Juice, but no click.

[Chisenhallw]

Man, I hate working electrical systems. Hate, hate, hate. Always afraid I'm going to start a fire or short the whole system out. Ok, here's the problem.

Specs - 1982 GS 650 G, recently restored mechanically (but not visually), ran great until a couple days ago.

I get juice, but no start. Not even a click. Green light on the start light, oil pressure light, but nothing when you hit the starter.

So I took out the battery, made sure it was charged, threw it back in, still nothing.

Started tracing wires back from the battery terminals - yep, looks like the wire from the negative terminal has been chewed or rotted off. Exposed copper wire.

From the bike to the battery, there are two wires coming out. One is thicker and black, and comes out from under the gas tank (haven't taken that off yet). Another is slimmer, black with a white stripe, bolted to the frame beneath the battery box. I believe that one's the grounding wire; am I right?

I've connected them in a variety of different ways, and I always get juice but no click. Nothing.

Any suggestions? [-o< I can post pics if necessary.

[t3rmin]

If, say, your headlight comes on and is nice and bright, then your problem has nothing to do with the battery terminals. If you hit the starter and there's absolutely not even the slightest click (you don't have the kill switch off, right?), then you've either got a bad button or starter relay or a problem in the wiring thereof. Even if your starter itself was bad you should hear the relay make a slight click when pressing the button. I'd put my money on the starter relay being bad.

You should be able to get the bike to crank by shorting the contacts at the starter relay with a screwdriver (or wire or whatever).

[wharrah]

what about the clutch?

I know my bike won't start if the clutch is not pulled in. Is there a similar feature on all of our GS machines? If so, maybe you have a defective switch. I am not sure where it is, but I'd start looking for that as a possible cause, too.

Good luck.

[rphillips]

The clutch switch would the first place to look. They're known for not making a good connection. It's where the two wires conect to the bottom of the clutch lever mount. If you take it apart, be very careful, very tiny spring, & a couple more small parts are very easily lost. You can check the switch by taking the headlight out, find the two wires that go to the clutch switch, find where they plug to the wiring harness & unplug them & connect the two ends from the wiring harness. be sure the bike is in neutral, cause if this is your problem & you push the start button, while in gear, the bike will lurch foreward. If this is the problem, a good cleaning will probably fix it.

[t3rmin]

Oh yeah, and check that clutch safety switch. ;-)

[tconroy]

Man, I hate working electrical systems. Hate, hate, hate. Always afraid I'm going to start a fire or short the whole system out. Ok, here's the problem.

Specs - 1982 GS 650 G, recently restored mechanically (but not visually), ran great until a couple days ago.

I get juice, but no start. Not even a click. Green light on the start light, oil pressure light, but nothing when you hit the starter.

So I took out the battery, made sure it was charged, threw it back in, still nothing.

Started tracing wires back from the battery terminals - yep, looks like the wire from the negative terminal has been chewed or rotted off. Exposed copper wire.

From the bike to the battery, there are two wires coming out. One is thicker and black, and comes out from under the gas tank (haven't taken that off yet). Another is slimmer, black with a white stripe, bolted to the frame beneath the battery box. I believe that one's the grounding wire; am I right?

I've connected them in a variety of different ways, and I always get juice but no click. Nothing.

Any suggestions? [-o< I can post pics if necessary.

There are your suggestions.......any luck?I have a clymers manual if you need me to scan the wireing diagram and send it to you.All I need to know is if you have an 82 650 GD or GLZ or GLD or GX or EZ. Yes, there is that many models and the wireing is different.

[Guest]

the black with the white stripe wire is for the ignitor; grounding wire.

Have you tried hooking the battery straight up to the starter relay? I'm guessing that your starter solenoid/relay is shot.

The other thing mentioned in this thread is the clutch kill switch. You can bypass this by removing the headlight and tracing the wires going to the clutch handle. You should be able to cancel it out.

[NATEO]

I had a problem with my 750 that sounded just like this. The first thing you should do is jump the starter solenoid by touching the posts with a screwdriver. if it turns over great, its either the clutch or push button. like someone said earlier, you can bypass the clutch safety switch by tracing the wire to the headlight bucket and making the push button wire go straight to the sarter solenoid.
for the push button, take the unit apart, and get inside it, to where the copper contacts are. often times corrosion builds up and prevents the current to pass through. I used a dremmel and brush fitting to clean it off, but Im sure you can use just about anything.

good luck!!! I hope for your sake its the push button. its an easy fix.

