NO power to ignition

[Pro procrastinator]

Have you load tested the battery? They can read 13 volts and do nothing at all. Try switching the battery out with a buddies and if it works leave it that way then when hes having problems you can go over and bum a few beers before magically fixing the problem

Edited February 23, 2021 by Pro procrastinator

[circa1968]

Sleepy, the trickle charger falling & hitting the bike is likely a red herring and has nothing to do with the problem.  Even if the positive terminal of the trickle charger hit a conductive part of the frame, nothing would happen - as long as the charger negative terminal was not also connected to the bikes system @ the same time - then you could have issues due to reverse polarizing your bike's electrical system.

My guess is the battery gave up the ghost via an internal cell short.  It may still show a voltage potential but cannot actually provide any significant current flow.  How old is the battery?

[larrydr]

You know to win a pile of money would make like more and easier ...

But I tell myself that I already won big in 2010

I had a fast growing set of tumours  on my  liver and the team of 5 doctors told me I had 4 days before the cancer would explode on my liver and that if they did not operate in the next 24 hours they could no longer help me  ...

At 5 am the next morning they started  8 hours of surgery , they removed the liver from  my body and then removed a part of my liver to remove all the ugly stuff and put the liver back in my body ..

When I woke up I saw the chemo bottle hanging from the pole from my bedside .

The team of doctors came to see me the evening , and told me they had got it all .

I still am today on a restricted diet , but hey I am still here .

So I tell myself , that I had just won the biggest lottery any one could win .

[saddlebum]

@sleepy2Phil a simple way to load test battery though not as accurate as an actual load tester is to put a voltmeter directly on the battery. see if it shows 12 plus volts. turn on ignition volts should only drop very slightly. Next hit start button. If volts drop drastically and no response odds are battery is shot. If there is no voltage drop when you hit starter it will be a wiring issue.

I attached two WORD DOC files describing the diagnostic steps I teach my apprentices to track down and pin point electrical issues.

Starter and electrical issue diagnosing.docx Testing for a Battery not Charging.docx

Edited February 24, 2021 by saddlebum

[steamer]

remove the tank and check the main power connection to the ignition switch. it is the connection with 2 wires. see if it is fried. happen to me from corrosion. you might have fried it by putting 12v back through the ground when you touched the frame with your charger wire.

[circa1968]

11 minutes ago, steamer said:

remove the tank and check the main power connection to the ignition switch. it is the connection with 2 wires. see if it is fried. happen to me from corrosion. you might have fried it by putting 12v back through the ground when you touched the frame with your charger wire.

As long as the charger ground was not still connected to the bike, the two (charger & bike) electrical systems were isolated from each other and 12v didn't go back into the frame.  This would be the same as putting two D-cell flashlight batteries together + to - end.  As long as you do not connect their other ends together, you have not completed a circuit for current to flow and nothing will happen.  Connect those other ends with a wire and yes, fireworks. 

[sleepy2]

Put other battery in which has 13volts and have lights back on dash and when hit start switch solenoid under seat buzzes(clicks). Could it be shot? Anyway to check???

[saddlebum]

12 minutes ago, sleepy2 said:

Put other battery in which has 13volts and have lights back on dash and when hit start switch solenoid under seat buzzes(clicks). Could it be shot? Anyway to check???

Could still be a bad connection follow my Diagnostic suggestions in the WORD DOC  I attached re starter issues in my previous post it will help you isolate and pinpoint the cause of the issue. Shouldn't take you more than 20 - 30 minutes.

Edited February 24, 2021 by saddlebum

[djh3]

Under the tank there is a connector when the bike harness plugs into the switch harness. Those plugs have been known to fry. When you get ready for a by pass relay look me up

[sleepy2]

@saddlebum in your test right-up where do you hook up jump wires.I am a little unsure. I had no problems when testing truck but not on bike . Harder to see and get in area.

[sleepy2]

@saddlebumjust had chance to check solenoid and there is not 2 wires but a plug with 4 wires coming out of solenoid and main power wire coming from battery and the other going to starter.So how or which  wires to I use to test?

[larrydr]

When I first started the front to back on my 83 Venture I came across some eratic voltage check points .

Nothing would test the same one day to the next , I then decided to check the wire harness ..

I came across 4 connectors that had major connection problems with sulfated wires that were bad right into the harness past the connector .

One at the  fuel pump , next one the rectifier , another at start relay , and the 4th in behind the head light .

I replaced the resistor at the battery acid gravity connection the enabled on board monitor in the dashboard to work .

The start relay  and the fuse block needed to be replaced .

It went from a eratic voltage test points to a consistent voltage through out the harness , the bike started instantly and everything worked .

Sulfated connections and wires can cause a pile of problems

[larrydr]

I had a bike in my shop with a dead ignition

It turned out to be a faulty side stand switch and run / stop switch on the handle bar

 

[sleepy2]

Found test in repair manual I will check tomorrow. Also second 30amp fuse I found is a spare also shown in manual

[saddlebum]

STEP 1  Start  by checking if you have power at the ign switch with the key off you should have at least one live wire going to the switch if not you will have to back track the red wire to see were the failure is. If it is good you need to start making sure all your ground connections are good.

