Lit up now bike dead

[Guest]

hi guys. Well now I am on to the next step in the resurrection. Bike has been sitting for a long time, I cleaned the electrical connections under the seat. Took the cb panel and regulator out and polished all the screw on connectors and wires. Cleaned and ploished the corrosion off the ground wire in the engine and where it attached to batters as well as the pos lead. Today I put the battery in and turned the key and all the lights came on. I have to mention that I did forget to take the engine out of 1st gear and missed the neutral light illuminating. My bad on that one but the head light and oil pressure light did come on when I turned the key. I hit the starter button and the second from the bottom fuse blew. Replaced the fuse, put the bike in neutral turned the key and now there is no power to anything. I took the back of the fuse panel off and looked in there and there is no corrosion. Does anyone know or have a suggestion where I can start trouble shooting the bike being dead> I already replaced the wire running from the start switch to the solenoid and I had it turning over in the past. Is there a fusible link I am missing in some hidden wire? Could I have shorted out the ignition, I have a spare. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Steve]

Thanks for having your bike in your signature (along with many others), that was the only clue what bike we are discussing.

If the pictues show the fuse box in the same orientation that it is on the bike, the "second from the bottom" is your SIGNALS fuse. It will power the turn signals, horn, brakes and oil pressure light.

If, however, the fuse box is turned over and what is normally the second from the bottom is now the second from the top, the second fuse is your MAIN fuse. It supplies power to the bike until the engine is running and the charging system takes over.

In your pictures, the red wire in the upper left should be "hot" all the time. The red wire in the upper right will be 'downstream' of the MAIN fuse, so should also be "hot", unless the fuse is blown.

The orange wire in the lower left will be switched hot from the ignition key. Starting at the bottom right corner, the orange/red wire is for LIGHTS, the orange/green wire is for SIGNALS, the orange/white/ wire is for IGNITION.

The last position in the upper right (that has no wire soldered to it) is connected to the screw just above it. It is the AUX terminal for connecting accessories. Note that it is hot all the time, just like the MAIN fuse, and does not turn off with the key, so be careful what you connect to it.

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[bomber737]

Thanks for the explanation of what the wires are. I am going to assume that there are no fusible links any where on the bike. Yes it is a 80 GS1000 E. I will be putting new fuses in the bike tomorrow and see if that will solve my woes. You are correct from the pictures that I was holding the fuse block upside down so what I described in the first post I was looking at the fuse block oriented the way it sits on the bike.

[chuck hahn]

The red wire in the top of the picture looks like it isnt properly connected to the fuse box..loose connection there maybe. Also I have seen the glass fuse blow BEHIND the metal ends...Take a continuity checker and check across each fuse and each set of clips.

[Steve]

... I am going to assume that there are no fusible links any where on the bike. ...

You would be very correct in doing so.

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[bomber737]

I will get in there and check the contacts as well as replace all the fuses. It's hard to see but when I have it in my hand the contacts are shiny and clean. When I took the picture I had just pulled the back off of the fuse block and was expecting a bunch of corrosion. All the contacts look shiny and tight.

[Normk]

You may find it to be more effective to use a test light as opposed to a voltmeter as the light requires a bit of a circuit to operate. Start at the battery and check for power, working "forward" to the main fuse and then looking for results from the switched fuses. Don't overlook the possiblity that there is a ground connection issue which reared its head when the load from starting was applied. Check that the battery negative cable is bright and silver at both ends.

I will get in there and check the contacts as well as replace all the fuses. It's hard to see but when I have it in my hand the contacts are shiny and clean. When I took the picture I had just pulled the back off of the fuse block and was expecting a bunch of corrosion. All the contacts look shiny and tight.

[bomber737]

I will check the wires as you say. I know that the ends of the ground wires are shiny since I took them off and wire brushed them with a wire wheel and my dremel. I actually took all the connectors off any wire that I could find and cleaned them up including removing the coils and polishing the bolts and washers that hold them on.

[bomber737]

Last night I got a new set of fuses in the fuse holder and low and behold the thing lit up. I put a 30A fuse in the main and a replaced all the others as marked on the cover. I pushed the start button and nothing happened. I have already replaced the yellow/green stripe wire from the connector to the solenoid. I checked all the connection but still nothing. I have 2 extra solenoid's so I am going to replace the one on the bike with one I know works. Hopefully that will let the starter to engage. I also have another right side control from a GS850 that looks the same so If I don't get any starter motor I will try switching the control. Does this sound logical to you experts on the forum or an I just chasing my tail?

[tom203]

Before switching out stuff, "jump" solenoid trigger wire (yellow/green). Put bike in neutral and on centerstand for safety's sake- use jumper wire from positive battery to trigger wire on solenoid. Remember that solenoid case must be grounded to frame.

[bomber737]

Gounded the solenoid today and and it clicks so I am sure it works. I checked the wire from the male part of the connector to the solenoid and its good. So I think I either have a bad ground at the switch. No power seems to be flowing from the switch to the solenoid. It's weird that when I replaced some of the wire it worked as it should. In the mean time I have disconnected all the wires in the headlight and wire harness so I could replace the head bearings. Here are some pictures of the wires in the head light and the connector under the tank. Where do I check next?
The only wire that does not seem to have a mate is the brown one. Every thing else seems to work as it should. I am also not getting any spark when I jumpered it across the solenoid. This might be because of the other problem I am having. So I want to tackle the starter issue first then I will look at the no spark. The yellow/green stripe that is cut is the one I cut to put the new wire to the solenoid in.

[tom203]

Your post scrolled off my screen to neighboring state -but I don't want to know why! anyways, did solenoid click when you pressed starter button, or when you jumped it?
What do you mean " I think I have a bad ground at switch" ? I hope you don't have any ground at right hand switch.

[bomber737]

It clicked when i jumped the pos terminal and the solder spot with the yellow/Green stripe wire on the solenoid and the starter started to turn the motor over. The switch has a metal plate on the inside that touches the handle bar. That's why I thought the switch was grounded through the bars. I included a picture of the back side of the switch.

[tom203]

That plate inside right switch is there to hold the screws on- you wouldn't want the throttle to loosen up on handlebar. If connections fail inside switch, you can have problems with starter button and/or kill switch wiring grounding out.


Any pics of VF500F by chance? I 've never seen one.

[SVSooke]

Hit the enter key after linking to your pics.Will stack them nicely in a row and keep them on screen.Do it twice and you will get a border.