Electric Starter

[Joseph Masnyk]

I have a 1978 Suzuki GS 400 with 27,000 miles and the electric starter is no longer working.i I can start it by putting a screw driver in between the relay but i can't start it from the switch.I tried to find the starter cable by the clutch but i could not find it.The electric start used to work about 10 years ago.If you have any information you think could help the slightest bit please put it on.

Thanks

[bgmart450]

First thing I'd check is the starter button on the handlebar. I had corrosion in the button assembly that caused the same issue.

Then if that is clean and its still acting up try checking the clutch killswitch on the clutch lever. But if you do that be very careful there are a few very small parts in the switch that will be lost if you aren't ready for them to fall out.

[Billy Ricks]

You could always by pass the clutch switch. Just take the two wires going into it and either trace them back inside the headlight bucket and plug them into each other or splice at the lever. I believe you'll find a male and female terminal inside the bucket.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Check to see if you get 12V on the small wire on the soloniod If you do
the solionid is bad If you do not get 12V check the other switches as sugested

[r.t.snake]

starter

Hi
If you can get the starter to crank by jumping at the solenoid then you have a good starter and good cables... so the solenoid may be faulty ....test that by putting a jumper from the pos battery post to the little wire on the solenoid should crank.. Assuming the solenoid works then you have to check the switces as outlined in previous posts. On my bike it was the starter button and the clutch switch which were faulty, which made things doubly difficult.

[DaveDanger]

There's a simple way to bypass that clutch switch for your own use, without making it permanent. You might at some point want to return that switch to its normal function (in the event you sell the bike later). Take a quick peek at the wire color codes there at the clutch lever handgrip, then go inside the headlight case and find those same wires and disconnect the two wires from their connectors. Take the two that go back into the wiring harness and connect them together. That's all it takes. That bypasses the clutch safety switch in a manner that allows you to crank the bike without holding the clutch lever. If you desire to later, you can reconnect them normally.

Back to the starter itself... you're getting lots of duplicate advice that's all pretty much right on the money. If you can get the starter to turn over by jumping the heavy terminals on the solenoid (relay), you know that the cables and starter itself are ok. That leaves you with basically 3 components remaining to troubleshoot... (I'll duplicate some of the previous advice in my own attempt to clarify)

1. The start switch at the handlebar. Do the same thing I suggested with the clutch switch and peep the wire colors at the bar end, then go inside the headlight bucket and disconnect the pair of wire quick-connectors to the starter and bump them together (Not the switch ends, but the ones that go back into the wire harness). That will bypass the starter switch itself. If it cranks the starter, you've found the problem, if not, you haven't. Reconnect the wires normally and move to the next item.
2. While you've got that headlight bucket open and have those wires available to the starter switch, take a volt meter and probe both the wires from the wiring harness, one of them should have battery voltage on it. That will tell you if you even have voltage coming TO the starter switch. If not, figure out where you're losing it, if so, move on to the next item.
3. The assumption here is that it still won't crank on its own in a normal fashion. Again, while the headlight bucket is open, connect the starter switch wires together (the ones that go back into the wiring harness). Now go to the starter solenoid (relay) and using the voltmeter again, see if you have voltage coming IN to the solenoid on a small wire terminal (It should be the same wire that comes out of the starter switch at the bar-end). Since you have the starter switch bypassed and "straight-wired" (inside the headlight bucket) for this test, you should have battery voltage coming in to the solenoid on the small (prmary) terminal. If you do, the solenoid is bad, if not, you're losing the connection somewhere between the headlight bucket and the solenoid.

If all else fails I would try one last thing, take a (temporary) hot wire with an inline 15 amp fuse installed, directly from the battery and tap that small primary terminal on the solenoid. This will bypass everything in the starter circuit that you've tested above. If the solenoid is in any way functional, it should kick the starter over.

There really is nothing else to that system to check, unless other safety switches are installed... (Side/center-stand safety switch).

Make SURE while doing all these tests that the bike is in a safe condition... tranny in neutral, nothing in a location that would cause injury or damage if the engine suddenly starts cranking over, because any one of these tests could cause the starter to suddenly engage. Whether it happens or not, expect it and be prepared for it.

[Joseph Masnyk]

thanks for all the information i will follow up.