[Road_Clam]

Man, I hate working electrical systems. Hate, hate, hate. Always afraid I'm going to start a fire or short the whole system out. Ok, here's the problem.

Specs - 1982 GS 650 G, recently restored mechanically (but not visually), ran great until a couple days ago.

I get juice, but no start. Not even a click. Green light on the start light, oil pressure light, but nothing when you hit the starter.

So I took out the battery, made sure it was charged, threw it back in, still nothing.

Started tracing wires back from the battery terminals - yep, looks like the wire from the negative terminal has been chewed or rotted off. Exposed copper wire.

From the bike to the battery, there are two wires coming out. One is thicker and black, and comes out from under the gas tank (haven't taken that off yet). Another is slimmer, black with a white stripe, bolted to the frame beneath the battery box. I believe that one's the grounding wire; am I right?

I've connected them in a variety of different ways, and I always get juice but no click. Nothing.

Any suggestions? [-o< I can post pics if necessary.

My FIRST suggestion. Get yourself a 12V test light. An invaluable tool for diagnosing simply electrical issues. Next suggestion, ALWAYS check the basic things first, specifically make sure you have a FULLY charged battery. I would check the starter solenoid also, as they are prone to failing. There is 2 thick wires, one from the battery (constant 12V), and the other goes to the starter should show 12V while the starter button is pressed. The small wire is the 12V feed from the starter button, and should also show 12V only when the button is pushed. Corrosion, and bad grounds are a real problem on any 20+ year old bike also.

[Chisenhallw]

So many good replies!

t3rmin, I haven't checked the headlight - I will do that when I get home from work today.

wharrah - thanks for the idiot check! I *am* an idiot, so I need that sometimes....Yes, I was clutching in.

rphillips - thanks for the tip about the clutch switch. I will definitely look into that.

tconroy - YES!!! PLEASE!!! A scan of the wiring harness would be VERY helpful. Might answer all those 'I wonder where this wire goes' questions. Check your pm's - my email addy is there.

brveagle - my old girl was starting like a dream up until now. Would the solenoid/relay really just quirk out like that? And how do I hook the battery straight up to the starter relay (might have to wait on that wiring harness diagram so I can figure out WHERE the bloody starter relay is!!).

Nateo - Thanks for the clarification on the starter solenoid. Are you t alking about the posts on the battery (I assume not, but see above re: idiot) or the posts on the solenoid itself?

Road_Clam - The first thing I did was yank out the battery and make sure it was charged completely. And corrosion is indeed a problem (did I mention I hate electrical work?). I have a feeling that a 12V tester purchase in my future, thanks for the tip.


Unfortunately it's BLOODY RAINING TODAY and I don't have a garage, so no work tonight on the old girl. However, I am going to (hopefully) consult a wiring diagram, get a 12V tester, maybe a belt of whiskey, and try to get a cough out of the bike on Sat or Sun.

Thanks for the tips, everyone - I am benefitting a LOT from your experience. Keep 'em coming! Pretty please! With sugar on top (no, really, I know this stripper named Sugar... \\/ ).

[t3rmin]

So many good replies!

t3rmin, I haven't checked the headlight - I will do that when I get home from work today.

Keep in mind I only suggested the headlight as a quick/easy indication of whether your battery has good juice and the terminals are making decent contact. If it's nice and bright you're probably OK in that area, but it's not scientific by any means. ;-) I can almost guarantee, though, that your problem is NOT the battery or terminals. You'd get at least a click, even with a pretty well discharged battery.

brveagle - my old girl was starting like a dream up until now. Would the solenoid/relay really just quirk out like that? And how do I hook the battery straight up to the starter relay (might have to wait on that wiring harness diagram so I can figure out WHERE the bloody starter relay is!!).

Yes, they go out all the time. When I was shopping for cheap bikes this fall I think that was the number one caveat listed: "needs starter relay".

Nateo - Thanks for the clarification on the starter solenoid. Are you t alking about the posts on the battery (I assume not, but see above re: idiot) or the posts on the solenoid itself?

