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Electrical failure on GS1100ED

  • Thread starter Thread starter Flaming Chainsaws
  • Start date Start date
This is frustrating. It appears that no one has ever had this problem, according to the searches. Except for one person but he has not yet solved it. I guess I'm on my own. Brand new wiring harness coming up. I know that wires are broken and melted on my current harness so this will eliminate that issue. Will it fix my light issue, I don't know....

My friend often asks me, "Why do you keep working on this old bike? You would be riding right now and spent less time and money if you bought a newer bike that was ready to go."

He's right. Wish I bought a newer bike in the first place :(. Funny... I've trained and took classes to become a tech and I can't even figure this out? Sheesh.... But I'm already deep into this. Must finish it!

OR

I can turn it into a track bike. No need for lights on the track!
 
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Arg, wish I could have seen this earlier, I'm very proficient at electronics. Rewired most of my bike, replaced the entire harness (old one still worked, but found an oem harness for $85), have rewired a '52 chevy, wired in MegaSquirt to my track toy, traced various shorts, and made a COPs harness from scratch. Those are just a few of my projects.

Man, I wish you could drop by with the bike, there's a **** ton of tests and checks you can do without even turning the key. My Fluke has solved many mysteries for me. PM if you'd like discuss it more, serious offer. shame you probably wouldnt trust me, don't blame you.
 
Flaming,
not that I'm some older guy with years of experience.

Everyone who wrenches has to have at least one project that stumps them. A project that causes you and others to question your sanity. Anyone can plop down cash for a new machine. Sure summer is coming to a close, but once your running, you will know that bike like the curves of _ (fill in)

Step away, work on something else for a day, come back with a fresh attitude.
Its just nuts/bolts and wires.

Stick with it, you will figure it out. I'm sure we can all share stories of similar experiences. I'm going through it now with my bike. At least you got to hear yours run :(
 
Mista M said:
Flaming,
not that I'm some older guy with years of experience.

Everyone who wrenches has to have at least one project that stumps them. A project that causes you and others to question your sanity. Anyone can plop down cash for a new machine. Sure summer is coming to a close, but once your running, you will know that bike like the curves of _ (fill in)

Step away, work on something else for a day, come back with a fresh attitude.
Its just nuts/bolts and wires.

Stick with it, you will figure it out. I'm sure we can all share stories of similar experiences. I'm going through it now with my bike. At least you got to hear yours run :(
Click to expand...
Hmmm.... What else do I have to work on? I guess I can start fixing some of the drywall in the basement. My dad's been bugging me about that all summer. Yeah... I'll do that. That should take me a week or so.

I have ridden many newer bikes and a few old bikes. I have found that newer bikes lack character, IMO. They're too clean, have no history from the PO's, and just too "perfect" all around. And the newer sport bikes all look the same :rolleyes:.

This bike runs surprisingly well. Carb clean, valve adjustment, general maintenance... Doing these things one at a time really adds up.

This electrical issue is the ONLY thing that's keeping me off of the road.

Break time for me though.
 
Electrical problems are hard to hunt down if you dont know where to start.

Im not an electronics wizard too, So I have to rely on common sense and the bit that I know about electricity. This is the way I work:

- I unplug everything that does not work, and leave to working bits. Then I focus on 1 simple thing, like the turn lights
- I look at the wiring diagram where the power should come from, so I follow the lines on the diagram from the turn signals to the battery. I note which colour the cabling should have along the way
- Then, with my $15 multimeter I start measuring where theres a voltage, starting at the battery and following the wires on the bike back to the turn signals. So thats 1 pin of the meter connected to the ground and 1 checking all the places the wiring passes a connector or switch
- By looking at the wire colouring, I can then find where the voltage stops for the turn signals

This will take a while to do and there will be no quick solution. Regular stepbacks from the bike and regular checkbacks with the forum members on specific measuring results will aid you in understanding the how and why.

just my $0.02 on this issue, I hope you get things all sorted
 
Digitus, I like your response. Every electrical issue is unique. You have to take it down to the minimum, which is what you propose. Then you start adding and debugging piece by piece. Quick and dirty solutions tend to end up just dirty, not quick.
 
Yeah, I'll work on the bike later. I will remember to take it step by step. Thanks for the advice!
 
just for giggles. add a ground wire from the battery to the motor, from the motor to the frame. and one from the frame to the mounting plate the electroinces are located.

then dismount every turn signal, and check ware the wires come out of the end and the ground wires. test them on a battery or power supply to see if they work. my bike over the years the wires had rubed ware they came out of the signals. this coused a lot of headacks. i had to run new wires then use liquid tape to keep the wires from moving. the other problem was over the years the grounding wires had croded and added restiance. so when the bike was runing, it would do strange things every now and then, with the power back feeding trying to find the grounds.
 
I finally found this thread. I don't have much to add except that there's no reason to fear rebuilding a wiring harness instead of replacing. Especially when you have more time than money. Besides, it's an excellent opportunity to clean and protect every connection on the bike. It will also help you find the hidden places where wires are chafed, or things that may turn into a problem a year from now. Check continuity every way you can find and splice in new wire wherever anything looks questionable.

The process of putting it all back together, tracing out every wire and connector, will get the whole electrical system into your head. You will know which wires belong and which don't. You will know, for certain, that the wiring is right. Knowing a bike that intimately also increases the pleasure of riding the old machine. According the ifixit manifesto, "If you can't fix it, you don't own it". There's nothing like riding a bike that you really own.

All that, and you haven't yet identified that the problem is in the wiring harness. I'll third George's second to Digitus' response. You'll have to get so methodical that the problem cannot escape.
 
This addresses the original issue. not the damage cased by the other guy.

You have 2 grounds going to to your starter relay mounting bolt (the 2 ring terminals)
Only 1 should go there.. it grounds the electrical mounting panel and the components attached to it.

The other ring terminal should be attached directly to the frame..
It ties the electrical harness ground to the chassis ground..
There should be a mounting point for it in the frame somewhere around the battery compartment..

Fix that and the ground looping should go away.
 
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sschering said:
This addresses the original issue. not the damage cased by the other guy.

You have 2 grounds going to to your starter relay mounting bolt (the 2 ring terminals)
Only 1 should go there.. it grounds the electrical mounting panel and the components attached to it.

The other ring terminal should be attached directly to the frame..
It ties the electrical harness ground to the chassis ground..
There should be a mounting point for it in the frame somewhere around the battery compartment..

Fix that and the ground looping should go away.
Click to expand...
I always thought that a ground is a ground lol.

Yup, I will have to do all checks the long way. I do agree that it will help me get to know the bike a lot better... :)
 
Flaming Chainsaws said:
I always thought that a ground is a ground lol.

Yup, I will have to do all checks the long way. I do agree that it will help me get to know the bike a lot better... :)
Click to expand...


Yes but with both wires attached to the electrical mounting plate the wiring harness is only directly grounded to itself.. not the chassis/motor/battery.

So what it's doing is finding a path to the chassis through other grounded components attached to the wiring harness and looping back through them..

Like the neutral light switch.. it has it's own ground in the motor so current will flow to it through the neutral light circuit causing the light to turn on.

same with the oil light and side stand switch.. with the bike off the oil pressure switch is a path to ground through the oil light.
The side stand light switch is grounded to the frame.

The oil temp gauge is just reading resistance to ground.. The sending unit is just a variable resistor between the gauge and ground. If you were to disconnect the sending unit and ground the lead to the motor it would read 0.. no connection is infinite resistance so the gauge pegs.

My rule of thumb is.If the electrical system is doing strange and odd things (usually involving lights) always suspect your grounds first.
 
OK then, regarding the 2 grounds that are currently on the starter relay's left mounting bolt, which one should go on the frame? The short or the long one? I think it's kinda obvious :o.

The short one must go on the starter relay then the long one goes on the frame somewhere. Am I right?
 
Yeah.. They both hook up to the same ground circuit so it won't really matter.. Just use the one that fits the best.
 
On your note about the side stand and oil light, I don't have near as many warning lights, but my oil light and sidestand light stay on till the bike is started whether the sidestand is up or down. Once it is started the oil light goes out and the sidestand light stays lit til the sidestand is put up. Or the ground puts it up for you because you forgot to put it up *(&$(*#^)^Q@#$ again! :D
 
Bypass the side stand light, unplug the switch and attach the two wires to each other. Works for the clutch switch too, it's all the switch does. Brake light too, but you probably dont want that on all the time.
 
Hey ya'll. Was this ever resolved. Having the exact same problem.
 
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I replaced the turn signal switch with a different one, but still I am getting no power to the dash apart from the high beams. anyone? beuhler?
 
I too have a '82 GS1100EZ, but I've never had a problem such as that, the most problem I have had were sticky relays inside that Idiot light relay box under the tank, a intermittant oil pressure switch (which provides the ground for most of the idiot lights) a battery light that wouldn't go off, (I attached the unconnected battery probe to the positive side of the battery) a intermittant side stand light (cleaned the switch). Turn signals that wouldn't shut off, (replaced the Turn signal control unit) When you have multiple and intermittant problems together it'll drive you nuts till you get it sorted. Once the problem is identified, it'll makes sense as to what it was doing.

If I had to start somewhere I'd have to study that wiring diagram and do continuity checks looking for a open ground or open 12 volts wire.
 
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