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Message started by Taz on 01/12/08 at 10:26:05

Title: First ever problem with Taz
Post by Taz on 01/12/08 at 10:26:05

Well it finally happened...
Taz wouldn't start or even begin to turn over. I checked fuses (both main 20 amp looked good) and the battery is charged.
No horn, no lights, all is dead when the switch is "on."
When I move it another notch to the park position the rear light comes on like it's supposed to.
Do you think my switch is bad? Or what else could I look for?

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by thumperclone on 01/12/08 at 12:43:01

are the front makers lights on ? if on and head light off would suspect sw..if off also w/ head light think its in the starting ckt somewhere..de comp controller i think is where the lamp relay is if im reading the diagram correctly..hope this helps..let us know what you find...
got a manual??

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by Brewbrother on 01/12/08 at 15:33:05

How about checking to make sure your battery cables and nice and snug. I once had a problem with the negative cable.

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by SteveRocket1 on 01/12/08 at 15:37:27

Check the kill switch has not been turn off by mistake

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by T Mack 1 on 01/12/08 at 16:19:06

On my '01, the rear light is on in both run & park key positions (or is it Run & P ....or...On & P.... old age, not running back out there now).

So, since the lights are not on in the run position, could be multilpe things.

ChecK:
1) like suggested above , battery connections. Look for corrosion too. There is a possibliity that with a bad connection, there isn't enough current flowing to allow all the lights (including headlight) to work, but in park, only one bulb, it has enough.

2) Check the connectors coming off the key switch. Maybe loose connection??

3) In run, jiggle the key and watch for lights. Idea there is switch going bad.

4) Check the connectors under the tank, but not sure on this one since the rear light works in park.

5) re-re-check the battery with bike in run. Maybe you got a dud :-/

6) Next step is to start tracing power thru the wiring harness and find were it stops.

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by SavageWahine on 01/12/08 at 23:59:02

Is the rear light part of the main fuse wiring or is it part of the second fuse? Does the brake light come on?

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by Taz on 01/13/08 at 00:00:10

332F322A372235242B282922470 wrote:

Nothing comes on. It's as if I never put the key in the ignition switch or turned it to the "on" position.
All is dead except in the park position when the rear light comes on.
No luck so far. Only have the owners manual, no repair manual.
"Taz" got mad at me for talking about trade-in.

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by joebothehobo on 01/13/08 at 00:41:07

My brother's bike has had a lot of electrical problems in the past (he bought it pretty beat up), and there have been a variety of culprits for not starting, such as:

disconnected or dead battery
clipped wires under the tank
disconnected "big black box" under the tank
disconnected wires leading to the clutch lever
killswitch engaged
kickstand button stuck
shorted fuses
various other random disconnected wires

and sometimes he needed to roll it back and forth a little for some reason.

hope that helps!

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by Taz on 01/13/08 at 09:49:09

I'm having a beer.
Still can't get any electrical response: no headlight, no horn, no neutral light, etc. Fuses are perfect, battery is tight and charged, all wires look connected and clean as I wiggled them. A short should have blown a fuse?
It's beer thirty here.

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/13/08 at 10:43:27

Ah beer thirty. A great time to do bike work...if it's mine that is :P

Start back at the beginning...what is the last thing that you did to the bike before this problem was discovered?

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 01/13/08 at 11:01:00

At this point, I would go to the switch & study it. If the battery is hot & turning the key on does Nothing, I would have to make sure the switch is sending the power where it's sposed to. I doubt it's the switch, since I havent seen a report of any ever failing. Try wiggling the key maybe?

OOOPs, I thought I was keeping up with the posts. T-Mack IS where I was going. Of course, looking at what ya did last, as Greg said, is a good idea, too.

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/13/08 at 11:11:04

786761667B7C4D7D4D75676B20120 wrote:

I say that because, sometimes we do something completely different and inadvertently cause a problem. Like did we remove the tank, the seat or anything "yesterday" and it had nothing to do with the electrical system...or was it running just fine, after a good ride, when we parked it...

...just a little bit of history:P

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by Taz on 01/13/08 at 12:54:34

4D786F6D553C3F3A0A0 wrote:

Ah beer thirty. A great time to do bike work...if it's mine that is :P

Start back at the beginning...what is the last thing that you did to the bike before this problem was discovered?