He's talking about the posts on the relay itself. A relay is just a switch activated electrically. The starter button activates the relay which mechanically (hence the click) connects the power to the starter. There are some fairly thick wires attached to the relay: bridge those connections with a screwdriver and it should crank over. All you're doing is bypassing the internal electromechanical switch of the relay and directly connecting the starter to the battery. You get a bit of sparkage, so don't freak out. ;-)

Also I don't think it's been mentioned to check your fuses. This might be a good time to replace all of them, even if they seem ok visually.

Road_Clam - The first thing I did was yank out the battery and make sure it was charged completely. And corrosion is indeed a problem (did I mention I hate electrical work?). I have a feeling that a 12V tester purchase in my future, thanks for the tip.

Yes! You need to have a good multimeter. Most multimeters have an audible "continuity" feature which obviates the need for a separate "test light", so just get a multimeter. I prefer the audible continuity tester over the visual light anyway (don't have to crane your neck to see it whilst holding the tester leads in sometimes awkward positions).

[joeyplumley]

Yes! You need to have a good multimeter. Most multimeters have an audible "continuity" feature which obviates the need for a separate "test light", so just get a multimeter. I prefer the audible continuity tester over the visual light anyway (don't have to crane your neck to see it whilst holding the tester leads in sometimes awkward positions).

I second the multimeter - you'll find a ton of uses for it once you get one. Continuity, though, tests for a closed circuit (low resistance - ohms), while the "test light" would be used to see 12VDC here (just to clarify). There could be meters out there that beep on a voltage though, I suppose. But "continuity" just means a closed circuit.

You don't need to buy a "test light" - just get a new (or used) 12V light out of your car or bike; solder (or tape) 2 wires on it (one to the side, the other to the bottom of the base), and wrap the whole thing, minus the bulb and leads, in electrical tape. VOILA!

Make one lead long, say 4 feet, and attach to the neg (-) side of the battery. Touch the other lead to what you want to test (the top of the starter relay, for instance). The light shines when you've got "juice" there.

General electrical troubleshooting advice: start from the problem area and work backwords - is the coil getting 12V? No? Check switch next.... etc. You can also jump out the starter button circuit - use a wire and give the starter relay 12V (+) from the battery (attach to the yellow/blue wire soldered on top, not the big ones!). If it the starter goes, congrats, your coil is OK. Again, work backwords to find the culprit.

FYI, I feel your pain. Trying to figure out right now why I'm not getting 12V at the coil (juice at the terminals though). Looks like I'll try bypassing that clutch switch next. Good luck.........

[t3rmin]

I second the multimeter - you'll find a ton of uses for it once you get one. Continuity, though, tests for a closed circuit (low resistance - ohms), while the "test light" would be used to see 12VDC here (just to clarify). There could be meters out there that beep on a voltage though, I suppose. But "continuity" just means a closed circuit.

Absolutely right. Sorry for being ambiguous there. The multimeter negates the need for a test light with with the combination of the continuity buzzer and the voltmeter. Many of the tasks you'd use a test light for on a motorcycle are primarily continuity/resistance tests that happen to involve some voltage (hence the test light also working). The presence of voltage indicates continuity. When testing for voltage, switch the multimeter to a volts setting. In that setting a multimeter is much more useful because a test light only tells you there is voltage, not how much. And with these old bikes there can be a lot of resistance in the crappy wiring resulting in significant voltage loss.

[t3rmin]

FYI, I feel your pain. Trying to figure out right now why I'm not getting 12V at the coil (juice at the terminals though). Looks like I'll try bypassing that clutch switch next. Good luck.........

By the way, I highly recommend the relay work-around. (That is if you're just getting low voltage at the coils, not zero.) If you have low voltage at the coils and just can't seem to clean it up, a relay with a direct feed from the battery works great.

[joeyplumley]

....a multimeter is much more useful because a test light only tells you there is voltage, not how much. And with these old bikes there can be a lot of resistance in the crappy wiring resulting in significant voltage loss.

Well, you'll just have a "dim" test light now, won't you? Seriously, a multimeter can be had for $5 at Harbor Freight that can do all these functions. Use the light idea if you're A) lazy or B) in a pinch. Might be a worthwhile addition to the on-board tool kit now that I think of it (cheap and small).....

Just jumped out my clutch switch in the headlight housing - every thing works! That saved me a lot of time - Clymer wiring diagram just shows a "starter disconnect switch"; and not where it's located either. I've never had the bike running, so wouldn't have even known to look for a clutch switch.

You guys are great! Keep it up.