Resend my activation email : Register : Log in 
BCF: Bike Chat Forums


Gpz 500 Gurus to the rescue

Reply to topic
Bike Chat Forums Index -> The Workshop
View previous topic : View next topic  
Author Message

0ddball
World Chat Champion



Joined: 15 Jul 2005
Karma :

PostPosted: 15:04 - 10 Jan 2006    Post subject: Gpz 500 Gurus to the rescue Reply with quote

(1997 UK D model)

Right, never had a single spot of bother with it until now and it was starting and running fine yesterday. Today i turned the key and there was nothing, everything was dead. I couldn't really see how the battery would go flat overnight but i charged it up anyway.

Then the neutral and oil pressure light lit but were intermittent. As i was trying the starter button the lights dimmed, the starter didn't show any signs of life but i could hear what sounds like a squeeking/arcing in the fuse box. I've checked all the 10A fuses in the box, they are fine (though there is a spare 10A and a spare 30A, what is the 30A for?)

Now when i turn the key there is nothing, no lights and no noises when i try the starter. I tried to run it off a fully charged car battery just to rule the bike battery out but it was still the same.

Short of stripping the bike and running though the loom bit by bit does anyone have any advice? Is there some simple fuse/relay i'm over looking or any common problems?

thanks.
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail You must be logged in to rate posts

extreme3d
World Chat Champion



Joined: 27 Dec 2004
Karma :

PostPosted: 16:28 - 10 Jan 2006    Post subject: Reply with quote

The 30A is for the main fuse which is in it's own separate box down the left side of the fairing under the seat. Check that first as you may have blown it.
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

Kickstart
The Oracle



Joined: 04 Feb 2002
Karma :

PostPosted: 16:29 - 10 Jan 2006    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi

Can you get around to the inside of the fuse box and check nothing has broken / melted in there.

Not that much current goes through the fuse box compared to the requirements of the starter motor. Given the noise you are hearing I would be inclined to use a multimeter to go through the electrics looking for a short to earth.

All the best

Keith
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail You must be logged in to rate posts

extreme3d
World Chat Champion



Joined: 27 Dec 2004
Karma :

PostPosted: 16:40 - 10 Jan 2006    Post subject: Reply with quote

Check under the headlamp area for the terminal where all the wires meet. Check all the plugs etc there are not corroded as water/road grime can hit that area. One of them is the live wire that feeds all electrics from one end of the bike to the other and if it's corroded/cut it will kill all circuits on the bike. My old GPZ (D7 2000) did this whilst i was driving. All of a sudden no engine, no lights, no electrics at all! I had no option but to coast to a stop and call the AA Shocked
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

stinkwheel
Bovine Proctologist



Joined: 12 Jul 2004
Karma :

PostPosted: 16:47 - 10 Jan 2006    Post subject: Reply with quote

Follow the fat red wire from the battery. This leads to the starter solenoid which is located under the left hand side panel. There is a red, plastic, snap connector block on the solenoid. Undo this.

This connector block contains the main fuse (30A) and all the power to the rest of the bike passes through it. One of the terminals that the fuse pushes into is prone to corrosion (on the fat, white wire), goes all green and furry and eats away the terminal on the fuse.

I have had to splice new terminals onto three of these in the past. The corrosion has a tendancy to track back along the wire so if this is the problem, you might have to cut a few inches off the wire and solder a new piece on.

Oh yeah. The fuse box CAN be totally dismantled. Surprised me, there is a bewildering array of printed circuits and microrelays in there.

I have also had an ignition switch go duff on me.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

stinkwheel
Bovine Proctologist



Joined: 12 Jul 2004
Karma :

PostPosted: 16:53 - 10 Jan 2006    Post subject: Reply with quote

Also try giving the fuse box a sharp thump with the heel of your hand. It has worked for me in the past.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

extreme3d
World Chat Champion



Joined: 27 Dec 2004
Karma :

PostPosted: 17:44 - 10 Jan 2006    Post subject: Reply with quote

stinkwheel wrote:
Also try giving the fuse box a sharp thump with the heel of your hand. It has worked for me in the past.


Thumbs Up Laughing
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

0ddball
World Chat Champion



Joined: 15 Jul 2005
Karma :

PostPosted: 11:57 - 11 Jan 2006    Post subject: Reply with quote

Success! Thanks for all the suggestions guys and give yourselves a pat on the back, it was the 30amp fuse that had blown. The starter solenoid terminals were a bit furry too so i gave those a clean and she started first press. Very Happy
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail You must be logged in to rate posts
Old Thread Alert!

There is a gap of 5 years, 17 days between these two posts...

nigel_robbins
Two Stroke Sniffer



Joined: 27 Jan 2011
Karma :

PostPosted: 23:51 - 27 Jan 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi,

Riding back this evening all the electrics went on my 1987 Kawasaki GPZ 500.
The engine was still running but no lights.
When I turned it off there was nothing...
no lights, ignition, horn, and would not start

I've checked the four 10A fuses and the 30A main fuse and they all look fine plus the battery is good also.

Any ideas ?