Ahhhh yes, I had a great ride last weekend and put Taz away for the next weekend ride. Standard procedure, all is fine.
Yesterday I was ready to ride, turned the key on, all looked fine, neutral light on, headlight on, pulled in clutch, hit the starter and after a nano second click all went dark. No power to all the usual. No second chance to attempt to start. Thought a fuse; But no! Still saying "no" to everything tried. I'm stumped at this point. Getting looped though. :) :D ;D :P
There is always tomorrow.

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by T Mack 1 on 01/13/08 at 15:47:34

Beer time..... ;D visions of Homer Simpson....

While your sipping (or chugging.... ;) ) read Greg's Tech section post on the elecrical system......

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?board=tech;action=display;num=1099317926

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by Warric on 01/13/08 at 18:02:20

Loose terminals? Got a farm-bike that forever does that.

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/14/08 at 07:20:46

Hurry! Before beer thirty starts, see if you can get the seat and toolbox cover off. Then you can sit and stare at it for a couple cool ones :P

Assuming that you don't have some catastrophic harness failure, I imagine it's pretty simple. You're gonna have to start at the fuses and the positive supply end. Since the taillight comes on, it's not the negative side.

The Red/black is the + supply to the ignition switch. The Orange is the supply for the headlight etc. Green goes to the handlebar switches. The Brown is the "taillight only" supply that works in On and Park. If you want to check the switch with a meter or test light, see if you have 12V between the Orange and Ground with the switch turned On.

Like Justin, I don't suspect the switch, but it's a good place to start.

BTW - if you don't have the main supply power, you won't have any control for the starter relay. Don't bother worrying about that. It ain't there :P

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by Taz on 01/14/08 at 15:15:48

I pulled enough hairs out.
Just gave my problem to a mechanic buddy at the corner.
We'll see if he stumbles onto a fix before I give in and haul Taz to the high priced bike stealership about 40 miles away.

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by Polar_Pilot on 01/14/08 at 18:44:38

A longshot but - does your key have a heavy fob on it?

A buddy of mine had one his kids gave him - bouncing in the wind it managed to destroy the inside of the ignition switch. The bike was purring , we stopped for gas he went to start - we could get a tail light but nothing else - totally dead
The bouncing of the fob over a 6 month period had smashed the interior connections of the switch.

It is a long shot but better check the ignition switch :(

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/14/08 at 19:58:34

631B1F7B475A425F4A5D2F0 wrote:

Hope your mechanic works out, but if not just bring it on over to my shop. I work pretty cheap :P

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by Taz on 01/18/08 at 14:54:53

Taz is fixed and it was easier than I thought...
I assumed and it bit me in the ass.
All it was was a faulty battery; A new one put Taz back on the road.
My corner mechanic is a great guy. Did me right.
I charged the battery and assumed it was charged having no voltmeter or good charger with an indicator.
My bad for being so dumb and tool-less.

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by thumperclone on 01/18/08 at 16:27:44

on some chargers itll read charged and you have a bad cell in the battery... even a old neon style hot checker is better than no VOM...

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by Taz on 01/18/08 at 18:12:00

Bottom line: Taz is a great bike, no real problems in the 2 years of ownership. 1 weak battery is it, can't complain about that.
I'd recomend an S40 to anyone; But beware they become part of the family...

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/19/08 at 06:50:49

4A3236526E736B766374060 wrote:

Told ya, that I thought it was simple. With the key turned to ON the battery was too low to power the headlight and taillight, so you couldn't see anything. Definitely couldn't blow the horn. In PARK there was just enough juice to power the taillight.

Really should get you a good meter for future stuff. They are cheap.

Title: Re: First ever problem with Taz
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 01/19/08 at 11:21:04

TC, what is a Neon style battery checker? My old load checker suffered a fatal meltdown, Milton fried. I havent replaced it yet. Harbor Freight has a few low buck options, but if there is a cheaper approach that will tell me the story on whether or not a battery is okay or not, I will go that way. Volt meters just don't tell the story. I guess it does IF you can hook the meter up & hit the starter & see how far the voltage drops. Okay on a bike, tough on a car.