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Main Area => General GS500 Discussion => Topic started by: lopee on July 15, 2008, 04:17:29 PM

Title: no lights work and bike wont start
Post by: lopee on July 15, 2008, 04:17:29 PM
So as it goes, I have done a lot of refurbishing and painting to get her runnin again and lookin pretty. Last night, after a week of letting the por15 dry, I went for a ride and she ran perfect. I mean she ran better than when i bought her, her plugs looked decent after the 60 or so miles, idled at 1200/1500 rpms, only backfifed once like a tiny sputter(nothing like before), and made it around town just fine.

When I get home  i parked it for a while befroe storing it for the night. As i moved it to the backyard it ran fine and then i heard a POP noise and the headlight goes out just as i am hitting the kill switch. when i tried to start her back up (thinking that noise was abnormal and loud) i had no lights , no signals and it wont start.

I checked the fuse.......Fine
The battery is fine and have a battery maintainer/ charger

Any ideas of what it might be or what to check? :dunno_white:
Title: Re: no lights work and bike wont start
Post by: starwalt on July 15, 2008, 06:37:55 PM
"POP" eh? No smoke with the sound?

Make sure the fuse you check is the used fuse and not the spare. The used fuse in under the cover cap and the spare is externally visible.

I guess you could get a pop sound from a totally shorted RectReg module.
Snap would be more of an arcing sound. Do a total visual inspection of all your work to make sure nothing let go after the ride.

Start at the battery and read the voltage along the red lead to the starter relay and beyond. We have simplified schematics all over this website.
Title: Re: no lights work and bike wont start
Post by: lopee on July 15, 2008, 10:01:19 PM
Yeah , i heard a pop or a snap , but the headlight bulb did blow. I replaced it today and again it did not start. I have a good fuse in the terminal and the spare holder , so that should be fine. I have power, the oil pressure light and neutral light come on but no headlight,turn signals, horn or starter. wont even try to turn over. it does make a click when i turn the key from off to on , but thats all that will happen. It must be a relay, regulator, or cdi. Am I on the right track?
Title: Re: no lights work and bike wont start
Post by: The Buddha on July 16, 2008, 07:56:39 AM
The 4 wire green plug in from the ignition lock into the wiring harness may be to blame. My virago took in water there and totally acted up ... you'd think water will make it have a dead short in it 100% of the time ... only ... nope.
The GS one is very similar to the virago and hence may be subject to similar glitches.
Cool.
Buddha.
Title: Re: no lights work and bike wont start
Post by: lopee on July 16, 2008, 02:52:40 PM
   So today i checked the fuse again, just for peace of mind, and it is not blown. I also checked all the connections and pulled them apart and then refit them together. I visually inspected all of the harness and it doesnt appear to have burned thru or have any breaks in the wires.

I bought a multimeter today but dont know how to use it (the instructions are very confusing for all the features) I dont know where to turn the dial or what to touch the black or red leads to get a measurement with out further damage.

Any help would be appreciated! :bowdown:
Title: Re: no lights work and bike wont start
Post by: starwalt on July 16, 2008, 06:48:11 PM
You should have your meter set to DC Volts. It may be represented as DCV or VDC or a straight line with a dotted line above it.

You need a friend that has some electrical troubleshooting experience. Where are you located (country, city)?

Here are some links that may help also:
LINK1 (http://mechatronics.mech.northwestern.edu/design_ref/tools/multimeter.html)
LINK2 (http://www.doctronics.co.uk/meter.htm)

I wonder if your Lo/Hi switch is working properly.?
Title: Re: no lights work and bike wont start
Post by: lopee on July 17, 2008, 05:39:02 AM
By the way I live in Charlotte, N.C. good ol' USA and can offer labor or beers in trade for help.

Alright I took apart the start/kill switch and it looks good I have not looked at the hi/lo switch yet, but i will this afternoon. It is wierd not having any lights or horn and it makes me think. I will try to take the cdi and rectifier/reg to suzuki dealer to test them on the right equipment, if ones bad i would then know, Does anyone know how much that will cost?

Thanks for the meter description links starwalt, i read them after work to get familiar with the devise.
Title: Re: no lights work and bike wont start
Post by: The Buddha on July 17, 2008, 06:09:35 AM
Charlotte NC ... wheeeeee ...
I dunno anyone who lives in charlotte NC ... do you ...  :laugh:
Your rectifier and black box are not involved if it wont light up anything. I can help you test it etc, but I aint back in charlotte till 25th.
Cool.
Buddha.
Title: Re: no lights work and bike wont start
Post by: lopee on July 17, 2008, 10:06:08 AM
Suzuki is out of the question, they want $80 p/hr labor to test and a new one is about the same cheaper if used.

The oil pressure light and neutral indicator lights both work, thats it. The rectifier seems to make a click sound as i turn the key from off to on.
Title: Re: no lights work and bike wont start
Post by: The Buddha on July 17, 2008, 10:12:50 AM
Yea, drag the thing over to my place ~25-26th. Or any weekend after that. Its not your BB or rectifier I think.
You can also drag it over to werase's place - he's in Winston salem though when ever we have one of those "mad werase's basement bashes".
Cool.
Buddha.
Title: Re: no lights work and bike wont start
Post by: lopee on July 17, 2008, 10:18:54 AM
Cool, Ill look u up around then. also my diode between my relay and my rectifier looks different from any other pics ive seen or ones for sale on ebay. could this be the problem and are there interchangable parts for this item?

The part says nippondenso on the top and FZ249SD on the side with voltage and wattage #s
Title: Re: no lights work and bike wont start
Post by: The Buddha on July 17, 2008, 10:21:50 AM
Which diode ? I dunno what that little thing does ... But we can start swapping stuff between our bikes if needed.
Cool.
Buddha.
Title: Re: no lights work and bike wont start
Post by: lopee on July 17, 2008, 08:33:43 PM
Ok, I went and disconnected all the connections for the wiring harness. thought that it must be here somewhere but didnt see anything irregular so i snapped them all back together carefully making sure all were tight. Turned the key , press the start, and voila , 1 purring GS5.

Im glad i didnt have to buy anything and will double check my work more carefully in the future.

Thanks to all that contributed to helping solve my problem! :)

Im still down for a ride and a few beers after for anyone in the charlotte area.
Title: Re: no lights work and bike wont start
Post by: starwalt on July 19, 2008, 11:00:06 AM
Glad to hear you sorted it out.  :thumb:

I'm going toward ATL this week so I'll take a rain check on either a Beck's Light or Heineken Light.

:laugh: