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Ignition Won't Shut Off

  • Thread starter Thread starter MadCapsule
  • Start date Start date
M

MadCapsule

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I went to install a new tach cable today, only to find that the battery was completely dead. My landlady's husband came out and told me that he saw the headlight on my bike was turned on the other day.

Sure enough, when I hooked up a battery charger to the battery, the headlight and the lights in the gauge cluster all came on. The ignition was in the off position and the key wasn't in it. I started the engine and let it run for a while. Then, as an experiment, I turned the ignition off and removed the key. Engine kept running.

The only thing I can think of that I might have done to cause this was when I was installing a new headlight bucket. I was moving the large male end of the plug that was originally hooked up to the Vetter fairing that came with the bike and it briefly touched the frame, causing a small spark. I immediately disconnected the battery after that and finished installing the headlight bucket and headlight. Then I reconnected the battery and it took a moment for the lights to come back on, but they did and the bike started tight up. I'm pretty sure I would have noticed if the lights would have all stayed on after shutting off the bike that day.

Diagnosing and fixing electrical gremlins has never been my forte, so any thoughts on what the problem and cure may be would be greatly appreciated.
 
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I would start be removing the pigtail from the system if the fairing is no longer in use. There may be a short inside the wiring in that. Secondly once the removal is done, i would use liquid electrical tape to repair all splice in points. Then i would remove the ignition and clean all the contacts in there as well. Apply a bit of dielectric grease after the cleaning. My money is on the fairing pigtail though.
 
Thanks for the advice, Chuck. I started doing as you suggested today and trying to figure out what the previous owner did to integrate the fairing pigtail into the existing wiring harness is just a tangled nightmare of mismatched wires and apparently whatever random splicing materials he could find in a pile in some dark corner of the garage.

I'm thinking it will save me a lot of time, sanity and cursing if I just go with an unmolested wiring harness. That way I'll at least have a somewhat better understanding of what is supposed to be where. I've already got my eye on a couple on eBay.

Here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/77-S...rcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4cf3be993f

and here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1977...rcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a61bdcd9d

The second one seems a bit overpriced, particularly when you consider that Appleton, WI is only about a 3.5 hour drive from here and yet the shipping is more expensive and has the potential to take up 11 days for delivery. I'll also put up a wanted ad here, but are those about the ballpark for what I should expect to pay for a wiring harness?
 
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portdave said:
You could still get a new one...
http://www.partshark.com/fiche_sect...y=Motorcycles&make=SUZUKI&year=1977&fveh=2133

You might find a better price but it just depends on whether you want new or used...
Click to expand...

I think my bike is a B model. The C model wiring harness in your link is missing a large pigtail which I seem to recall seeing when I was poking around today. I certainly wouldn't mind paying more for a new one, for the peace of mind alone, but Partshark apparently doesn't carry B model wiring harnesses. If you know of another reliable source for a new one, it would be much appreciated.

Edit: I don't see it at Ron Ayers either.
 
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So, I think I found my problem:

IMG_20110625_160020.jpg


That's the wiring that goes to the ignition switch.

The pigtail at the end of it of completely fused together.

IMG_20110625_160126.jpg


Any suggestions on what could have caused that?
 
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Chuck, as I read the first post, the exact same thing came to my mind....snap;)
 
It happened at the plastic plug to the ignition switch on my 850. I should've answerd this thread when I first saw it. That's a common problem. The wires are bundled tightly together, then crammed into a small space. Any poor connections due to corrosion cause heat, and a lot of current passes through the ignition switch (especially when turning the starter motor). Eventually you end up with a fused harness. I spliced new wiring in at the melted points (solder and shrink tubing) and connected them with heavy duty spade connectors. I've had no problem since.
 
So, I should be able to just up the coloring of the wires and skip using a plug altogether? Assuming I'll be able to tell the colors apart at this point, that is.

I'm partial to posi-locks myself. Will those be ok for this application?
 
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