Does anyone know if there is a way to test the ignitor unit assemlby on a 2008 ventur

[murraylw]

I posted on here around Christmas, discovered I had a bad ignition switch. Well now that the weather has been nice enough to get out and work on it the switch has be replaced although I was not getting anything other than the radio and dash. I went through and checked all the switches in the starting sequence and all checked good, thinking there must be something in the wiring between them I discovered the lead and ground on the kick stand switch had gotten hot enough to melt the wires. I cut that section out and replaced the wires, I also checked the kick stand relay and discovered I was not getting anything from the Lg wire. I picked one up, as soon as I installed it neutral light came back and it turned over for the first time since December. I set the tank back on and hooked up the wiring and fuel lines, tried starting with good rotation but no success. Figuring it has set a while I tried again, this time when I hit the starter button I heard a little pop and lost everything. Checked the kick stand/ starter cut off relay again and blew a diode going to the Lg wire again.

Looking at the wiring diagram I am left to believe it is something in the ignitor unit assembly that is causing it to short out, my diagram does not break down the ignitor unit so I'm not sure what I should see on it when checking ohms or continuity. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated

[murraylw]

Maybe this is a more appropriate question, the last time I rode when it quit on me as I was trying to start it I checked voltage on the battery before starting 12.7 volts when I hit the starter button voltage dropped to 1.86 and then it started smoking. I stopped all work on it then and trailered it home. I believe I have something shorting out that is causing the blown diode problem but think it has to be something in the starting sequence. Fuel pump, carb heater, ignition coil, starter? Has anyone encountered any similar situations or maybe an idea of where to look?

[93 venture]

where was the smoke coming from? First thought is a shorted battery or bad conections

[murraylw]

The smoke was coming from the negative post on the battery, I had wondered if I didn't get good contact or just hadn't tightened it good from the previous time but all checked good. Battery has been checked since and still shows good, I have started running continuity checks to ground but with the way the system works it is proving to be a nightmare. The fact this is all happening and have yet to see any fuse blow is confusing

[Flyinfool]

Double check all of your fuses to be sure that someone did not put in a higher amp than what is supposed to be there, to stop it from blowing.

[murraylw]

Thanks Flyinfool, did that the first time I had opened up the areas of the fuse boxes. Recently pulled all the fuses and inspected the fuses and connections to make sure they were clean and didn't have any foreign objects that could possibly negate the purpose of the fuses.

[93 venture]

so the engine died on ya and when you went to restart, the neg bat. cable let the smoke out?

 

[Money Venture]

When you checked the battery after the smoke, did you physically take the battery out and clean the posts or just check it with a meter?

[djh3]

I would start with the basic of where you have yourself discovered some issue. Clean all the cables, both ends. The battery ground @ battery and also on the engine block. Add a little dielectric grease to hold off corrosion. Then the positive end. Battery end of course, but then it runs to the solenoid on the left lower side by side cover and low by exhaust. Then there is a positive cable runs from it to the actual starter. While your in there check the 30a main fuse located in same area.

I came home from a 3500+ mile trip from Fla to Canada and back. Got home and parked the bike in garage. Ran like clock work. 2 days later went out to start and go to store and nothing. Could get dash light but nothing else. Hit button and all would go dead. I charged up battery and same thing. Come to find out the corrosion had got so bad @ the main fuse area it wouldn't allow enough juice to flow to run. Cleaned all that stuff up and popped a new fuse in.

[sldunker]

The only way I know to blow a diode is over current or over voltage. In this case I would have to believe it is over current. You will have disconnect loads one at a time to find problem. Being that the lg wire was fried I would start by disconnecting the carb heaters and go from there.

[Flyinfool]

It sounds like you may have multiple issues going on at the same time. Any where you get smoke or heat, that is where to start looking.

 

If there is smoke coming from the negative battery terminal, then that is where to start.

One place that most people fail to check is the crimp between the terminal and the wire. I have seen corrosion inside of the crimp cause the bad connection. Pretty much the only time the battery connection will let out some of the magic blue smoke is due to a bad connection at that joint.

[murraylw]

Thanks for all the advice, I made up some test leads from the old kick stand relay. I put an inline fuse in so I could prevent damaging something else, I believe I have narrowed it down to a bad neutral switch. Not sure how or why it would cause this kind of problem but I plugged the power into the Lg socket and don't have any issue until the neutral switch is plugged in, it blew a 3, and two 5 amp fuses. I have a new kick stand relay on the way, I will let everyone know if this is in fact the problem

[murraylw]

Well I have a little to update, with the seat, tank, side covers, front fairing, lower fairings all off I pulled every connection I could locate apart cleaned and re-installed. Also pulled all grounds and cleaned them then reconnected them. Dielectric grease on all of them. Ordered a new ignition switch and side stand relay, finally got them in and sadly was not up and running. Pulled all four plugs and checked for spark, all good. Not getting fuel, I did the feed right from the tank to the carbs and got it running today. I checked the fuel pump and it is working just not getting power to it, so I put a separate relay on it to bypass the factory one. Now it will run great in neutral however it will die when put in gear, I double checked the side stand switch and even tried to bypass it. I have tried to restart with the side stand up but when in gear it will not run or allow to start. Any suggestions?

[CATPower]

Hi, Does it die when you have the clutch pulled or actual put in gear ?

Do you have a neutral light ?

[murraylw]

As long as it is in neutral it starts and runs great, as soon as I put it in gear it dies with clutch still pulled. when I try to start in gear I get the response of a safety failure, I have replaced the side stand relay twice now. I know it was bad because I was getting anything and no neutral light, first replacement neutral light came back and it would crank but not start. the third time I tried I heard a pop and then nothing again. I order another relay and a new ignition switch. It would turn over but not start, I checked and was getting good spark but no power to the fuel pump from the new relay. In order to get it running now I had to put in a relay and bypass the side stand relay to get power to the fuel pump so I'm sure it is gone again. Suspect I have some issue with the side stand switch (even though it seems to function properly) or the side stand diode that by the wiring diagram is separate from the relay is bad. Something is causing the side stand relay to short out and I found some wires on the switch that appeared to over heat.

[murraylw]

I need some help from the gear heads, I know the diode between the side stand switch and the side stand relay is bad. I can not locate it anywhere! For an update, I have replaced the ignition module (in case it was causing the relay to short out) I have replaced the side stand switch, the side stand relay. I noticed the fuel pump was getting hot after running just a few minutes so I have disconnected it and ran the line from the tank straight to the carbs.