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Melted Negative Battery Terminal

  • Thread starter Thread starter tpalmer1359
  • Start date Start date
T

tpalmer1359

Guest
Uh oh, or maybe not?

79 1000L ran perfectly fo 60 miles 3 days ago. Yesterday I tried to start it. Engine turned over but did not catch, then a small puff of white smoke and all electricity died. I charged the battery overnight, but it is still dead, so obviously that is a gonner.

I guess the next step is to check and clean all connections to the battery, starter, and grounds. If anyone has experienced this or has any insight, I'd greatly appreciate your advice.

Thanks as always.

Tom
 
tpalmer1359 said:
check and clean all connections to the battery, starter, and grounds.
Click to expand...

Check (change) all the fuses. Clean all the connectors on the bike. Before you try to start again check the oil for possible overfull condition which is an indication that fuel has entered your crankcase.
 
Sounds to me that the starter may have locked up a bit causing an electrical back load. Also check the charging system once you get it goingb again. I would pul the starter and see if the armeture is not wiggling in the bushings..just to eliminate a hanging starter issue.
 
chuck hahn said:
Sounds to me that the starter may have locked up a bit causing an electrical back load. Also check the charging system once you get it goingb again. I would pul the starter and see if the armeture is not wiggling in the bushings..just to eliminate a hanging starter issue.
Click to expand...
While the starter is out, TEST it! Pos to the post, neg to the body of the starter. If it doesn't turn, you need to rebuild it whether the armature is loose in the bushings or not. I've had the brush plate short out inside before, but the armature will still turn and not feel loose.
 
Starter turned freely by hand, then spun quickly and quietly when hooked up to battery off the bike. When I came home from work the battery was charged and quickly recharged after being used to test the starter.

Hmmmm?
 
Something most obviously caused a seriuos short and grounded that battery out for some reason. Does everything else work on the bike like normal??
 
Still say go through the bike front to back. Clean all the connections including every ground.

I replaced almost every bullet connector with covered blade style contractors and even heat shrinked most of those after adding a touch of dielectric greese to each.

Charging system works much better, no more hot wires or nasty bullet connections. Before I did all that I thought my stator was toast.
 
chuck hahn said:
Something most obviously caused a seriuos short and grounded that battery out for some reason. Does everything else work on the bike like normal??
Click to expand...

Everything but the rear clutch side blinker. The bulb is burned out.
 
chef1366 said:
Bad ground wire or bad ground on the other end of the battery cable.
Click to expand...

Boy I wish I could find it. The negative cable's connection to the engine is clean and secure. Same for the wire attached to the cross member directly in front of the battery.

Now the battery isn't holding charge. When I have the tender attached to it, I can turn the ignition on and electrics work. I disconnect the tender and zero electrical power.

Could this just be a battery issue, or is there a ground problem that needs to be found and corrected?

Frustrating. The bike ran sooo nicely after all the maintenance I performed recently.
 
Hi,

Can you take your battery somewhere to have it load tested?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
Not much to be gained from taking a battery that won't hold a charge to be 'tested'.
Still wondering about the 'puff of smoke'.

S.
 
+1. Not much use testing a battery which won't hold charge. Let's consider what the test result could indicate?

Oh, yes. Battery is no good. It won't hold a charge but other than that it's great. ;)

How do you know that it won't hold a charge? Does it go dead when charged and left disconnected or only when connected to the bike?

If only goes dead when connected to the bike then you have a parasitic drain rather than a battery issue.

Do have access to anyother battery which can be used for testing?

Regardless, charge the battery and leave disconnected to see if it goes dead. If so you will need to buy another battery. If you intend to do trouble shooting before buying the new battery then another needs to stand in but you could use jumper cables off another battery such as an automotive one. If using a battery in another vehicle, do not run the other vehicle's engine while connected to the bike.

Once you have battery power connected to the bike's battery cables, you can test for power at the battery side of the starter relay, at the ignition switch side of the fuse box (with key on), etc.

As for the puff of smoke, could be from anywhere, especially if you just did some rewiring. I'd be pulling all the fuses and then starting with testing, beginning with main fuse and adding the others one at a time until you locate the issue.

IMO, the starter theories are not the place to start as you will need to have battery power connected and then begin with testing from there.

This all goes without saying that the battery cable connections need to be clean and bright but not shiny black.

It may be that there was a serious short which caused a connector bar failure within the battery but if that were the case you would have more than a small puff of smoke.

Too much conjecture and not enough data. Deal with the battery questions first and then go from there.





silverhorse47 said:
Not much to be gained from taking a battery that won't hold a charge to be 'tested'.
Still wondering about the 'puff of smoke'.

S.
Click to expand...
 
Silverhorse47 and Normk. Thanks very much for your responses. Put in new battery a couple weeks ago and all is perfect electrically. Fires right up. All indicators and gages work. Battery holds its charge.

Only issue is that my "repaired" starter cluth just failed again with a pronounced rattle. A spring had collapsed, the unit is full of marks and gauged, plus one pin won't come out of its bore, so I ordered a brand new unit from Boulevard Suzuki during sale.

Can't wait to button it up and twist the thottle again.
 
With the bike running, did you check the voltage at the battery?? Is it charging properly?
 
chuck hahn said:
With the bike running, did you check the voltage at the battery?? Is it charging properly?
Click to expand...

I have not. Battery recharges very quickly on tender after being run either for a ride or in garage for a short period.

Please let me know how to check voltage. I have a 6v / 12v tester in its package.
 
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