rmaw02 Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Hi guys, New to the forum and looking for some help. I have a 1992 XJ600 (US model) that will not start. It has been running fine all summer, then I got caught in a heavy rain storm. After that, I parked the bike for a few days, when I tried to start it again, it wouldn't fire up. I was able to jump start it with my car, and it runs fine. If I ran it for a while, shut it off, then tried to fire it up right away, it would start, but if I let if sit for a while (1 hour or more) it would not start. I had a similar problem last summer as well (soon after I bought the bike) and replaced the battery, the problem went away until now. I have been working on the assumption that the battery is still good, since it is less than a year old. (I realize this may be a wrong assumption, but it seems to me that if the battery is already bad, putting a new one in may solve the problem temporarily, but there is still an underlying issue that needs to be addressed). I started trouble shooting the charging system and felt the charging voltage was a little low (manual says 14 volts @ 5000 rpm; I was closer to 13.5 volts). I misdiagnosed the regulator/rectifier to be bad and replaced it. Problem still there. However, the alternator output voltage is a little higher now with the new reg/rec. I then moved on to trouble shooting the ignition system. When I do an ignition spark test (holding a spark plug against the cylinder head while cranking the engine with the starter) I do not get a spark. I checked the primary and secondary coil resistance on the ignition coils. On both secondary coils i get about 34Kohms. This is way out of spec according to my manual (9k - 14kohms), however, I have a friend with the same bike and I measured his at 32k ohms each and his bike is running fine. Does this seem right, or is there still a problem here? I pulled my ignitor unit from my bike and installed it on my friends bike, and his still started just fine, so I ruled that out. I do not get a spark when I do the ignition spark test, however, if I push start my bike it always fires up right away and runs fine. No missing or stalling. I next started trouble shooting my starting system. I tested my starter motor by jumping it directly to my battery and it cranks, although seems a little weak. I tested my starter solenoid by jumping it to ground and it operated my starter motor. Can it be that there is enough juice getting to my starter motor to make it operate, but not enough to get the bike started? I am running out of obvious things to check and do not want to just start throwing parts at the bike hoping something will fix it without finding the problem. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkwindjammer Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Battery, terminals (cables and connectors), Earth link, water still pocketed in this area, is my guess, but am no good with electrics only the basics, like dont shower and re-tune your DAB radio at the same time, common sense stuff really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmaw02 Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 Battery, terminals (cables and connectors), Earth link, water still pocketed in this area, is my guess, but am no good with electrics only the basics, like dont shower and re-tune your DAB radio at the same time, common sense stuff really The rain storm was weeks ago. I have rode it a handful of times since (mostly push starting it). We have had many days of 90+ F, so any moisture should have evaporated by now. Battery terminals are good, clean and tight. I've gone through all the connectors and none seem to be dirty or corroded or loose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator YamaHead Posted July 16, 2009 Moderator Share Posted July 16, 2009 Used to have an XJ550 Seca with the same scenario...... Ended up being the starter circuit cut-off relay......located right behind the steering head, near the coils. Yanked the relay & ran a jumper wire across the connector to complete the circuit..... Worked great after that! HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmaw02 Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 Used to have an XJ550 Seca with the same scenario...... Ended up being the starter circuit cut-off relay......located right behind the steering head, near the coils. Yanked the relay & ran a jumper wire across the connector to complete the circuit..... Worked great after that! HTH I will test that, hope it can be something so simple. However, this relay could fault in one of two ways, stuck open or stuck closed. If it is stuck closed, I really should have not problem. The bike would start (or allow me to start it using the starter button) whether it was or wasn't in nuetral, the clutch lever is or isn't pulled and the side stand is or isn't up. Correct me if I am wrong, but the purpose of the starter circuit cut-off relay is to prevent the starter motor from receiving current unless all those switches are in the proper state. If the relay was stuck closed, it would allow current to pass to the starter motor regardless of the state of those switches. On the other hand, if the relay was stuck open, it would prevent the starter motor from receiving current even is all the above mentioned switches were in the correct state. However, in my case, when I press the starter button, the starter motor operates but will not start the bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sluggo Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Hi, From what you've said it sounds like a low battery. It may have dropped a cell and this would bring it to the point of slow cranking but not enough grunt left to ignite the plugs. That's probably why it starts when pushed, no load. Check the voltage of the battery it should be around 12.5v. Between 10-11 would mean a dead cell. It's not unusual these days for a battery to pack it in early, those Chinese know their business. If you're going to keep the bike get yourself a better style of battery like the ones from EnerSys in Reading, P.A. They are expensive but will kick hard for 8-10 years. Do the math. Regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmaw02 Posted July 20, 2009 Author Share Posted July 20, 2009 Well, I put in a new battery and it is starting just fine now. I guess that's what I get for assuming the battery shouldn't be bad after only one year of use. What is interesting though is if I charge the batter, it still had a resting voltage of around 12.5 to 12.8 volts, that's even after a couple of days rest. Still not sure if there is an underlying problem, but for now it is starting and I can ride without the fear of getting stranded. In the future, I will take better care of the battery, especially if letting it sit during the winter months. Thanks for all the input. This is a great forum. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts