Ground getting hot

[Guest]

I finally have this thing back together after a carb rebuild and was able to get it started yesterday evening. It runs decent but then the idle will jump around and then once it gets warm it dies and wont start again. So I threw in the towel, put it back on trickle charger, and then went out to mess with it before heading to work.

I had been having issues with the solenoid going out and have replaced. This morning when I went to start it the solenoid did not pass through to the starter immediately and when it did the starter only spun slowly. At this point I noticed the ground to the battery post getting quite hot and started poking around all my connections.

I replaced the stator with the SH775 and the stator with the Electrosport when I purchased the bike about 5 years ago. However, the bike has been sitting outside a while and I can tell the connections are a bit worse for wear and I intend to rewire everything this evening.

My question is whether I have everything hooked up correctly or if I should change things up at all.

Currently, I have the 3 connections on the right side of the R/R going back into the harness to the stator. The other side of the R/R, I have a red wire going through an inline fuse going to the + post of the battery. The other connection on the left side of the R/R goes to the - post of the battery.

Additionally, on the - post of the battery I have one ground going to the bolt on the frame/tray to the right side of the R/R mount. There is another ground also going to a bolt on the top of the engine just under the battery.

On the + post of the battery, I have one connection going to the post on the left side of the solenoid, and one other wire going into the fuse box.

This configuration has worked but it seems I have some type of grounding issue. I know posplayr recommends a SPG, but I am honestly not sure where/how that should be done? 5 years ago when I replaced everything I know went based on the walk-thru here but my memory is pretty bad as to what/why that was. Should I just go to the connection to the right of the R/R and ditch the ground to the engine? Or is the all correct but just needs to be buttoned up better?

And lastly, I know that bad connections/battery can definitely affect engine performance. Is it possible all this bad wiring could be causing my issue with idle/etc when the bike comes up to temp?

I have tried to be as descriptive as possible but let me know if any clarification is needed on anything. Thanks in advance for any assistance you can give me!

[sam000lee]

Don't use the harness to run the wires from your stator and instead run them directly to your R/R to eliminate any bad connections there and the headlight loop.


Also ... WHAT BIKE?

[last337]

Don't use the harness to run the wires from your stator and instead run them directly to your R/R to eliminate any bad connections there and the headlight loop.


Also ... WHAT BIKE?

Oops sorry about that. 1983 GS1100ES


Thanks for recommendation on that! Any input on the grounds?

[fastbysuzuki]

Any input on the grounds?

have a look at post#2. http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...e+point+ground

[Redman]

TO describe the stock config:

The black/white wire you see on the battery box (solenoid bounting bolt) is not THE ground. It is A ground wire from the bike wiring hareness to provide A ground for the battery box (which other wise is not well grounded to the frame) so the R/R and the solenoid will have a ground.

THe big thick black wire on back of engine goes to battery negitive.
Battery negitive will also have a black/white wire going to the wiring harness. In the wiring harness are a few different black/white wires all spliced together in various places. One of those goes to the frame some where, on Gs and GK it is on top of frame behind the battery.

If the big thick cable on back of engine has a bad connection, then some of the starter motor current may find its way thru the engine case thru the frame and thru that little black/white wire on the frame to get back to battery negitive.. and fraction of the starter motor current is a lot of current for that little black/white wire.... and melt it off.. then have the bad connection on the big cable and no other ground wire to the frame.
Also, if the R/R fails in a certain manner it can dump a lot of current down the ground wire... and maybe burn off that black/white wire on the frame.

So..... check that connection on back of the engine (I know, I difficult to get at, but is important.)
ANd... look for that black/white wire on top of the frame, if it is burnt off or otherwise corroded, add you own ground wire from battery negative to the frame somewhere... and maybe to that point on the battery box.
(this is somewhat similar idea to the single-point-ground idea, but not exactly the same)

.

[Brendan W]

I would have thought that the biggest cause of hot battery posts are looseness, dirt and or corrosion right at the terminal on the cable.

[last337]

Thanks for all your help! I took all your suggestions and rewired according to the thread linked. I shortened ground from R/R to nearest point on frame and also shortened from frame to battery. It has made a world of difference to starting and maybe its my imagination, but seems to run smoother as well. Is that possible? How could that be if so?

[bonanzadave]

How could that be if so?

The orig config could have compromised the full battery voltage to your coils. Now would be a good time to disconnect and clean all the connectors. Several in the HL bucket and don't forget the fuse box.

[posplayr]

Chemical cleaning and p-protection of all contacts especially those leading from the battery to the Fuse box which includes the Ignition switch.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?237763-Recommended-Products-for-Preparing-Electrical-Connenctions&highlight=contact+cleaner