starter not working, possible grouding issue?

[dO-bOy]

when i first got the bike, the electric starter worked fine. It might have missed a few times when i pressed the button but my memory is hazy. Now i won't get a click or anything and it seems pretty electronic related to me, tried kicking starter over to see if it was jammed but that doesn't seem to be the problem.

this is what i've done since:

- changed to black drag bars
- removed headlight and signals
- removed gas tank
- removed rear fender and all lights
- new battery


this is what i've done to diagnose

- confirmed with voltmeter there is power from the switch all the way to the black box thingy attached to the battery under the seat
- tried old chrome bar to see if its grounded through that
- tried attaching right signal back on to check groud through that

any suggestions? I hate to ask diagnosis questions til i've exercised all means that i can come up with on my own but now i'm stumped.

 

[ahale2772]

did you check the solinoid? sounds like a loose connection to me its probably the signal wire going to the solinoid if its not clicking at all.

either that or its the finigin pin under the reverse reciprocating kenuder valve..... but its mostliketly the signal wire

ive have a coulple of pins on my wiring harness push out, could be that simple

 

[dO-bOy]

the reverse reciprocating kenuder valve..... but its mostliketly the signal wire

i can't tell if this is serious or not. is it the thingy beside my flux capacitor?
Google says you're pulling my leg is the starter solenoid internal in the motor or is it that black box with the rubber boot around it by the battery? i tried to ground that directly to no avail

 

[ahale2772]

Follow the main feed to the starter back and the solinoid is there

Google was right...lol

 

[dO-bOy]

i'm a bit confused though, i'm getting voltage from the starter button all the way back to the solenoid, is that normal? does the starter button basically ground the line then?

 

[dO-bOy]

BUMP

I jumped the solenoid today and the starter kicks over. Is the line going from the solenoid to the button supposed to be powered or not? How easy is it to break a solenoid?

 

[drewpy]

I'd suspect the button, they do have a habit of breaking

 

[dO-bOy]

tried another 2 prong button wired onto the starter button blue/white wire, and to a ground. still nothing. its a pretty hefty button that I got from a racecar electronics panel just for a start button actually.

whats to stop me from wiring the battery straight to the starter? the wire to the starter is power and the starter is grounded through the engine correct? i've had an electrician friend look at it he's stumped too. its really pissing me off.

 

[CadXS]

whats to stop me from wiring the battery straight to the starter? the wire to the starter is power and the starter is grounded through the engine correct? i've had an electrician friend look at it he's stumped too. its really pissing me off.

Do-boy, not sure if you are serious or not but don't try to wire the starter direct to the battery The solenoid is just a heavy duty relay and the two thin wires to it provide power to energise the coil inside. When the coil is energised it makes a contact that allows juice direct from the battery to the starter. The starter button is a push to make switch that controls when the coil energising circuit gets its power. Push the starter, the switch makes, the coil energises, the contact makes and the starter gets power. Release the starter, the coil de-energises etc, etc.

The current needed to to energise the coil and close the contact allowing power to the starter is quite high. This is deliberate to stop the current heavy starter pulling on an under-charged battery and damaging it. Check that your battery is fully charged or the solenoid and starter will not work.

Not sure what model you've got but there should be power from the fusebox that goes through the kill switch and then splits with one wire off to the ignition coils and the other to the solenoid. The other thin wire from the solenoid then goes back to the starter button, with the other side of the starter button to ground.

If you are getting this and the starter switch has a good ground back to the battery (the battery is fully charged) then I suspect that the solenoid is faulty....maybe

Not sure if this helps or you already knew this...let us know how you get on and don't give up

 

[dO-bOy]

thanks Cad you did clear a few things up for me like how the killswitch is involved. I'm going to read your post a few more times to make it christal clear in my head then try to tackle it again.

- i have a brand new battery thats freshly charged, reads 12.xV
- jumped the solenoid with a screwdriver and the starter worked fine
- tried wiring a heavy duty switch from battery + directly to starter (this is what i meant lol) but it did not work

 

[jayel]

start with mentioning year of bike,

 

[dO-bOy]

sorry, forgot about that. '79 xs400

 

[Robj]

Hi,

I have the same year and bike as you, and am "currently" (sorry about the pun) having the same problem as you, I too have a brand new batterie with 12V. So I feel your pain. did you ever find the solution? my next step is to clean up all the ground connections.

cheers.

..
I took apart my right hard control and found that my voltage across the run/kill button was only 6V. With the run switch on Run this current then goes to the solenoid. . This cant be normal or healthy, must be poor connections?

 

[drewpy]

The kill switch interupts the coils voltage supply!

 

[nick3227]

holy canoli i have been trying to solve my problem with the start button for awhile i have a 81 xs 400 sj rat bobber and i have black dirtbike bars flipped upside down and cut i took the button apart and cleaned the connections inside the button and spring. bingo worked great. then 2 days later no work again. then i noticed the starter button housing was twisted down cause it wasnt tight just snugged then it worked again! so i now im wondering if the bars arent giving the control a good enough ground could this be true.

 

[hmusket]

both sides need to be tight for proper grounding.

 

[nick3227]

oh its tight now but sometimes i need to move the switch around if its not working so im gonna take the paint off in that area and see if that works cuase ive got like 4 coats of paint and clear on the bars so that might be the grounding issue right there

 

[hmusket]

That should solve it.