rmaw02

I just had the same problem on my '92 XJ600 last week. It seems that replacing the battery fixed my problem, but I did do a complete check on the charging system (replaced my R/R, but I think my old one was still OK), ignition system and starting system. Please read my post here http://www.yamahaclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17872 for more info on my problems and solutions to see it you are experiencing the same thing. I would also suggest buying a good user manual. I do not know what year bike you have, but here is an ebay listing for the manual I have and have found it quite useful. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yamaha-XJ60...0630178006r9208 The manual will give detailed instruction on how to troubleshoot your bike including the spark test mentioned in your post. Having the manual will save you a lot of money on shop costs if you are willing to tinker with the bike yourself. To do the spark test: Remove one of the spark plug wires from the spark plug. Remove the spark plug. Plug the spark plug back into the spark plug wire. Hold the tip of the spark plug against a good ground source such as the cylinder head (hold the plug by the wire not the plug itself). While resting the tip of the spark plug against or close to the ground source, press you starter button and observe if there is a spark between your plug and the ground source. Reinstall the plug and do the same test for the other plugs. If you read my post linked above, you will see that when I performed this test, I did not get a spark on any of the plugs, but if i push started the bike it fired right up and ran strong. Again, for me, replacing the battery fixed my problem. However, since it seems everything one the bike is expensive, it would be wise to properly troubleshoot and diagnose the problem before starting to throw random parts at it. Good Luck

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.

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.

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.

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.