SuzukiSavage.com - Electrical system completely dead

fishinjim

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Electrical system completely dead
01/03/11 at 18:46:19

This qustion is on a 2003 LS650 P with 5700 mi. I don't have a maintenance book yet, as I have only had the bike for 1 month.

Today I put on a new seat and decided to ride the bike to town. I went through the normal start procedure and bike started right up. The problem was it was running in about 8 cycle mode. I switched off the bike to see if it would run right if I restarted it. I turned the key on, went through the routine start procedure, and it would not even turn over. In a few seconds I lost the neutral indicator light. The battery read 12.4 volts in a no load condition. Any clues anyone? The nearest Suzuki dealer is 25 mi. from here. I wouls like to exaust my attempts before trailering it. :'(

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bill67 Serious Thumper Offline old tired Posts: 8517 genoa city wisconsin Gender:	Re: Electrical system completely dead Reply #1 - 01/03/11 at 19:09:32 If it was running ok before the seat change I would check the wiring under the seat.
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verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28889 L.A. California Gender:	Re: Electrical system completely dead Reply #2 - 01/03/11 at 19:22:21 If the battery is still showing good voltage, check the ground. The battery ground is next to the oil level window.
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Routy Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 2280 Winston Oregon Gender:	Re: Electrical system completely dead Reply #3 - 01/04/11 at 05:55:33 Yes, you have a bad connection somewhere. Start at the battery and work from there. If your whole system is completely dead, it shouldn't be hard to find w/ a simple 12v test lite.
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fishinjim

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Re: Electrical system completely dead
Reply #4 - 01/04/11 at 06:21:43

hanks, Guys. I will look for the ground by the sight glass. I have already looked at the connections under the seat since that was the most obvious, but didn't have much time to work on it yesterday.
Maybe I will find more time today. I did notice a fair amount of corrosion on the battery connections, and have also cleaned thst up.
Maybe my maintenance cd will be in the mail today as well.
Have a great day everyone. :'(

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Ed L. Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline "We All go a Little Crazy Sometimes" Norman Bates Posts: 2808 Sunny Florida Gender:	Re: Electrical system completely dead Reply #5 - 01/04/11 at 15:34:47 Check up under the front right side of the gas tank. There is a wiring connector that can come loose and keep the bike from starting. You should be able to spot it by looking down the frame under the tank.
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justin_o_guy2

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What happened?

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Re: Electrical system completely dead
Reply #6 - 01/04/11 at 23:21:49

beep, beep, beep, beep, Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Doctor? Is he?

Yes, Nurse, He's Dead!!

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The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.- Edmund Burke.

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youzguyz

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Re: Electrical system completely dead
Reply #7 - 01/05/11 at 03:17:48

Ed L. wrote on 01/04/11 at 15:34:47:

Check up under the front right side of the gas tank. There is a wiring connector that can come loose and keep the bike from starting. You should be able to spot it by looking down the frame under the tank.

He didn't say he pulled the tank (and didn't say he didn't, did he?) Anyway, good suggestion by Ed L, and there is one on each side of the tank. The on one the left is the booger that always comes loose on me.

BTW, when we say right and left, we mean as you sit on the bike. I'm still trying to get them to use port and starboard but they drink the port and call it sour grapes.

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2002 - Silver (Thumper)
2000 - Green (Mad Hamish)
Most motorcycle problems are caused by the nut between the seat and the handlebars. Make sure yours isn't too tight or too loose.

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T Mack 1 - FSO

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sold 2001 LS650 for
a 1986 XLH1100

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Re: Electrical system completely dead
Reply #8 - 01/05/11 at 05:13:37

Ok.... standard questions no one has asked.

1) How old is the battery????

2) 12.4 volts no load.....but what is it with a load (lights on)??????? Re-charge and try it.......

You can have 12 volts on the battery but if one of the cells is shot it will not carry a load. (trust me....... Embarrassed

)

NOTE: I sort of think J-O-G hinted at this in his death bed reply......

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Engineers design things, Technicians make them work.
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30% of being mechanical is confidence/30% is knowing to go slow when needed/30% is looking repeatedly at what you have/10% is dumb luck Wink

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Routy

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Re: Electrical system completely dead
Reply #9 - 01/05/11 at 05:29:03

Come on guys,.....this is what he said,.....Quote:
"In a few seconds I lost the neutral indicator light"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I agree, a bad battery could read 12.4 and drop to 6v when loaded.
But to not light the neutral saftey light ??????
He has a connection problem,...trust me !

(on edit)
But then,....I guess I could be forgetting that the headlight would be lit too ??

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Rich
'07 S40 Blvd stocker, except drilled OEM exhaust and white spacer mod...1/2 (.055)

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fishinjim

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Re: Electrical system completely dead
Reply #10 - 01/05/11 at 07:22:57

Thanks, guys. It is supposed to be warm again today so I will work on it this afternoon. The first thing I did was to look for loose connections under the seat. Today I am going to have the battery checked under load. It has been on a maintenance charge for 2 days now.
I will also look for the electrical ground and make sure it is clean and tight. That is my plan for today. If I am unable to ride then I will be back to pick your brans a little more. :'(

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fishinjim

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Re: Electrical system completely dead
Reply #11 - 01/05/11 at 10:37:20

Thanks for all the help, the scooter starts and runs fine now. I charged the battery, and cleaned all connections. There was a lot of black paint under the engine ground that isn't there anymore.
Incidently, I installed the seat off a 2009 model, and it sits much better. The seat has an extra bolt point ( chrome Plate ) at the rear of it, butI didn't want to drill through the fender and drill into the wiring so I left that off. The 2 bolts under the seat, and the plastic tab at the front should hold it securely. Grin

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Trippah Serious Thumper Offline I ride, therefore I am. Posts: 2517 central Mass Gender:	Re: Electrical system completely dead Reply #12 - 01/07/11 at 15:51:07 Don't you just hate it when someone does two or three things and good Lord almighty, the darn thing is fixed. Now we'll never know... Wa it the charge, was it the paint under the ground...
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fishinjim

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Re: Electrical system completely dead
Reply #13 - 01/08/11 at 07:33:19

To answer the last question, after charging, the battery was @ 13.4 volts, which is correct for a ( 12 ) volt battery. There was an awful lot of black paint under the engine ground that should have been cleaned off better at the factory. There was minor corrosion on the battery terminal as well. I think that the minor corrosion and the paint under the ground did it in. A couple of small problems like that can add up to enough to cause a real problem. I think it through me a curve because it all happened together, and the bike went dead sort of slowly.
Thanks Verslagen for telling me where the engine ground was located. That helped a lot. I do have my Clymer's book now.

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Bobbert

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Re: Electrical system completely dead
Reply #14 - 01/17/11 at 19:46:18

Glad you have it fixed.

A note to anyone else who comes across this thread in a search:

Any time you have a dead or weak electrical system check the battery connections for corrosion and make sure the voltage is over 13 volts. 90% of the time your battery is discharged. If the connections aren't clean or the voltage is low, clean the battery and charge it while you sit on your couch and drink a beer (or a soda). After you charge the battery and check the voltage, put it back in and try starting it. If it's still dead, go get a new gel battery.

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In progress- 1996 Savage: solo seat, pod filter, open exhaust, and custom bars, fender, wiring, paint.

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