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no start help

  • Thread starter Thread starter ms5490renegade
  • Start date Start date
M

ms5490renegade

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I have a 79 550e that wont even try to start. I have quite a few wires with terminals that look like they run to tthe battery. Am I hooking it up wrong or is there a deeper. Issue? I have a brand new battery
 
Pictures would help!

On my GS I have like 3 wires connected to the battery, + and - for the battery and 1 that connects to the Regulator/Rectifire. All the others may be wrong, put there by Previous Owner (P.O.). Switch back to stock config, then try...
 
Looked. No help unfortunately. I have fresh gas, new plugs, new battery. It's not even trying to crank with the electric start.or kick start

Sorry. Tried to help.

Good luck.

Edit: did you pull in the clutch before hitting the starter?
 
Pictures would help!

On my GS I have like 3 wires connected to the battery, + and - for the battery and 1 that connects to the Regulator/Rectifire. All the others may be wrong, put there by Previous Owner (P.O.). Switch back to stock config, then try...

I have one silver one that says 12v, one that says 12v 10a max, 2 that come from the front I'd the bike, one big silver thingthat has a bunch of wires coming out, a ground and one yellow wire coming from a black box
 
All of those black with white stripe wires are supposed to be grounds. (-)
That is just to get you started in the right direction. ;)

Daniel
 
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All of those black with white stripe wires are supposed to be grounds. (-)
That is just to get you stated in the right direction. ;)

Daniel

Thanks a ton. Thanks to everyone. You have all been very welcoming and helpful. I work open to close tomorrow but after that I'm going to terry this. The dashights came on and gear and oil pressure lights came on so i figured I was heading in the right direction
 
Does this look even remotely right

Um, how is there no wire connected to the (-) terminal on that battery?

Start with the wiring diagram for your bike and work from there. On mine, the battery has two wires that connect to the negative and one to the positive IIRC. That picture shows a lot more wires, but at least two of them should tie in to the (-) post.
 
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Um, how is there no wire connected to the (-) terminal on that battery?

Start with the wiring diagram for your bike and work from there. On mine, the battery has two wires that connect to the negative and one to the positive IIRC. That picture shows a lot more wires, but at least two of them should tie in to the (-) post.

I left it unconnected because I didn't want to accidentally fry something
 
Okay...little confused.....I saw black wires with white stripe and thought that was neg wires and they were common grounds. Why so many pos wires coming back to the battery???? Is that a relay just hanging on the outside of the frame there? Looks like a standard relay that would have spade type connectors sticking out of the bottom. Are they all covered? Wouldn't want one of them accidentally touching that frame and shorting. I am probably looking at the picture wrong?
 
Okay...little confused.....I saw black wires with white stripe and thought that was neg wires and they were common grounds. Why so many pos wires coming back to the battery???? Is that a relay just hanging on the outside of the frame there? Looks like a standard relay that would have spade type connectors sticking out of the bottom. Are they all covered? Wouldn't want one of them accidentally touching that frame and shorting. I am probably looking at the picture wrong?

I'll take a pic of all the seperate wires tonigbt. I need to get it running by Saturday
 
Hi,

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I see a lot of wires , both grounds and hot wires, connected to the positive terminal of the battery. But I see no wires at all connected to the negative terminal of the battery.

There should be a big cable that connects to the bottom of the engine. That cable needs to connect to the negative terminal of the battery. All of those black wires with the white stripes need to connect to a frame ground. The positive terminal of the battery should probably have only a single large-ish (probably red) wire which runs down to the starter relay (solenoid). Please read your wiring diagram. Perhaps some study in basic electrical theory is in order. When you understand how things work then it is easier to conceptualize solutions. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
Hi,

attachment.php


I see a lot of wires , both grounds and hot wires, connected to the positive terminal of the battery. But I see no wires at all connected to the negative terminal of the battery.

There should be a big cable that connects to the bottom of the engine. That cable needs to connect to the negative terminal of the battery. All of those black wires with the white stripes need to connect to a frame ground. The positive terminal of the battery should probably have only a single large-ish (probably red) wire which runs down to the starter relay (solenoid). Please read your wiring diagram. Perhaps some study in basic electrical theory is in order. When you understand how things work then it is easier to conceptualize solutions. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Hey basscliff I couldn't for the life of me figure out where that wire goes! You might have ended three months of frustration right there. So on the negative terminal are you saying that the black wire and the black/white wire should be attached?
 
Hey basscliff I couldn't for the life of me figure out where that wire goes! You might have ended three months of frustration right there. So on the negative terminal are you saying that the black wire and the black/white wire should be attached?

Typically the black with white stripe wires are ground wires! Did you add all those wires or were they there already? Follow those down to where they end if you don't already know. That's what had me all confused. There should only be the one wire to the starter solenoid from the Positive battery terminal or there should be a fat wire from the battery pos to the starter solenoid and a smaller red wire to your regulator/rectifier. Check what all those black with white stripe wires are for if you didn't add them. I would bet they are a common ground point and should be on the negative terminal.
 
Hi,

Unless you get the battery connections wired properly you won't get anything, no spark, no lights, no starter, etc.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
Can anyone take a picture of theirs? I'm really struggling on reading the wiring diagrams
 
I'd take pictures but from an 82 550L it would not be a good guide. Your bike is 30 years old. It seems that some folks have made some "improvements" to the wiring over that time on your specimen. It happens (my bike has some as well).

You need to trace each of those wires back to somewhere. Yes, stock grounds were black with white tracers but someone appears to have done some re-wiring and may have used whatever they had laying around, regardless of what color confusion it may cause later.

As noted, the factory configuration is one thick, black ground wire bolted to the top of the crank case from the (-) post. I've added a ground wire on mine directly to the R/R case to make a local ground point there, and whomever wired this bike may have done the same. If I'm deciphering correctly, that thick black wire (which would have been red from the factory) is running from the battery (+) to your starter solenoid, which is right next to the battery? The other thick cable on the solenoid should head down to your starter.

The Clymer wiring diagram has two more wires coming from the battery (+): one to each fuse box. One fuse box has a single fuse and is the accessory fuse box. That black box with the snap-on clear-ish plastic cover looks like it might be it. The other fuse box is the one with your four fuses (main, ignition, headlight, and signal probably). That appears to leave two wires that were not there when the bike left the factory. You need to find the other ends! Make sure none of the wires going to the (+) are secondary grounds or you could cause some major damage!

The coils get +12V all the time when the ignition is on. The points cause spark by disconnecting the ground from each coil at the right time. This means that you can take out your handy-dandy multimeter (you have one of those, right?), set it to 20V, turn your bike on and get 12V at the red wires headed to your coils when compared against the bike ground - motor, chassis, battery (-) terminal, whatever (at least it looks like they should be red, but the print is small, it's late and dark, and I'm tired plus over 40).
 
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