sai Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Hi guys and gals, Newish to the forum, so hi from me to begin with! Not sure quite where to start with this since I'm quite a novice with bikes but here I go... First off I'm an all weather rider, I have been riding it perfectly with no issues until a few days ago when I stopped off at the local shop. When I came back to the bike the only thing that happened was a loud single click with no engine activity at all, luckily this was only 2 minutes away from my house. I traced the loud click noise to the starter relay, did a little google research and some people have suggested checking connections for errosion or a starter relay issue. So far I've checked and cleaned all the connections related to this, also I've just replaced the starter relay with a brand new one but with same results. I've tried checking the voltages as best I can, seems to be power flowing right up to the connection on top of the starter motor, until I press the start switch and it drops to 0. Any help would be very appreciated! A. Morris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator DirtyDT Posted May 23, 2009 Moderator Share Posted May 23, 2009 You say you check the voltages but with a voltmeter of just a bulb and two wires to check continuity? (that power is getting there). Will it jump from a car? If so then the battery or battery connections are possibly at fault. Is the engine seized? Take out the spark plugs. check where the piston is in one cylinder. Rock the bike in gear with the ignition off. Check the piston position again to make sure the engine turns over freely so the piston should have moved. Out of gear and in neutral. Will it turn over using the bike battery with the plugs out? If it does then the battery is OK. it is from the starter to the battery. Get a cable of a similar or higher spec. to the one to the starter. Not the one to the Remove the red +ve cable from the battery but leave the black one connected. Touch the cable from the +ve of the battery to the +ve on the starter motor. Remember that this is now a live terminal so be careful not to touch it to any part of the bike. Any part.. If it turns over then the battery and starter motor are ok. Clean the relay terminals, the battery terminals and starter motor terminals and try again. If not then it is probably the relay. The relay is just a big switch so the starter button to the relay uses smaller spec cables and the battery to the relay to the starter motor uses bigger cables. Make sure that a competent person does this and it is done safely. I can not be held responsible but you can narrow it down using the above methods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 Hi guys and gals, Newish to the forum, so hi from me to begin with! Not sure quite where to start with this since I'm quite a novice with bikes but here I go... First off I'm an all weather rider, I have been riding it perfectly with no issues until a few days ago when I stopped off at the local shop. When I came back to the bike the only thing that happened was a loud single click with no engine activity at all, luckily this was only 2 minutes away from my house. I traced the loud click noise to the starter relay, did a little google research and some people have suggested checking connections for errosion or a starter relay issue. So far I've checked and cleaned all the connections related to this, also I've just replaced the starter relay with a brand new one but with same results. I've tried checking the voltages as best I can, seems to be power flowing right up to the connection on top of the starter motor, until I press the start switch and it drops to 0. Any help would be very appreciated! A. Morris Hi A. Morris this sounds like a battery or starter motor !!! do as advised try to jump it from another battery to discount the starter switch/soleniod & motor Regards Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sai Posted May 23, 2009 Author Share Posted May 23, 2009 You say you check the voltages but with a voltmeter of just a bulb and two wires to check continuity? (that power is getting there). Will it jump from a car? If so then the battery or battery connections are possibly at fault. Is the engine seized? Take out the spark plugs. check where the piston is in one cylinder. Rock the bike in gear with the ignition off. Check the piston position again to make sure the engine turns over freely so the piston should have moved. Out of gear and in neutral. Will it turn over using the bike battery with the plugs out? If it does then the battery is OK. it is from the starter to the battery. Get a cable of a similar or higher spec. to the one to the starter. Not the one to the Remove the red +ve cable from the battery but leave the black one connected. Touch the cable from the +ve of the battery to the +ve on the starter motor. Remember that this is now a live terminal so be careful not to touch it to any part of the bike. Any part.. If it turns over then the battery and starter motor are ok. Clean the relay terminals, the battery terminals and starter motor terminals and try again. If not then it is probably the relay. The relay is just a big switch so the starter button to the relay uses smaller spec cables and the battery to the relay to the starter motor uses bigger cables. Make sure that a competent person does this and it is done safely. I can not be held responsible but you can narrow it down using the above methods. Thanks for the quick reply, I was using a multimeter to check the voltages. I won't have the tool for removing my sparks until later today to check the pistons, but it doesn't seem like its getting to that point, I'll check it once I have my tools back tonight. I've cleaned the connections and tried bypasing the relay with a jumper cable batt to motor, but no activity from that all unfortunately, I'm really puzzled by this fault now unless its a dead starter motor or so then I'm kinda stuck until pay day if that needs a replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 Thanks for the quick reply, I was using a multimeter to check the voltages. I won't have the tool for removing my sparks until later today to check the pistons, but it doesn't seem like its getting to that point, I'll check it once I have my tools back tonight. I've cleaned the connections and tried bypasing the relay with a jumper cable batt to motor, but no activity from that all unfortunately, I'm really puzzled by this fault now unless its a dead starter motor or so then I'm kinda stuck until pay day if that needs a replacement. Hi A Morris, I would guess you should just add the 'jump' battery to the original battery terminals & not straight to the starter motor (that comes later). Just apply the battery to the original connections & if you have the same response you have, perhaps, discounted the battery. Then remove the starter motor from th bike and connect a battery directly to it .. if it spins you have engine problems but as this engine is quite a reliable one, unless abused/neglected, I would doubt the problem lies there ... Regards Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sai Posted May 23, 2009 Author Share Posted May 23, 2009 I've managed to start the bike by connecting the batt negative to outside of the starter motor casing. So I'm kinda confused, runs fine if I do it like that, any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 I've managed to start the bike by connecting the batt negative to outside of the starter motor casing. So I'm kinda confused, runs fine if I do it like that, any ideas? Hi A Morris, this sounds like a bad earth ! Regards Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maczone Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 Hi A Morris, this sounds like a bad earth ! Regards Jim Hi Morris I had the same problem occasionally with my xj600n (1995) I too searched on google for answers and narrowed it down to the starter motor. when this usually happened I put it in gear and rocked the bike then tried the starter again. This usually worked but it happened more often so I found a starter on ebay and no starting problems now (so far) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sai Posted June 21, 2009 Author Share Posted June 21, 2009 Hi Morris I had the same problem occasionally with my xj600n (1995) I too searched on google for answers and narrowed it down to the starter motor. when this usually happened I put it in gear and rocked the bike then tried the starter again. This usually worked but it happened more often so I found a starter on ebay and no starting problems now (so far) Hey there, yeh, it was definately the starter motor for mine, found out the brushes were stuck and quite worn inside the motor. I cleaned the inside and replaced the brushes(cheaper option to replacing the whole unit hehe), its starting perfectly fine. Thanks for the help guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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