No head, tail, tach, fuel, speedo, high beam warning lights - Ignition switch?

[mauser]

For a 1982 GS650GL: I'm helping my neighbor diagnose what is happening with her bike. She recently put in a new starter solenoid, which is apparently for a car. It has a 30A fuse on it. All the lights were working prior to this install. After install, they all stopped working. I checked the fuses with a voltmeter. All work. I checked ground. All good. I checked connectors. The connectors for the ignition switch and the Right Hand controls were melted and I replaced them. Turn signals and indicator work, neutral, oil pressure lights too, horn works. I have connectivity in all the right places except through the ignition switch even with it turned to ON.

So, basically, as far as I can tell, the only lights that don't work are lights that run through the ignition switch. Could the install of the solenoid have shorted out the ignition switch? Time for a replacement ignition switch?

Thanks for any help you can give!

[Redman]

Main (red) wire goes to ignition swtich and thast swtiches on/off to the orange wire which comes back to the fuse box and powers the 3 other fuses the HeadLight fuse, the ignition fuse and the signal fuse.

HeadLight fuse is headlight and some other light..
Ignition fuse is the ignition and the starter solenoid (yoiiu did not say about those).
Signal fuse is about everything else.

So, no , I do not suspect ignition swtich because things on the the other two fuses are working which are powered by the same wire comming from ignition switch.

[tom203]

AS redman said, all the stuff is powered thru ignition switch, so I think that's OK. I'd disconnect starter solenoid entirely since it might be hooked up oddly. The burnt out connector for right hand switch should be disconnected- then see if you can get headlight on; if the headlight fuse has power, the light should come on (82 models had no on/off switch ). The stocks suzuki solenoid draws about 3 amps, I seem to recall an auto solenoid drawing about twice that, but that would just blow the ignition fuse. Make sure the fuse sizes are correct-15amp for main, 10 amp for other three.

[mauser]

What about the R/R unit? Doesn't that go to the ignition switch? And if that is going out, evidenced by the melted connectors for the ignition switch and the engine kill, starter button, the the wire from the 10A light fuse, AND the generator AND R/R unit, couldn't that short something out? It is about that time for this bike's R/R to go out.

I just figured it had something to do with the solenoid since that's when the problems started - I made an error on the type of solenoid. It's not for a car, it's a universal relay for motorcycles.

Forgive my ignorance, I'm fairly new at this but eager to learn and put the work in!

[mauser]

Correct me if I'm wrong: According to the wiring chart, the main goes through the main 15A fuse, connects along the way with the R/R unit, then goes straight to the ignition switch. Coming out of the ignition switch, we have orange, grey and brown wires. The orange travels directly back to the fuse box and sends current through the head light fuse, the brake/indicator lights fuse and the ignition fuse. The head light wire (O/G) then goes to a connector (which was melted and replaced today) and turns into a Y/W wire which couples with another Y/W wire coming out of the same connector. That second Y/W wire comes from, via the connector, a grey wire that comes from the ignition switch. This grey wire powers everything else that doesn't work, which are the tach light, fuel gauge light, and speedo light. This is why it seems to be the ignition switch, because that grey wire eventually connects with the the two Y/W wires, which turn into one Y/W wire that goes to the dimmer switch then leaves the dimmer switch via a yellow wire to the head light (doesn't work) and high beam warning light (doesn't work).

I apologize for the confusing wiring description, but it's that darn grey wire that seems to be screwing things up, and it comes from the ignition switch.

[Killer2600]

Correct me if I'm wrong: According to the wiring chart, the main goes through the main 15A fuse, connects along the way with the R/R unit, then goes straight to the ignition switch. Coming out of the ignition switch, we have orange, grey and brown wires. The orange travels directly back to the fuse box and sends current through the head light fuse, the brake/indicator lights fuse and the ignition fuse. The head light wire (O/G) then goes to a connector (which was melted and replaced today) and turns into a Y/W wire which couples with another Y/W wire coming out of the same connector. That second Y/W wire comes from, via the connector, a grey wire that comes from the ignition switch. This grey wire powers everything else that doesn't work, which are the tach light, fuel gauge light, and speedo light. This is why it seems to be the ignition switch, because that grey wire eventually connects with the the two Y/W wires, which turn into one Y/W wire that goes to the dimmer switch then leaves the dimmer switch via a yellow wire to the head light (doesn't work) and high beam warning light (doesn't work).

