Battery cable hot! So hot it melted the battery terminal

[Brian43204]

title says it all. Bike ran fine, I got a new battery 3 months ago and it's ran fine for 3 months. I went to start it the other day and it sounded like the battery was dead. I got off the bike and kept hitting the starter and still sounded dead. I noticed some smoke coming from the battery area and when I got closer I saw the negative terminal looked like a puddle of solder and the cable was HOT.

I replaced the battery, checked cables for corrossion , cleaned the connection (just in case) and still getting hot and won't start.

Any advice would be appreciated.

This is an 84 XS400 Yics/Seca

 

[ratrodder69]

You have a dead short on one of your main cables. track your positive to the starter and solenoid and make sure it didn't rub on anything and wear through the cover

 

[Brian43204]

Much appreciated , I will try that later today or Saturday.

 

[Brian43204]

ok I tried that and found no bare or broken wires. The starter solenoid had some weird jelly like stuff on it. Never seen anything like that before.

 

[arfstrom]

I had a Boat voltage regulator do that last year or two ago. That weird jelly is probably internal glue to hold the parts in its place. Then when it goes south, the jelly expands and oozes out, and its a symptom of being shot. double check that the plastic piece is still in place. and its not grounding out, probably worth double checking the starter.

 

[Brian43204]

OK... I am a novice

What's this voltage regultor and how do I check the starter?

 

[Brian43204]

Also, I bypassed the solenoid to see what happened and it made the same type of sound and got hot, so any help is still appreciated.

 

[ratrodder69]

Your solenoid is probably fried but the problem sounds farther down. Chase the wire down to the starter if it looks good pull the started and take it to a parts store and have it checked or clamp it in a vice and check it with a set of jumper cables. However that doesn't tell you how many amps you're pulling.

 

[arfstrom]

So your bike is a DOHC, and its in the newer manual, If you go back to garage. The very top item, says Manuals. go there, and find the manual for the DOHC. in there it will tell you how to double check all the electrical stuff, (voltage regulator, rectifier, starter, Stator)...

 

[Scorpio1963]

Actualy you dont have to clamp the starter in a vice just lay it on the ground.Once disconnected take your battery charger put the positive end on the positive terminal on the starter and ground on the side of it.It will spin freely without clatter or noise if its good.If not it then it has problems

 

[ratrodder69]

Actualy you dont have to clamp the starter in a vice just lay it on the ground.Once disconnected take your battery charger put the positive end on the positive terminal on the starter and ground on the side of it.It will spin freely without clatter or noise if its good.If not it then it has problems

Lol ya I guess with one this small it shouldn't get away from ya

 

[Brian43204]

OK, I did the starter test today and it just hummed when I connected it to the charger, so I am going to guess it's frozen up?

 

[ratrodder69]

ya unfortunately you are right. does anyone know if you can buy new starters for these bikes or at least a rebuild kit. or you can take it to a rebuild place if you have one in your area. worse case find a used one I do have a parts bike if need be I can pull the one out of it and see if it will work for you

 

[ratrodder69]

now that its out does the bike have a kick start you can always just forget the starter

 

[Brian43204]

No, I have no kick starter. They sell rebuild kits for about 25 bucks, or I might be able to take it somewhere and get it rebuilt. A new one is about 79 - 99 bucks, so hopefully I can get it rebuilt for about 50.00.

Now my question is how do I get the starter off? I tried today and it was a real pain.

 

[ratrodder69]

I haven't tried yet on one of these I would recomend looking it up in the online manuels it should be in there if not start a new thread on it hopefully someone will chime in

 

[Brian43204]

I pulled it today, not as bad as I thought. Had to remove the foot shift lever and take the chain cover off to get to it. Had it tested out and it ran for maybe 2 seconds, shut down and got hot.
So... I need a starter.

 

[ratrodder69]

You're half way there take it apart and make sure the armature is in tact if it is a rebuild kit should have new bearings and brushes rebuild and go

 

[Brian43204]

I took it to a place that rebuilds and they said the armature seems like it's shot. I ordered a new one from eBay last night. We'll see how it goes.
I appreciate all the help.

 

[MrYeats]

if you have electronic ignition, you may want to check your igniter box. A short will sometimes fry those.