Uncle Mike's BIKE Dead on Chicago Expressway - Coil question

[UncleMike]

O.K., we checked the wire the sense wire was connected to, it was dead. We then connected the sense wire straight to the battery (Mike, unplug the sense wire tonight so you don't run the battery down) and it charges correctly. Therefore, the R/R is fine.
His headlight works, but neither the tail light nor the brake light works. Bulbs look good. The instrument lights do not work, nor does the electronic tach.
All the connections inside the headlight shell look fine.
Conclusion:
There is some connector or wire down the line that feeds the brake/taillight and instrument lights that has failed or is not receiving 12V. Someone is going to have to debug the wiring harness.
Mike has in his possession the Factory Suzuki Service manual and a fresh multimeter, which is pretty much all that will be needed to troubleshoot. Someone who thoroughly understands wiring diagrams needs to give him a hand.

The very fact that I was able to accomplish everything we just did is testament to what a good teacher you are. I can't thank you enough.

Any electrical geniuses in the house?

[salty_monk]

Just a semi educated guess but I bet all those things are on the same multiplug under the tank by the coils... Probably one that comes off the ignition switch.

That might be too easy though!

[koolaid_kid]

Just a semi educated guess but I bet all those things are on the same multiplug under the tank by the coils... Probably one that comes off the ignition switch.

That might be too easy though!

That is the one thing I could not figure out, not having a wiring diagram in front of me. Someone needs to donate a PDF copy to BassCliff so he can post it on his site. But I agree, I suspect there is a central location. Only makes sense on such a catastrophic failure.

[UncleMike]

That is the one thing I could not figure out, not having a wiring diagram in front of me. Someone needs to donate a PDF copy to BassCliff so he can post it on his site. But I agree, I suspect there is a central location. Only makes sense on such a catastrophic failure.

I pulled those apart and put them back together but didn't see anything obviously amiss.

When I get back home I'll scan my diagram and send it to Cliff.

[Planecrazy]

Off to my softball game (7-8pm). Offer is still open to bring the bike here and work on it together tonight / tomorrow if you feel confident you can get here safely without the lights working correctly. Still an hour or so of daylight...

'Later,

[UncleMike]

Off to my softball game (7-8pm). Offer is still open to bring the bike here and work on it together tonight / tomorrow if you feel confident you can get here safely without the lights working correctly. Still an hour or so of daylight...

'Later,

I don't want to risk it with no brakelight or turnsignals. Plus, I'm not experienced enough to hunt down a short.

[UncleMike]

Anyone up for providing a beginner's tutorial for hunting down shorts in the harness?

[Planecrazy]

Should I hook up my trailer and come get you, or is the bike inside somewhere where you can keep working on it (we're getting light rain up here right now)? Shoot me a phone call if you like and we can discuss your evil master plan...

Regards,

[UncleMike]

Should I hook up my trailer and come get you, or is the bike inside somewhere where you can keep working on it (we're getting light rain up here right now)? Shoot me a phone call if you like and we can discuss your evil master plan...

Regards,

Not just yet. Without a plan for how to actually tackle this harness, I don't want to bring it anywhere until I know I can fix it.

[koolaid_kid]

Just spoke to bwringer. Had a nice long conference, and here is what he suggests: He believes it is the fuse box. If someone whos bike has the same style fuse box ( 5 AGC fuses, like an 1100E ) could temporarily remove theirs and take it over and swap, Mike may be out of the woods. Or at least found the culprit. They can be patched up, I did it on mine once.

To repeat: Mike needs a fuse box to test if his is bad or not. Volunteers?

[rustybronco]

Mike has in his possession the Factory Suzuki Service manual and a fresh multimeter, which is pretty much all that will be needed to troubleshoot.

To scan and post up the wiring diagram would be helpful.

[TheCafeKid]

Just spoke to bwringer. Had a nice long conference, and here is what he suggests: He believes it is the fuse box. If someone whos bike has the same style fuse box ( 5 AGC fuses, like an 1100E ) could temporarily remove theirs and take it over and swap, Mike may be out of the woods. Or at least found the culprit. They can be patched up, I did it on mine once.

To repeat: Mike needs a fuse box to test if his is bad or not. Volunteers?

I'm inclined to agree with you. Most models, those things are all on the same fuse. (tail,sigs, cluster lights..) I'm no 1150 expert as I've never seen one in person, but I'm gonna bet that the fuse block is almost proprietary at least as far as the connector goes. I'm not sure another GS block will just hook right up.

That being said, if he wanted to test this theory, wouldn't it be simple enough to pop the wires out of the connector and run a temporary jumper between them to see if the failure is in fact the block? Testing with a VOM for continuity would work, but if it's intermittent he may not find it bad... I dunno. Electrical goober thinking aloud here...

[UncleMike]

To scan and post up the wiring diagram would be helpful.

On it. Have it in a few minutes.

[Planecrazy]

Incidentally, if you do find the fuse box is the problem, we could probably acquire a universal replacement and install it tomorrow out here ... Have soldering equipment, heat shrink, etc. (and skillz) to get this done if need be. Obviously, if you are able to bypass a bad fuse block circuit and ride out that would be the easiest solution, but will come down with the trailer if need be.

Standing by

[UncleMike]

Incidentally, if you do find the fuse box is the problem, we could probably acquire a universal replacement and install it tomorrow out here ... Have soldering equipment, heat shrink, etc. (and skillz) to get this done if need be. Obviously, if you are able to bypass a bad fuse block circuit and ride out that would be the easiest solution, but will come down with the trailer if need be.

Standing by

You're a gentleman and a scholar, sir. I'll keep you posted.