Finding a short

[billybob00]

I have a '91 GS500E.

So my bike won't start.  I turn the key to on, and none of the lights come on.  I used a voltmeter and found that my battery is just fine.  So I've narrowed it down to there must be a short  somewhere...

I'm no good with electrical stuff, though.  What's the best way to find the short?  What I've been doing is connecting the negative needle to the negative terminal on the battery, and then checking each connection one by one...

BTW, there's only one fuse, right?  I checked the fuse, and it was fine. 

Oh, and once I find the short (if I do)... how exactly would I go about replacing the wire(s)? 

[fred]

The bike has two fuses. One is a spare, and the other is under the cover that the spare is on. You would not be the first person to accidentally check the spare fuse instead of the actual fuse.

If the fuse is doing the right thing, the short should just blow the fuse as soon as you get into a short circuit condition. If you aren't blowing fuses like crazy, you might not actually have a short. Once you've verified that your fuse is good and not repeatedly blowing, grab a wiring diagram and work your way from the ignition back. You may find that the actual key switch is not working correctly or has a bad connection somewhere. If you do find a short, it is likely that you'll find it at a connection. Wires will occasionally short out in the middle, but usually only if pinched by something for long enough to wear the insulation away. If you do find a wire that has lost its insulation and is shorting to the frame, first figure out what wore its insulation away and where it is supposed to actually run, then just cut out the section that's bad and solder in a new one. If you find a short at a connector, you'll end up doing something like repairing a bad solder joint or possibly replacing a connector.

Make sure you have the wiring diagram handy, it will make finding your problem so much easier.

[billybob00]

Yeah, I noticed the spare fuse, but I checked the right one   It was fine.  So where would I go about finding the wiring diagram for my bike?  I'm sure its in the Clymer manual... what about the other manual (forget the name of it... its supposedly the "user friendly" one).

[fred]

The clymer manual is pretty user friendly to me. The haynes one is also good. The official suzuki one is kind of a pain to navigate... I have a coupe of physical copies of the clymer and electronic copies of the other two. Sometimes I cross reference them if I'm having trouble what one manual is trying to say. You can also get the wiring diagrams on the wiki I'm pretty sure. If you do pick up a copy of the service manual, not only will it give you the wiring diagrams, it will also give you the troubleshooting guide that will list the things to check in order of their likelihood of occurring...

[joshr08]

i have never turn my bike off with the kill switch so im not sure if it kills all the lights as well but maybe see if your kill switch is in the run position

[jeremy_nash]

check for any corrosion on the terminals at your starter relay, and battery.  also check your ground cable.  if both of those are fine, I would move on to the ignition switch next.

[Roadstergal]

So my bike won't start.

Won't crank, or cranks and won't start?  What happens when you turn the key?  Do the lights go on?  Do you hear a click when you press the starter button?

'Won't start' is far too general for us to be useful.

[fred]

So my bike won't start.

Won't crank, or cranks and won't start?  What happens when you turn the key?  Do the lights go on?  Do you hear a click when you press the starter button?

'Won't start' is far too general for us to be useful.

Yeah, not only that, but if you do have a short, you should be either blowing fuses right and left or setting something on fire. If you don't have either of these two symptoms, you don't have a short. You might have a broken connection somewhere, but that's not the same.

[Big Shot]

i have never turn my bike off with the kill switch so im not sure if it kills all the lights as well but maybe see if your kill switch is in the run position

If the ignition switch is turned on, the lights will work regardless of the position of the emergency ON/OFF switch...


To the OP, bypass the ignition switch.  It's easy to do.  Follow the wires coming out of the ignition switch to the connector on the harness and separate it.  On the harness side of the connector, connect the orange to the red wire and then the gray to the brown.  At this point in time you should get lights and be able to start the bike if in fact the ignition switch is bad.  If you still get nothing, then your switch is fine.


- Bob!

[reminor]

I have a '91 GS500E.

So my bike won't start.  I turn the key to on, and none of the lights come on. 

Assuming the battery and the fuse is okay my bet would be the ignition switch or it's connectors.

One more electrical tidbit about the GS. If your lights are on but you cannot use the starter remember about two little nasty contacts under the clutch lever housing. One of them may come off (as it happenned to me) and I had to push the bike to start the engine. Took me some time to figure that one out.

[natedawg120]

i would say your ignition switch is probably the culprit.  Bypass it like Big Shot said that then you will know.  If you get no lights then the bike never knows its supposed to be on, meaning the switch isn't functioning properly. 

The good thing is that there isn't much to the electrical system on the GS, the bad thing is troubleshooting any electrical problem can still be a PITA