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78 xs400e Electrical, upgrades, fixes, hacks.


pezak
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I have heard, and read that these bikes have electrical issues. What I am looking for is anything any one has done to lessen these problems. As of right now I have found nothing wrong with the electrical systems, and would like to keep them working. I have seen replacing the fuse box with a modern one's that uses ato fuses. Is there any other mods to the electrical that help?

Thanks,

pez in ak

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I have heard, and read that these bikes have electrical issues. What I am looking for is anything any one has done to lessen these problems. As of right now I have found nothing wrong with the electrical systems, and would like to keep them working. I have seen replacing the fuse box with a modern one's that uses ato fuses. Is there any other mods to the electrical that help?

Thanks,

pez in ak

All 30 YO bikes have electrical issues, the severity depends on whether the bike was treated well or not, left outdoors, road in the wet, etc. The fuse box is crap on these bikes, even several in line fuses would be better than the standard fuse block. I fashioned a Suzuki fuse box onto mine, a little big but better. The stator wires come out of the case and run right under the chain and front sprocket. The oil pressure and neutral switch are in that harness and they get drenched with oil, grease and dirt. I sealed mine with heatshrink tubing and repaired some pinched wires that were caught in the case.

The turn signal switch can develop problems, cleaning spray helps. I had a bad diode that prevented the headlight relay from coming on and replaced that in the harness. Remove the connectors one at a time and spray contact cleaner inside. Work the connector apart and together again to clean the contacts. Do this with the battery disconnected so you don't shock anything.

I would clean up the battery terminals and make sure all the grounds for turn signals, ignition, etc are good. This is standard stuff for old machines. Replace brass ground tabs with newer alloy and clean rust from any electrical ground.

Restoration is work but electrical work is more about prevention.

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you can get remanufactured fuse boxes on UK ebay. apart from 30 year old wiring issues, there no massive problems just need to ensure you have a good battery for charging.

drewps

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