Help with electrical issue?

[suzigl850]

Hi,
I have a 1980 gs850l, just had new top end gaskets, valve shims, carb cleaning and tweeking, new rear tire, new headlight, fuse box and rear turn signals. Yesterday on my way home from work, it started sputtering, like it was fuel or air starved. I stopped by the side of the road, in neutral, I reved the engine, lots of sputtering, and no power behind it. I shut it down, and when I went to start it back up, no power (electrical) at all, pulled of the seat, checked wiring there, nothing noticable, also checked fuse box, and rolled all fuses, tried again, it started. Then I took it for a ride it seemed fine. Today same story, but I did notice every sputter was accompanied by flickering of turn signal indicators (when they were on) or of neutral indicator light when it was on. Any idea what could be going on? I already put 1300.00 into repairs, dont want to go too much further.

[rkubik]

ditto

I have the same problem pretty much. Since it came on suddenly after the work, I'm thinking it must be a wire joggled loose. Will advise when I find out the cure!

[chef1366]

Clean the fuse clamps with electronics cleaner.

[Steve]

Don't just "roll the fuses", replace them. And, while they are out of their holders, clean the holders.

I have had problems on other bikes with the fuse filament coming unsoldered inside. It LOOKED good when "rolling" it, but an ohmmeter showed it to be bad. It would bounce the filament into place just long enough to make contact to keep me wondering, then hit a bump and break the circuit.


.

[chef1366]

Hey Steve, I'm from the Canton Akron area of Ohio. Now I'm a very long way from home.

[suzigl850]

It's a brand new fuse panel, and fuses. Everything is already clean. It hasnt been in the bike for two weeks, but I'll try it. I hope thats it.

[GS850_Coug]

On my bike, a wire in the igniter box came loose and tried to fry the igniter. Showed very similar symptoms-electrically dead, no lights, horn, signals, and no spark. Opened the igniter and resoldered the wire-all is well. I'm sure this is a rare occurrence, however it's a possibility.

[suzigl850]

Thanks I'll check that out, as soon as I figure out what an igniter is. Someone also mentioned the stator, could that be the problem? And whats a stator? Feeling more and more like a girlie girl with every sentence. Cleaned the fuse thingies, seems to have been no improvement, but since the problem is intermittent it's hard to tell for sure until I take her for a ride.

[jwlawrence]

I had the blinkers working kind of when they wanted when I bought my bike and all I did was clean all the connections and the grounds and that took care of the problem. Conections go bad after 23 years, I have an 1983 GS 650GL.

[Billy Ricks]

Thanks I'll check that out, as soon as I figure out what an igniter is. Someone also mentioned the stator, could that be the problem? And whats a stator? Feeling more and more like a girlie girl with every sentence. Cleaned the fuse thingies, seems to have been no improvement, but since the problem is intermittent it's hard to tell for sure until I take her for a ride.

The ignitor is a black box usually located under the left side panel. The stator is located under the left crankcase cover and generates AC voltage that is sent to the R/R to be converted to DC and regulate the voltage. Here's a picture of the ignitor.


If you're capable of a little electrical testing I can post some tests for most of the major electrical components. The test are for an '85 700 but you should be able to apply them to your bike.

[suzigl850]

That would be a great help, I have a doohickey to test current. Cant be that hard, just two probe things, guess that means its either right or wrong.

[Billy Ricks]

Here you go.

You can check you regulator/rectifier by following the Suzuki procedure below.

With the r/r removed from the bike, fins pointing up and terminals facing you, the terminals from left to right will be A, B, C, D, and E.
Negative probe on A and positive on B you should get 6-7.5 ohms.
Negative probe on A and positive on C you should get 6-7.5 ohms.
Negative probe on A and positive on D you should get 6-7.5 ohms.
Negative probe on A and positive on E you should get 50-70 ohms.

Then switch the negative probe to terminal B and place the positive probe on A, C, then D, you should get no reading. Positive on E should read 6-7.5 ohms.

Switch negative probe to C and positive to A, B, then D, you should get no reading. Positive on E should read 6-7.5 ohms.

Switch negative probe to D and positive to A, B, then C, you should get no reading. Positive on E should read 6-7.5 ohms.

Switch negative probe to E, positive to A, B, C, and D should give no reading.

The numbers have to be within range. It doesn't take much of an out of range reading to lead to the wrong output.

Stator Test

The testing procedure for my 700, yours will be the same, involves disconnecting the three stator wires and running the bike at 5,000 rpm. You then place the probe of a multi-tester in each of the three wires. + probe in one terminal and - probe in another. Keep the + probe on the same wire and check the other two with the - probe. Then move the + probe to the next wire and check the other two with the - probe. Again + on the remaining wire. Check each of the wires against the other two this way. I'm not sure what voltage you should look for on an 1100, my 700 calls for 80 volts AC. You should get consistent readings on each attempt. These are the three yellow wires under the gas tank.You want to test the ends of the wires coming out of the starter cover under the carbs.

You can do a continuity check using the same procedure. With the motor off and the tester set to check for continuity check each wire against the other two. You should get a tone if the stator is okay as far as any breaks. You can test for shorts by testing each with one probe on the wire and the other on the frame. If you get a tone or meter reaction you have a short.

This is for an '85 700 but you can probably use the same tests for your bike. Your plugs are different but you can probably figure it out. If nothing else you can jump the signal generators under the right crank cover.

Here's how to check the ignitor. Remove spark plugs 1 & 2 and ground them to the motor so they will fire when they get power. With the ignitor facing you, the plug on the right side of the ignitor is where the signal generator plug fits. The two terminals on the right side of that portion of the ignitor will be pin 1 at the front and pin 2 at the back. The two left pins will be pin 3 in front and pin 4 at the back. Turn the ignition switch on. With a multitester set a the X1 ohm range put the + probe on pin 2 and the - probe on pin 1. Plug number 1 should fire. Next put the + probe on pin 4 and the - probe on pin 3. Plug number 2 should fire. If this happens the ignitor is good and the signal generators are suspect.

As for testing the pickups, signal generators, measure the resistance between the two wires on each pickup. You should get somewhere around 130-200 ohms. If the resistance is infinity or less than spec they are shot.

To test the coils put one probe of the multitester on each of the terminals on the primary side of the coil. You should get 3-5 ohms. Check the secondary windings by placing one probe into each of the plug wires coming from one coil. Those would be 2 & 3 from one coil and 1 & 4 for the other. You should get 30-50,000 ohms for stock coils and 15-20,000 for aftermarket.

[suzigl850]

Thanks,
I'll let ya know what happens. Thanks again.