New problem, turn signal= engine cut out

NewHavenMike

1976 XS360C
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So this happened to me the other day while changing lanes in the highway, yet i did not know it was from using my signal.

It now happens when i use the signal.. the brake lights have no affect on this issue.

So i can be cruising along and use my signal, the engine will cut out until the blinker relay activates and yhen it seems fine.

I checked battery. I think it had around 13.8v. I started it up and it topped out at 15v.

I havent checked anything else as of yet. Im actually on the road right now alittle worried about getting home and dealing with the heat and traffic..

My first thought was that it could be a powered wire and its grounding out somewhere. My turnsignal bracket did break off recently so im not sure if the positive wire being frayed would cause this?
 
OK so I went to start it up again as I was leaving. I thought id check out some wiring and fuses. Had a look at the solenoid and the main post from the battery has some corrosion on it. I cleaned it off. I did notice that this post was a bit loose in the solenoid body. not sure if this is normal? I connected it all up again and had nice bright lights on the cluster. Started it up and it was fine. I hit my turn signal and it died again.

All power would cut off and then a few seconds later it recovers. This would happen every time I tried to E start, eventually I completely lost power.

So now my battery is 100% drained to nothing, not a single spark when I quickly crossed wires with the battery removed..

I just replaced the battery this Spring, its an AGM.

How could this happen? I have the R292 regulator installed. Is it not putting out enough volts? I thought an acceptable range was 13.5-15.5v from idle to 3k rpm.
 
So i have the battery at my house now and i tested it. Battery has 11v. Still, this should be enough to power up the oil/neutral lights right?

Could the bad connection at the solenoid give the battery an intermittent/ inadequate charge?

I mustve ridden the bike 20 miles since the first time it cut out.

Ordering new solenoid anyways and giving the battery a full charge.
 
You would think 11V could power a light...........and well as for electric stuff I suck at it........I am still trying to figure out if mine is working or not......seems to be but who knows.

Now the bike cutting off when the signal comes on says there has to be a short in there somewhere........or at least thats my thinking :D and like I said I am far from a electric guru................

As far as the solenoid yes I think a loose post could be an issue.......when it comes to juice you always want a nice tight connection.
 
Im going to charge the battery and take the solenoid off the 400 that I have while I wait for the new solenoid to come in.

I thought it was weird that I wasn't getting any power at all even with 11v. It has to be the solenoid, im not sure what kind of moving parts are inside that thing, they mustve gotten stuck somehow as well as the main post being a bit loose.

I should s
 
Try unplugging the sugnal canceller unit if you still have one on the bike and see if it behaves the same.
 
Check the fusebox connections ont just the fuses.
Solenoid post..in my sense would'nt affect charging(in my sense) as it would be an other fused circuit unless the wiring diagram says otherwise.
Open the controls on your handlebars...check for bad connections and corrosion.
Check the safety switches(neutral/kickstand)...they will sur the power to the finition when they go bad
 
I have a newer fusebox with the mini fuses, that all checked out OK. The solenoid that I will be installing later also has a loose post. There is a nut that keeps the post tight, then you would put your ring connector on, and then another nut to secure it all.

So I will swap out the solenoid anyway, and Im also going to remake the main ground wire. I admit, I did kinda do a quick/crappy job making a ground wire, but it has worked well until probably now. Battery is also charging.

I think what has been happening is that its either a bad solenoid or a ground wire. The battery hasnt been getting a good charge so when I use the signals or lights, the voltage drop is too big to keep a spark going. Then when I tried to E start, I mustve uncovered a bad ground in the process.

Update later when I get the chance to go to where my bike is.

Does the solenoid have anything to do with passing a charge over to the battery? I normally wouldnt think so, but the only positive wire on the battery goes right to the solenoid..
 
For some reason, my battery will not charge. Let it charge for a couple hours to check voltage... was getting almost 13.5 volts. I let it sit all day while i slept and now its back to 11v..

I thought it was wierd that i wasnt even getting a reading on my manual charger too
 
Well I bought a new battery(120CCA), cleaned the solenoid and made up a new main ground wire. While I was at it, I also wired in a digital volt gauge off the main fuse. Its round so it fit nicely right where the holes on the top fork mount handles bars are.

Bikes runs very smoothly at idle and doesn't hesitate like it used to. Throttle at idle seems more responsive.

Im getting a stable 14.2v with lights on riding down the street. When I come to a stop, it drops down to about 12.5 and then it goes back up to just over 13v.

My old battery was looking kind of beat from a part of the frame that nudged into the case, thankfully it didn't break through.. At least it looks that way..

Im still having problems with the throttle being soggy and breaking up at around 8.5k rpm. I think its a combo of dirty carbs (idle passage) and being over jetted still. The
 
So ive found my timing to be slightly retarded. At idle, it times out to the first notch after the main fire line.. i advanced it slightly but did not use a timing light and gave it a test run and seemed fine..

I noticed that the points are wearing unevenly. The condensor is still good though. Im goong to change the points soon and inspect the carbs. I have a feeling that the floats could use an adjustment. Then of course valves and a sync..

Its very nerve racking when im riding around with a passenger and i have to worry about stalling lol.

Im still curious about what happenes when breaker points reach the end of their lifespan and general performance degredation and how many miles i can expect out of a set?

I only have maybe 2000 miles on the current points.
 
I have put 15K miles on sets in the past. As long as the are clean and gaped they can last a long time.
 
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