STEP 2 Start by connecting a booster or any other heavy cable from the battery neg to the engine block (this is to eliminate any possible ground issues) Next jump the the  large cable coming from the battery to the large cable going to the starter, key does not need to be on your only checking to see if it cranks over, this puts power directly to the starter. If it cranks over good and healthy you know starter and battery are in good shape so you have now eliminated battery and starter as part of the problem. If not you may want to load test the battery. ( a simple though not as good as a using an actual load tester is to connect a voltmeter note the voltage and than turn on the ignition and see how quickly the voltage drops off you can even try to start it and see if the voltage nose dives. if it does Battery is likely bad. if there is no change in voltage and no starter response you likely have a wiring issue.) Remove the booster cable and try it again. If it is still good ground should be OK if this time it fails you need to check for ground faults.

 

STEP 3  With the key on, Clamp a test light to the batt NEG (Yes the Neg) post and with the key on touch the point of the test light  to various metal parts of the bike such as frame and engine case etc.. the test light should NOT glow at all if it does you have a bad ground some where.

with test light still clamped to the NEG POST and while grounding the test light probe to the engine case  try cranking the engine if the light glows you have a bad ground if it does NOT your ground should be ok. I know this all sounds kind of backwards but it works very effectively.

If at any point the light glows slowly move the test point of the light along the ground circuit until the light no longer glows. The fault will be between the point were the light glows and does not glow. you can even pin it down to the connection by testing the wire it self at the connection and the and the the bolt and contact point at that connection.

If this all checks out you can use the same procedure on the positive side of the circuit and if that checks out

STEP 4 If the schematic I am looking at is correct that plug has two red wires protected by a 30 amp fuse they should be hot all the time as they are the main supply to  if electrical system. it also looks like they may splice together at some point and splices can be a source of trouble. check for constant power at your ign switch. With the key off at least one possibly two wires should be live at all times if not trace that wire back toward the 30 amp fuse and beyond checking any connectors in the circuit for a faulty wire or connection.

The other two wire on that 4 wire plug which appear to be a blue one and a red/white one control your solenoid. The red /white one is protected by a 10 amp fuse in fuse pnl 2 and should be live with the key in the on position. The Blue wire is the signal or control wire and is grounded  (should be batt neg ) when you hit the starter button. If you disconnect that 4 wire plug and using some jumper wires run a wire form the batt pos to were the red/white wire went to. Now connect a second wire to were the blue wire went. When you touch this blue wire to the battery neg the solinoid should kick in and the bike should crank over.

Edited February 28, 2021 by saddlebum

[sleepy2]

Got bike going!!!

Cleaned every connection around starter relay and tried to jump between pos. cable to solenoid black cable to starter and got sparks so took battery and charged up. When done took tester and checked voltage and was13volts then just after reading it started to go down to 10volts in less than a min. Found a load tester a bought last year and it said it was bad--also checked spare AGM battery I bought 2 years ago that also said it was charged and it read no good(weak). Went to" Battery's Are Us " here in Woodstock and they also checked and said bad cell so bought new AGM ($135can.) Put in bike ,hooked everything back together and bike started!   Yeh I know I was told!!

So thanks for ALL the advice and @Marcarlfor offering to come here to help! Greatly appreciated!!

[saddlebum]

Glad You solved the problem plus you got a bonus out of it ------All that learning experience ......For next time ..

[Marcarl]

WE TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!.....LOL     had to say it, because you wanted me to.

[saddlebum]

6 hours ago, Marcarl said:

WE TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!.....LOL     had to say it, because you wanted me to.

Come on @Marcarl.....admit it you was just a sitt'n in da shadows just a wait'n to pounce

[Marcarl]

26 minutes ago, saddlebum said:

Come on @Marcarl.....admit it you was just a sitt'n in da shadows just a wait'n to pounce

Figured I'd be a nice guy and take that responsibility off of your shoulders this time,,, I didn't want you feeling bad as well.

[circa1968]

Awesome, you learned some things along the way, as did the rest of us from all the great advice and tutorials given here.   Venturerider.org is the internet done right!

[circa1968]

On 2/22/2021 at 4:55 PM, circa1968 said:

Sleepy, the trickle charger falling & hitting the bike is likely a red herring and has nothing to do with the problem.  Even if the positive terminal of the trickle charger hit a conductive part of the frame, nothing would happen - as long as the charger negative terminal was not also connected to the bikes system @ the same time - then you could have issues due to reverse polarizing your bike's electrical system.

My guess is the battery gave up the ghost via an internal cell short.  It may still show a voltage potential but cannot actually provide any significant current flow.  How old is the battery?

BTW, any prizes for correct guess? 😎😪😶

[saddlebum]

9 hours ago, circa1968 said:

BTW, any prizes for correct guess? 😎😪😶

@Marcarl already awarded you the prize when  He said ...We told you so instead of I told you so. Better take it cause that's as about how generous a Dutchman gets when it comes to handing out prizes.

Edited February 28, 2021 by saddlebum