Kawasaki GPZ 500 Not Turning Over

[nigel_robbins]

Hi,
Fully charged battery and the ignition lights are on, lights work etc. but the bike does not start.
When I try and start there is a click (thud sound) near the battery ?
Any idea what the problem might be ?
Thanks,
Nigel

[N cee thirty]

is it sparking ?
____________________
'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30 Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

Jewlio Iglesias wrote: I actually did vote BNP once

[fiery tupp]

Make sure the leads at battery- starter motor - starter relay & main earth to engine are clean & connected up tight / check & clean starter switch

Edit... make double sure the battery IS FULLY charged , just because light etc work doesn't mean it has enough power to turn the starter .
____________________
If you can't fix it with a hammer , use your head .

[Glenben92]

If it's not even spinning the starter motor and you're getting a thud from near the battery then it's the starter relay that's bust. Bridge the starter relay connections with an INSULATED HANDLE screwdriver or a spanner with your bike gloves on. The starter should spin. The starter relay is just a switch, any relay with the right connections should be ok, no need to pay stupid prices.
____________________
57 Huoniao HN125-8 - , 97 Kawasaki GPZ500S -
99 Yamaha FZS 600 -
Mod 2 Passed - 01/10/2010

[steven_191]

[stinkwheel]

[Teflon-Mike]

Click will be the starter solenoid... if its clicking something is moving when you apply a voltage by pressing the start button.
If starter don't wirr the motor up, either no juice is getting from the battery, or something mechanical is stopping the starter turning.
Starting at the top.
Starter motor is a high power device. If the battery doesn't have enough juice in it, might hapily light all the other equipment, but no-where near enough to power the starter. Look at the cabling. Wire coming out of the harness going to all the switches powering EVERYTHING is about 5mm in diameter.. look at the wire going to the starter, its probably 15mm in diameter, three times the diameter, nine times the area! It's that thick to carry a LOT of amps.
So charge battery, and isolating other variables, bridge the solenoid and see if it turns the starter.
If it does, then chances are your battery was flat. Try it on the button again.
If it turns over, then the solenoid is fine and it was just your battery.... if it does it again, then your battery is either not holding charge, and is fucked and needs replacing, OR your regulator isn't giving it charge, which means regulator dodoed, or the generator buggered.
If the solenoid clicks but the starter dont turn after bridging it, then the solenoid contacts are shitted up, or your solenoid's tatered.
Most solenoids can be opned up and the contacts cleaned, else replace, see if that solves.
If you don't get anything from the charged battery, bridging the solenoid, your looking at the down-stream end.
First off the obviouse, trace the big fat power cable to teh starter.
Is it damaged, is the insulation broken? Is anything shorting it.
At the starter, look at the terminal holiding it on. Undo, clean contacts replace and try.
Use multi-meter, volt-meter or a 12v bilb on a couple of bits of wire, and test volts at starter motor with starter button pressed.
If volts there, then problem lies inside.
If not, scrape some paint off the startermotor housing and attach a car jump lead to the casing and run it back to battery neg terminal to give good earth route. If starter turns, you are looking for a bad earth on the motor. If not, you are looking inside the starter.
Remove starter, and bench test on jump-leads to a battery.... does it turn?
If not then the starters knackered. Either brushes or windings.
Brushes can some-times be DIY replaced, windings really need professional re-winding, often more expensive than a new starter.
If starter woks on bench, then, you are looking for a jammed engagement clutch or similar in the mechanism, or.... a siezed engine.
Its all logical, just follow the train through, eliminating variables, easiest first.
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[Scotsman37]

Possibly a bad earth due to possible corrosion/crap getting into the wiring looms connector blocks, and therefore disconnecting them spraying WD40 may suffice as it can happen. There is a particular loom connection just underneath the fuel tank that is prone to this that I have found out over time if you've gone through a lot of rain/puddles or accidentally jet washed dirt into the connector blocks unknowingly!

[StevRS]

By the symptoms I'm veering toward insufficient power reaching the starter, but they do suffer starter failure on the earlier ones, the magnets fall out of the starter clutch.
____________________
MV Agusta Brutale 800 RR, Unfinished 1978 XS250

[stinkwheel]

[Fortuna]

[hellbound]

Get a set of jump leads....clamp one lead to any metal bit of starter motor casing and twist it a bit to scrape away dirt and get a good contact.

clamp other to any solid metal bit on bike (manifold, head, anything not painted) and again twist.

press starter, this should tell you if its a bad earth

Also, if you can, hit starter with a hammer (Solinoid may just be sticking.)
____________________
May you always see the road rising up to meet you and your enemies defeated in the mirror behind.

[stinkwheel]

[N cee thirty]

[hellbound]

[quote="rob yarrr"]

[stinkwheel]

I wouldn't totally rule out hitting bits with a hammer... but you need to be selective about exactly where you hit them.

As it happens, I've fixed a non-starting GPZ by giving it a good thump before but it took a good half hour with a multimeter and a circuit diagram to decide WHERE to thump it. In that case, the top of the fuse box housing which freed off a sticking microrelay in the starter interlock system.

Said system is unecessarily complex on kawasakis. A click needn't necessarily be the starter solenoid because that in turn is fed by a relay. Hence establishing if both the motor and the battery are working before delving into that particular can of worms.
____________________
“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.

[Scotsman37]

[nigel_robbins]

Hi,
Great pic of Stinkwheel !
I bridged the relay connections with a screwdriver (no gloves) and the bike started.
It's been starting normally since then ?
Many thanks for all the replies !
Nigel

[Glenben92]

Relay's probably abit sticky. Expect trouble from it, maybe source one while you're out and about and have the luxury of time and being relaxed about it
____________________
57 Huoniao HN125-8 - , 97 Kawasaki GPZ500S -
99 Yamaha FZS 600 -
Mod 2 Passed - 01/10/2010

[nigel_robbins]

Yeah, you were right Glenben92.
It played up again but after fitting a replacement it fires fine now.
Thanks !