No Power to Starter

[kjmarti2]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but it sounds like you probably have some connections incorrect. Lighting shouldn't be connected to the ignition. I'd go through your connections again using a wiring diagram as reference and clean the connections along the way. Did you ever get into the rats nest in the headlight bucket?

No problem. Lighting has to be connected to the ignition switch somehow, because the lights come on when the key is turned. Right? I'm saying that for a brief period of time on Monday evening, the lights wouldn't come on when the ignition switch was turned on with the key. Now they're working again which I can't explain.

The bike last ran in mid-February, and although I've done tons of work since then I haven't touched anything electrical except what was required to remove the engine. I double-checked that all of those connectors were hooked up correctly last night. I'll recheck the sub-wiring harness connector to make sure it's not dirty or something this evening. It very well could be because I did a lot of work with it just lying on the engine.

I did dive into the wiring behind the headlight late last year when I was installing a new gauge cluster, but the bike has run normally since then. I haven't gone through them again, but I'm installing new meter cushions soon so I'll take the opportunity to double-check those connectors then.

[robin1731]

"Got the lights working again, one of the connectors at the ballast resistor came unplugged."

That should have nothing to do with the lights.

Have you confirmed the engine will turn over? Check it by turning it over by hand? Or even pull the starter motor to make sure it turns without a load? These won't fix your switch issues but will eliminate a couple "possible" issues.

.

.

Man, without that I can't explain how my ignition switch suddenly turns the lights on again. Hmm. Engine definitely turns over by hand, did plenty of that while I was changing my belts. I am planning to pull the starter motor for inspection. I guess the horn still doesn't work either which can't be explained by the starter, so there must be something else going on too.

Battery + directly to starter post does nothing. Starter will not spin the engine at all. I'll check the voltage there compared to ground to see if it's a connection issue. I figured by testing the lead resistance and getting a click when connected to the battery would exonerate the relay, but it sounds like that's not enough. I should say, the corrosion on the relay is not on the leads but on the cylinder housing itself.

That is why I said "These won't fix your switch issues but will eliminate a couple "possible" issues."

Now, you did confirm the engine turns over by hand since you have been having the starter issues also correct?

.

[pidjones]

>>>>>>>>>>>>since then I haven't touched anything electrical except what was required to remove the engine.<<<<<<<<<<<<

The ground cable has to be removed to pull the engine.

[kjmarti2]

"Got the lights working again, one of the connectors at the ballast resistor came unplugged."

That should have nothing to do with the lights.

Have you confirmed the engine will turn over? Check it by turning it over by hand? Or even pull the starter motor to make sure it turns without a load? These won't fix your switch issues but will eliminate a couple "possible" issues.

.

.

Man, without that I can't explain how my ignition switch suddenly turns the lights on again. Hmm. Engine definitely turns over by hand, did plenty of that while I was changing my belts. I am planning to pull the starter motor for inspection. I guess the horn still doesn't work either which can't be explained by the starter, so there must be something else going on too.

Battery + directly to starter post does nothing. Starter will not spin the engine at all. I'll check the voltage there compared to ground to see if it's a connection issue. I figured by testing the lead resistance and getting a click when connected to the battery would exonerate the relay, but it sounds like that's not enough. I should say, the corrosion on the relay is not on the leads but on the cylinder housing itself.

That is why I said "These won't fix your switch issues but will eliminate a couple "possible" issues."

Now, you did confirm the engine turns over by hand since you have been having the starter issues also correct?

.

Yessir, just went out and verified it via the stator bolt. Engine is turning over normally by hand.

Pid, the ground cable I believe is what goes from the negative battery terminal to the long engine hanger bolt behind the left triangle bracket. That was re-installed in the correct position if we're talking about the same thing.

Going to get my battery checked out this afternoon, so I'll have a definitive answer on that before I get started on it again this evening.

[kjmarti2]

Napa know-how confirms the battery is good. I was also able to get the starter to crank with an applied voltage, just cleaned up the peg a bit. I tested the solenoid switch contacts while battery voltage was being applied to the primary leads. There's a small, but nonzero (0.1-0.3 ohms) resistance so that could be it since the shop manual says there should be no resistance. Feels like it's either the solenoid is bad or I have a bad connection somewhere. Will be taking a more thorough look at every connector I can find, even those I didn't directly work on recently.

[Track T 2411]

If the starter cranks by jumping from the battery to the starter post, the issue is almost surely in the ignition switch, solenoid/relay, one or both of the positive battery cables, the switch to relay wiring, or some combination there of... oh, and the starter button itself...

[Shadowjack]

The light power runs up to the starter switch, where a separate set of contacts open when you push the button, interrupting power flow to the lights while cranking. This switch sounds flaky.
If you don't have a good wiring diagram and a meter, this will take a while. You need to walk through every connection with a plan.

[gltriker]

EDIT! disregard this question.
I went back a few posts and gather that you were successful to operate the starter motor, afterall, by applying + current to the dirty peg. < your term.



Hmmmmm. The problem was realized immediately after reinstalling the repaired engine back into the frame. Hmmmm.

When you removed the engine, did you utilize 2 wrenches to loosen the nut which captures the positive cable to the starter motor? When the positive cable was reattached to the starter motor did you utilize 2 wrenches, too?
If not, there's a possibility that the wire attached to the inner end of that positive stud may have twisted and is broken off internally.
What do you think?

[robin1731]

EDIT! disregard this question.
I went back a few posts and gather that you were successful to operate the starter motor, afterall, by applying + current to the dirty peg. < your term.



Hmmmmm. The problem was realized immediately after reinstalling the repaired engine back into the frame. Hmmmm.

When you removed the engine, did you utilize 2 wrenches to loosen the nut which captures the positive cable to the starter motor? When the positive cable was reattached to the starter motor did you utilize 2 wrenches, too?
If not, there's a possibility that the wire attached to the inner end of that positive stud may have twisted and is broken off internally.
What do you think?

Since it worked when applying current directly to the peg/stud it pretty rules that out.

.

[gltriker]

[quote="gltriker"]EDIT! disregard this question.
I went back a few posts and gather that you were successful to operate the starter motor, afterall, by applying + current to the dirty peg. < your term.



Hmmmmm. The problem was realized immediately after reinstalling the repaired engine back into the frame. Hmmmm.

When you removed the engine, did you utilize 2 wrenches to loosen the nut which captures the positive cable to the starter motor? When the positive cable was reattached to the starter motor did you utilize 2 wrenches, too?
If not, there's a possibility that the wire attached to the inner end of that positive stud may have twisted and is broken off internally.
What do you think?

Since it worked when applying current directly to the peg/stud it pretty rules that out.

.[/quote]

Agreed!