Directions sought for electrical troubleshooting

[Arie]

Having replaced too many r/r's I have been tracing various wires, and have found a few that are hot to the touch. Obviously, a bad thing.

I have an orange wire, and a red wire that go into a green connector, that gets very hot, especially on the shorter side - the side that connects to the key - ignition switch.

my plan is to run new lengths of wire from the fuse panel to the other side of the connector, crimping new connections to the wires. I will also replace the orange w/ red stripe wire that goes to the headlights as that gets hot too.

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what I want explicit help with is on how to do the ground checks spoken of in other posts: which grounds should i be checking? how exactliy is it performed?

Thanks in advance,

Arie

81-GS650G

[Steve]

What I tend to do in a "ground check" is...wherever there is a ground wire attached to the frame or engine, remove the bolt, sand or file both sides of the ring connector and the surface it sits on, then put it back together. If there is room, I also like to install star washers, as they dig in and help assure electrical continuity.

If you are checking contacts in a connector, clean them as well as you can with a spray contact cleaner (Radio Shack has one of the best ones), then test fit the terminals. If they are loose, squeeze them so they are tighter. Loose connections will generate a LOT of heat as they start to corrode, and tend to be a major cause of many electrical "problems".


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[gremlin]

thay make a compound to put on electrical connections to keep contact clean. its a jell with copper.

most auto parts stores sell it in small packets for spark plugs. or you can get it at a electrical supply house.

use a little dab, its safe on ground connectios. on hot days it will seep out so keep away from the + side.

to be safe on the grounding add one from the battery to the plate that all the electrical componets is on. also add one from the motor to the same spot, and one from the motor to the fram. gs love to save a few cents on wire, adding grounding will help a lot on over heating in the long run.

[Arie]

Steve,

are there any ground connections inparticular you check?