82 gs550 weird electric issue.

[Guest]

I recently bought a non running 82 gs550L. It will crank but not start. Weird thing...all 4 wires going to coil have power. Also starter relay has power to starter button all the time, but you have to jump posts to engage starter. Any idea where to start looking for issues?

[Rijko]

just throwing some things out there, to get more info for a more systematic approach to find the issue.

The small wire on the starter relais should not have power all the time.

Power to the starter relais starts at the battery, goes to ignition switch, then to kill switch.
Only after flipping the kill switch to run, power continues to starter button, and only while
pressing the starter button power is going to the starter relais.
Check handlebar switch connections first, maybe something is wrong there.

At least you have a cranking engine, do the plugs spark ?
And do you have gas in the carbs, the petcock sometimes fouls.
Have you tried it on PRI ?
Does it make a difference if you spray some brake cleaner or starter fluid into the carbs ?

If the issue is electrical and you're into quick and dirty ways to hear the engine running, check this thread.

[Steve]

It is normal for all four coil wires to have power when the engine is not running and thte key is on, if your bike has electronic ignition (which it does). Power comes from the battery to the coil, then to the ignitor (which is just an electronic version of points), which will open the circuit when the triggers tell it to fire.

The starter relay (solenoid) actually has four electrical connections, but one of them is somewhat hidden. There should be two large wires. One is connected to the battery and will be hot all the time. The other large wire goes to the starter and will only be hot when the starter button is pushed. The third visible wire comes from the starter button and operates pretty much as Rijko described: Key ON, kill switch to RUN, clutch handle pulled, stater button pushed, the solenoid will be engaged. The fourth (hidden) wire is the solenoid case. It is mounted on the battery box, which is rubber-mounted for vibration isolation, but it also isolates it electrically, so there is a ground wire that should be on one of the solenoid mounting bolts.

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