Electric Problem

[trdhrdr007]

I've got a 1980 GS850GT & I'm having an electrical problem. I went out to start the bike this afternoon. Turned the key & everything came on(lights, horn, instrument cluster) just like it was supposed to. Pulled in the clutch, hit the start button & nothing.

Have had problems with the starter switch on the handlebar not making good contact, so I pulled that apart to check it out. Everything seemed ok so I put it back together & turned the key back on, tried again & nothing.

Cut it back off & pulled the side cover to look at the fuses, they looked fine. Turned the key back to on & nothing, not even instrument lights. Touched the fuse block & the top fuse was pretty warm. I'm pretty helpless when it comes to electricity but I know how to check for voltage with a meter so I got mine out.

I've got 12 volts at the battery. I've also got 12 volts across the top fuse, whether the key is on or off. I'm guessing I'm not getting power at the ignition switch but haven't checked that yet.

I don't have any idea where to go from here. Is there a fuse or fuseable link somewhere in between the fuse box & the ignition? A common point for a wire failure? Should I be looking at the wires to the starter? Any suggestions will be appreciated.

I have never fooled with the wiring. A PO ran a neatly labeled new wire from the RR to the battery. I've never had any sort of problem other than a bad connection at the start button on the right side control. All of the lights, gear indicator, fuel gauge, etc have always worked properly.

[Jaguarjoe]

I've also got 12 volts across the top fuse, whether the key is on or off. I'm guessing I'm not getting power at the ignition switch but haven't checked that yet.

Your fuse is bad. You should NOT have 12 volts across it. You should have zero volts across it.

[RJ]

You may have a safety switch wred to the clutch lever that forces you to pull in the clutch in order to start the bike. Look for a wire (2 wires surrounded by a plastic sheath) coming out from underneath of the clutch lever. The contacts for these switches can get dirty and cause a problem. Try jiggling the lever around as you try to crank the engine. If that doesn't work, there are 2 screws that mount the switch. Loosen them and move the switch around, blast with brake cleaner, contact cleaner, or compressed air.

The other option is to simply bypass the switch. Inside of the headlight bucket is where the wires to and from the starter relay plug into the 2 wires that go to the switch. Simply unplug the switch and plug the 2 starter relay wires together.

[trdhrdr007]

Quote:
Originally Posted by trdhrdr007
I've also got 12 volts across the top fuse, whether the key is on or off. I'm guessing I'm not getting power at the ignition switch but haven't checked that yet.


Your fuse is bad. You should NOT have 12 volts across it. You should have zero volts across it.

OK, I'm a little confused. If I have 12 volts on one side of the fuse why shouldn't I have 12 volts at the other side? Do you mean I shouldn't have 12 volts at the fuse with the key turned off?

[Redman]

trd,

Your statement of having 12 volts ACROST the fuse was misleading. Later you said 12 volts on one side and 12 volts on other side.

I just emailed you a schematic.

Good that you have a meter.
Find the solenoid, and find the wires on the clutch switch. The schematic will not tell you were those devices are, but will help you idntify which wire is which on the device by the color code.

Check voltage from ground to those wires when you hit the starter button, (ew, that may take four hands). Maybe can narrow it down.

.

[trdhrdr007]

I have never liked working with electric because I know so little about it, which is probably why I wasn't clear in my first post. Sorry for the confusion.

I moved the bike into the shop where I have a good light source. I also took apart the switch at the clutch. It was really nasty, but cleaning it up didn't solve the problem. This bike has a Vetter fairing & there's a big cluster of exposed wires where the headlight was, looks like a prime spot for a bad connection. I guess I'll start with checking there & taking the tank off to check for any obvious breaks in wire and/or shorts. Thanks for the schematic, I'm sure it will be helpful.

[trippivot]

start at the key switch plug location. check that it is tight

next you go with the test light to the starter soleniod and put a bungee around the clutch lever to hold it in.

hit the starter button and use the test light to see if the 12V signal is getting to the solenoid- light comes on when the button is pushed. then the switch is good and solenoid is bad . push the start button and no light and there is an open in the starter circuit

siide stand neutral switch clutch switch all 3 in series that create an "open" if 1 is not set right. time to clean and inspect.

