leslie
'Theory' rider
Posts: 16
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Post by leslie on Jun 5, 2009 18:14:25 GMT 1
Just my luck, my electric system seems to actively hate me. :-)
I was waiting today on an intersection for the light to turn green when the bike just stopped running. I pushed it to the sidewalk, tried to start it - nothing, does not crank over. Battery is OK and charged, lights are working, the ignition fuse is OK (I switched it with another OK fuse just in case, but it didn't help).
Removing the seat has shown that there's a high-pitched whine coming from the area of the battery. That's the rear ignition coil, right? If the rear coil is dead, would the engine refuse to crank over or would it just have no spark on the rear cylinder?
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Post by rj2para (Bisto) on Jun 5, 2009 18:40:40 GMT 1
I seem to remember Franklin have a way of testing the coils.
May be worh a search on his recent posts. If I can find it later I will post again.
Good luck
R.
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Post by De Graaf van Salland on Jun 6, 2009 8:48:46 GMT 1
I was lucky, because I was certain that one of them worked. By exchanging them, I found out that they actually both functioned and that my ignition problems were due to another cause. See my site: www.stoeretassen.nl/My_NTV650/Ontsteking/Ignition.htmI've just been reading "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance". Especially for electrical problems, this is an excellent book; although not perhaps what you would expect from a book on motorcycle maintenance. I focuses on the right 'state of mind' in order to achieve "quality" in motorcycle maintenance & repair. Good luck with your trouble shooting. Franklin |
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leslie
'Theory' rider
Posts: 16
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Post by leslie on Jun 6, 2009 13:05:18 GMT 1
OK, luckily it wasn't the rear ignition coil. Today, the engine started without any problems, although the buzzing still continued. Until I pressed the "turn signal cancellation" button.
The buzzing was the dead turn signal relay, it turns out. I don't know why it wouldn't start, though...
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Post by Jaz66 on Jun 6, 2009 13:34:10 GMT 1
Hi Leslie Sorry to hear about bike...  may not be what the problem is but i had an occassion when the bike would not start. I tried it in gear and it was ok. Turns out that there is two wires just to right of the left hand grip and one had come loose...  Didn't discover this until i had spent ages looking over the side stand switch etc. Like i say most probably not it but maybe worth checking it is fitted in properly..(Can't hurt and only takes a second ;D) Good luck with hunting for the gremlin, sure you'll find it soon, then you can post so the next one of us to suffer can benefit from your experience....  |
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Post by McF on Jun 6, 2009 21:17:11 GMT 1
Turns out that there is two wires just to right of the left hand grip and one had come loose... Those two wires are probably from the clutch switch. These confirm to the starting "logic" that the clutch is in or out. With one wire not connected the bike would think the clutch lever was out and therefore should not have started if you were in gear. That doesn't appear to be what you described though  |
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leslie
'Theory' rider
Posts: 16
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Post by leslie on Jun 6, 2009 22:22:59 GMT 1
Well. I know there's an intermittent short-circuit somewhere in the system, last year when driving in wet weather the turn indicators would sometimes stop working on the right side and flash twice as slow on the lef side (or something like that), but it stopped. And now something fried the turn signal relay. The voltage on the battery today was quite low, so it's probably the short-circuit which has drained the battery enough for the bike not to start.
Anyway, I have to get out my trusty multimeter and start checking the wiring loom for short-circuits... but I don't have time, sigh. :-)
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Post by McF on Jun 7, 2009 8:17:23 GMT 1
Sorry to hear your tale of woe hasn't a happy ending in sight yet. Sadly, time is one thing we would probably all like a little more of (Confucious; he say man can buy watch, but cannot buy time ;D)
Indicators flashing slowly is interesting. If a fault caused loss of front or back indicators this reduces the electrical load on the relay and the working ones flash twice as quickly (unless you have a solid state relay of course!). Flashing slowly implies there is more load (eg an extra bulb, or higher capacity bulbs) on the relay.
I hope you get some time soon to do your diagnosis.
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Post by Jaz66 on Jun 7, 2009 9:58:57 GMT 1
Hi McF You are probably right, it did happen a while ago. I do remember that the bike would not start after being fine, and after some time checking I eventually noticed the wire was loose and all was right again. I do think that i managed to start the engine by slipping it into gear and pulling in clutch. Can't try myself but maybe someone else could try to replicate it? Unplug one of the two plastic coated wires the hook on or near to the clutch lever on the handle bars and try to start bike in neutral. Not what leslies problem sounds like admittedly, just my tuppence worth. Does seem to point to a break in the circuit somewhere. All the best Leslie on finding that fault...... |
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Post by oddjob1 on Jun 8, 2009 16:36:01 GMT 1
sounds like similar problem to my bike..had given up on it for awhile..got a spare cdi unit so will try that tomorrow
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Post by oddjob1 on Jun 9, 2009 12:45:29 GMT 1
changed cdi unit.. over still wouldn't start so put old 1 back..wobbled the 2 wires on clutch lever and it started... 1 problem sorted hopefully..next is cooling system
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Post by Jaz66 on Jun 10, 2009 2:02:20 GMT 1
Ah oddjob, fingers crossed......  For coolant don't forget to check out Fan and Rad factfilesWill give a clear idea of how and what the fan and radiator are expected to do, and how to fix if they don't do it... |
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