohms. Later down the rode I might get the greenies, but I just need something better than my failing coils right now.

Also yeah I have an electronic ignition, thanks man!
 
Having the higher resistance coils on the electronic ignition shouldn't cause you any problems, but you may have a weaker spark. At that price, it's worth a chance anyhow

Let us know how you make out
 
Bump on this, any word on how those coils worked out? Those 4 ohms coils are considerably cheaper...
 
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