[PAULYBOY]

trd,

Your statement of having 12 volts ACROST the fuse was misleading. Later you said 12 volts on one side and 12 volts on other side.

.

Caint find dat werd in the dickshunary

[lucabond]

The top fuse gets it power from the key switch its the main fuse so if the key is off you shouldn't have any power on either side of the fuse. If you connect the black lead from your meter to the neg side of the battery and use the red lead to probe the fuse contacts there should be no power with the key off.
With the key on there should be power on 1 side with the fuse out that is the side coming from the key switch. If you have power on 1 side of the fuse contacts with the fuse out and the key off there is a problem with the key switch.
Also 12 volts is a little low of a reading for your battery should be more like 12.5 or more, but that is not your problem just pointing it out.
The bundle of wires going into your fairing are for you head light front blinkers/running lights and a spare power connector or 2 so I don't think your problem is in there.
I would start with the top fuse as I described try jiggling the key as you watch your meter to see if you get power on the side of the fuse coming from the key should be the left side. Good luck.

[bonanzadave]

Caint find dat werd in the dickshunary

Yer not lookin in da Michigan dickshunary

Im with everyone else. A test light and a can of contact cleaner is the place to start. Keep us posted.

[trdhrdr007]

I hate electrical, I hate electrical, I hate electrical. Now that's out of the way here's the updated situation.

I took the top fuse out, put the red (+) lead on the fuse connection & ran the black(-) lead to ground. With the key OFF I'm getting power to the fuse connection. If I put the fuse back in & turn the key to the ON position the fuse starts to heat up. Any ideas?

After doing this I am once again getting power to the lights & the instrument cluster(speedo & tach), but I'm not getting a neutral or gear indicator light. Went ahead & pulled the clutch & hit the starter button, she cranked right up. Because of the warm fuse I immediately cut it off & took out the key.

I was on vacation so the bike had been sitting for the last few weeks. I put the trickle charger on it last night to make sure the battery was fully charged. I am now getting readings of 12.5 volts. I guess I'm going to start checking/cleaning connections unless someone has a different suggestion.

[Redman]

.......
If I put the fuse back in & turn the key to the ON position the fuse starts to heat up. Any ideas? .........

Heat is from current flowing thru a resistance (and dropping voltage as it does so, even if only a few tenths of a volt). I would say the fuse itself is not were the resitance is, but somewhere nearby,
- like were fuse cap connects to the fuse clip.
- like maybe where the fuse clip connects to the wire on back side of fuse box.
See if you can find that by looking for corrosion,... or by measuring voltage difference between the fuse cap and the fuse clip

THis fuse heating up May or may not be realted to your other problem with the starter circuit, but will want to fix this before it melts something. Even if it doesnt melt anything, if the wires are hot for long term hours and hours and hours they get brittle and the insulation also gets hard and breaks then have other problems.

Just look around and test things with the meter.

.

[Redman]

Caint find dat werd in the dickshunary

Yer not lookin in da Michigan dickshunary

Hum, well, yah, I quess "acrost" is not an official word. But, I was talking to an Alabamian, and aparently he understood me.

[trdhrdr007]

That's not the first time I heard acrost, fairly common around here.

[lucabond]

Now we are getting somewhere. Put your meter in the ohm setting and leave the black on the neg side of the battery, disconnect any wires going to the positive side of the battery with the meter on its lowest ohm setting probe the side of the fuse that comes from the key switch I'm thinking the right side you should have no reading. If it shows any reading you have a short to ground somewhere. If it goes to 0 ohms its a dead short if its higher than 0 but showing some ohms you its probably a chafing issue. It should be an orange wire coming from the key switch. Go to the key switch there should be a plug near it that has an orange wire. Disconnect that plug and see if the meter shows infinite or no reading. If that is the case than the wire from the plug to the fuse is good if it still shows 0 or some ohms its the wire from the plug back to the fuse.
If its the wire from the plug to the fuse you could just cut the wire at the fuse and the plug and run a new wire otherwise you will have to trace the wire to find where its shorting. Hope this helps good luck
I should of said do these checks with the key off.