Thanks,
Nigel
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

nigel_robbins
Two Stroke Sniffer



Joined: 27 Jan 2011
Karma :

PostPosted: 00:08 - 28 Jan 2011    Post subject: Minor update Reply with quote

Sorry, the bike does start just no...
ignition lights, lights, indicators, horn, etc...
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

stinkwheel
Bovine Proctologist



Joined: 12 Jul 2004
Karma :

PostPosted: 01:45 - 28 Jan 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

1) Way to resurrect a 4 year old thread.

2) As I said in my PM. That sounds distinctly odd.

Does the headlight flash when you press the "pass" button on the left switchgear?

Does the rev counter work when the engine is running?
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

nigel_robbins
Two Stroke Sniffer



Joined: 27 Jan 2011
Karma :

PostPosted: 21:55 - 30 Jan 2011    Post subject: Kawasaki GPZ 500 - no electrics Reply with quote

Hi,

First of all, many thanks to kickstart and stinkwheel for your speedy and helpful input.

I found out that the brown wire (that leads to a brown wire) came off where it joined the ignition switch.

However, I'm not sure where to solder it back.
The lights come on if I touch the brown wire to the solder which leads on to the white wire (pic white wire). The lights also work when touched to the solder that leads to the yellow wire (pic yellow_wire).

When connected, the lights, horn, rev counter, etc. all work except the indicators despite the 10A fuses looking good.

Any thoughts on the above two issues will be much appreciated.

Many thanks,
Nigel


Last edited by nigel_robbins on 10:40 - 31 Jan 2011; edited 1 time in total
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

stinkwheel
Bovine Proctologist



Joined: 12 Jul 2004
Karma :

PostPosted: 22:29 - 30 Jan 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

The brown wire is the switched live feed to the fuse box. It feeds the head lights, tail lights, ignition, horn and indirectly, the flashers.

It's normally connected to the white wire via the switch (so when the switch is off, it's not connected to the white). It ought to have its own seperate tag to attach to on the switch. Soldering it to the white wire will mean the bike is on all the time, no matter what you do with the switch.

There is a branch which comes off the brown wire to feed the indicator fuse. Probably brown with a red tracer. The join is somewhere wrapped up in the loom.

If the brown is connected up properly at the ignition switch, there should be 12v where the red on brown (or whatever colour the indicator fuse feed is) enters the fuesbox with the ignition on. If there isn't, you'll need to peel back the loom and follow that wire to find where the break is. it ought to join that brown wire somewhere.

A thought. It is unusual for a soldered join to part company like you describe. It suggests to me that it got pretty damned hot. Perhaps there has been a short somewhere and the solder blew before the fuse? Perhaps that short was on the flasher wire?
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

stinkwheel
Bovine Proctologist



Joined: 12 Jul 2004
Karma :

PostPosted: 22:44 - 30 Jan 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hetzer wrote:

FFS, and you're a vet as well? How do you retain all this stuff, and where do you keep it?


I've had to wire up a few EX500 ignition switches, the go duff fairly regularly. I wired my last one up with a flick-switch in place of the ignition lock. So mostly experience.

Where do I keep it?
/home/scott/pictures/motorbike manuals/gpz_manual.PDF

I've spent so long over the years pouring over various wiring diagrams trying to locate a fault that they pretty much make sense to me now.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

stinkwheel
Bovine Proctologist



Joined: 12 Jul 2004
Karma :

PostPosted: 13:15 - 31 Jan 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

That looks like it has been bodged at some point in the past. I'd say someone has tried to hotwire the bike by knocking the back off the switch and pulling the wires off and it's been repaired. The soldering is pretty ropy looking, could be another dry joint in there. I would be tempted to re-solder the lot of them one at a time.

If you have a multimeter, you ought to be able to track down which terminal you want that wire to connect to though.

One of the terminals will read 0V when the ignition switch is off and 12V when the switch is on. That's the one you want.

I have a dim recollection of there being a wire soldered to the metal plate on the back of the switch. Unfortunately it doesn't show this level of detail in the manual. Picture attached.

All things being equal. It might be a better idea to replace the ignition switch altogether. You'll get a second hand one off ebay for £30.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

nigel_robbins
Two Stroke Sniffer



Joined: 27 Jan 2011
Karma :

PostPosted: 19:41 - 06 Feb 2011    Post subject: Re: Kawasaki GPZ 500 - no electrics‏ Reply with quote

Hi,
Just an update to say it’s all working now.
I soldered back the wire as detailed in stinkwheel’s 'soldered.jpg' photo.
In the near future I plan to buy a replacement ignition switch on ebay.
I've sorted out the issue with the indicators not working.
It was my fault, in checking all the connections I'd reconnected the socket to the indicator relay incorrectly. Useful GPZ500 'no indicators' link:
https://www.high-speed.ismysite.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=7943&start=0
Many thanks to stinkwheel for all the help !
Nigel
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts
Old Thread Alert!

The last post was made 13 years, 54 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful?
  Display posts from previous:   
This page may contain affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if a visitor clicks through and makes a purchase. By clicking on an affiliate link, you accept that third-party cookies will be set.

Post new topic   Reply to topic    Bike Chat Forums Index -> The Workshop All times are GMT + 1 Hour
Page 1 of 1

 
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You cannot download files in this forum

Read the Terms of Use! - Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group
 

Debug Mode: ON - Server: birks (www) - Page Generation Time: 0.10 Sec - Server Load: 0.19 - MySQL Queries: 17 - Page Size: 97.81 Kb