I apologize for the confusing wiring description, but it's that darn grey wire that seems to be screwing things up, and it comes from the ignition switch.

I hate to ruin the surprise but that grey wire is powered by the ignition switch after the ignition switch powers the fuse panel.

The R/R does share a connection with the main/ignition feed but it doesn't necessarily cause melted connectors when it goes bad. Melted connectors typical results from corrosion that adds resistance which adds heat to the circuit. The charging voltage indicated with your volt meter would tell you if you had an overvoltage problem.

I hate to tell you to go back and recheck your work but I am, the grey wire powers your non-functioning lights and it comes from the fuse panel not the ign switch (directly at least) and they happen to all share a ground so you need to recheck your ground(s). If those have the appropriate power and ground (good ones at that) then your looking at blown bulbs from a probable overvoltage condition.

[tom203]

I hope you are using the colored wiring diagram off Basscliff's site ,cuz it's readable unlike Clymers.

The R/R red wire is connected to battery thru harness-it doesn't go thru ignition switch. Anytime you have a problem with electrical stuff, best to "breakup" the connections to try to isolate the different circuits.
This "universal solenoid" can you show us a pic? A 30 amp fused trigger seems rather large.

[tom203]

Mauser... some of your wire colors don't make sense to me. My 81 has an on/off headlight switch (82 and 83' s don't) but the colors should be similar. Here's what I got... ignition switch "on" sends orange wire to fusebox (this powers all three 10 amp fuses. Then headlight fuse sends power down orange/red stripe wire to a connector where it joins a gray wire ,this gray connects to hi/lo dimmer switch and also feeds a gray wire going to instrument backlighting. At hi/lo switch, the gray wire either connects to yellow wire (high beam) or solid white wire (low beam)

[Killer2600]

Mauser... some of your wire colors don't make sense to me. My 81 has an on/off headlight switch (82 and 83' s don't) but the colors should be similar. Here's what I got... ignition switch "on" sends orange wire to fusebox (this powers all three 10 amp fuses. Then headlight fuse sends power down orange/red stripe wire to a connector where it joins a gray wire ,this gray connects to hi/lo dimmer switch and also feeds a gray wire going to instrument backlighting. At hi/lo switch, the gray wire either connects to yellow wire (high beam) or solid white wire (low beam)

Don't forget the gray wire also feeds to the ignition switch where it then connects to the brown tail (park) light wire to power the tail light.

Considering the claim this all started the moment the starter relay was changed I suspect a bad or missing ground. I'm going on the basis and understanding that the starter relay (more specifically the mounting screws) was used as a factory ground point. Then again a bad fuse/power feed would also give the same symptoms/problem.

Best thing is to go right to the non-functioning light and see whether your missing ground or power. After disconnecting the light from the harness you can even use continuity to check the bulb filament and see if it's burnt/open.

[tom203]

Don't forget the gray wire also feeds to the ignition switch where it then connects to the brown tail (park) light wire to power the tail light.

Yes, this is done this way so you can have the "park" spot on keyswitch- just taillight on. Normally, the headlight fuse powers taillight-but in "park" spot, the taillight is powered by main fuse. I love suzuki wiring.

[Killer2600]

Yes, this is done this way so you can have the "park" spot on keyswitch- just taillight on. Normally, the headlight fuse powers taillight-but in "park" spot, the taillight is powered by main fuse. I love suzuki wiring.

Nothing wrong with suzuki wiring, only people that expect wiring and components to not degrade after 30+ years of exposure.

[chuck hahn]

I may have missed it in a post, but did you check the connector inside the headlight bucket?

[mauser]

Thanks for the help. If I had gone on my inexperienced instinct, this would have been a lot longer and painstaking process. I rechecked the connectivity and found that the fuse contact points were corroded and not conductive. I cleaned those up and that did the trick. I wouldn't have checked this had you all not set me down the correct path! Thanks! And my friend Emily thanks you as well. She's pretty darn happy today.