Back at the old project, very lost with wiring. Please help!

[Brayden55]

Hi guys, iv recently pulled my 83 xs650 back into the garage and pulled out all my bins of parts. It's been a few years but I finally have some time to fool arround in the garage again!

Anyway I'm having a very huge problem and would really appreciate some help here from you awesome guys!

So with my big ugly stock wiring harness I plug in every thing I can find except for headlight, turn signals, and break light (the break sensor I have plugged in) the big problem I am facing is there's no spark when I kick it over.... can you guys give me a good place to start? I feel very lost in where to start testing or if there's somthing I am missing connecting in the harness?

Iv tried to find wiring diagrams but they all seem to be a bit different xD my bike has electric start

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance guys!

 

[Stoop22kid]

I'm assuming you have your coils hooked up correctly?

 

[wherearewe]

Could be any number of issues. If it were me, i would get a known good battery and do a simple test wire up (no charge system etc, just ignition). If you still have no spark, well you have narrowed the problem right down and you have somewhere to start. Below is an example of a test setup that i use with my Pamco.

 

[Brayden55]

I'm not sure what the coils are. I know I have an ignition coil with 2 wires coming out for the spark plugs...

Sorry for the dumb question but what is "pamco" iv seem it ever where on the forum. Is it an aftermarket ignitor unit? Everything in my bike is all stock.

Thanks for the reply guys! Sorry I don't have much knowledge of this bike. I'm use to rebuilding dirtbike motors but they don't have much wiring aha!

 

[jussumguy]

Check your grounds. Do you still run the funky glass fuses? Keyswitch might be dirty inside. Thumb switch by throttle might be dirty inside, soak it with WD 40.

 

[Brayden55]

Yeah its still the stock fuse box. I will check my key and kill for continuity. And let you guys know. Quick question. Will trying to kick the bike over without a battery hooked up still create a spark? Or is the battery needed to create the spark?

 

[Stoop22kid]

Yes the Pamco is an ignition system.

 

[Brayden55]

How do I know if I need the pamco? Like is it just for performance or is there a way to know if my bike needs it?

 

[nj1639]

Hey Braydon,
The '83 has a couple of fail safe features that will keep the bike from starting. One is the side stand switch and another is the clutch neutral safety switch. If you've had the wiring disconnected you may have befluggled them up.

 

[Brayden55]

Correct me of I'm wrong but the clutch switch should only need to work of the bike is in gear right? Unless the neutral saftey is messed up and doesn't work anymore then the clutch will need to be pulled in causing the switch to be open? My girlfriends Maxum has that issue.

As far as the kickstand switch. I just checked and I don't think mine has it.... I didn't see it or even a mounting bracket.

I have been kicking the bike without a battery assuming the battery was only for the starter. Reading on the forum I think i need a battery for it to create any spark at all.

 

[nj1639]

Yeah, you need a fully charged battery.
I use the Haynes manual with their wiring schematics along with the forum to troubleshoot and/or remove the redundant safety features.
My experience with the side stand switch is that if you want to remove the function then the connector block located on the frame has to be looped on the battery side or you get no juice to the coils.

But first and foremost, get the battery up to snuff then see where you're at. Removing or restoring the safety switches can be done later.

 

[nj1639]

Kicking a stocker over without a battery will result in walking around in circles as you beef up your kicking leg......lol

 

[fredintoon]

Hi Brayden,
the stock bike will only spark with a good fully charged battery.
If you don't have one you can connect your car battery to the bike battery terminal wires with jumper cables to get it started, keep it running and test everything.
You just can't actually go anywhere.

 

[Brayden55]

Wow thanks so much for all the help guys! I gotta say I wasn't expecting much with this post, iv been on other forms for atv and jet skis and some I have had absolutely no luck.

Everyone is extremely helpful and thankyou for all the insight! Hopefully il get some work done on it tomorrow and keep you guys updated with how it goes!

Thanks again everyone, if I have more questions il be sure to look them up first and ask if nessisairy.

 

[Brayden55]

OK so here's the updated.

Keep in mind that the harness os spilling out onto the floor, and I couldn't find a main ground for the battery so I jumper cabled the battery to the engine. Also no headlight, tailgate or signals hooked up i don't know if that would make a difference.

With the battery hooked up to the main power wire and grounded to the motor (kickstand saftey has been looped and I also looped the clutch saftey switch) I kicked the bike over and nothing ...

So now I looked at putting power to my ignition coil (2 spark plug wires coming out of it) when I put power to the red wire I heard a clicking noise! Gave her a kick and voila! It spark both plugs strong!

Now just to figure out where to go from here... any ideas what I should be checking next?

 

[fredintoon]

Now just to figure out where to go from here... any ideas what I should be checking next?

Hi Brayden,
in one word; continuity.
Check each and every length of wire, wiring connection, fuse and switch to see if current goes through it as it should.
You'll need a multimeter, a wiring diagram, fine abrasive cloth, a tube of dielectric grease and a spraycan of fancy contact cleaner.

 

[Brayden55]

I GOT IT!! thanks so much for all the help everyone! All said and done after testing all over with my volt meter it lead me to the fuse box. The connection for my main was all messed up, I jumped ot with a wire and heard a click. Sparks away!!!

This is awesome I'm so excited to dive back into this now and get it all finished up. I'm sure il be surfing arround on the forum for all kinds of stuff. Thumbs up to everybody this forum is AWESOME

 

[XSLeo]

The round glass fuses were state of the art back then, they were also crap back then, always hated them. All the years from then to now haven't made them better.
Replace them with modern blade type fuses. Easy to do I use Inline fuse holders or you can use a fuse box. Either way do one fuse at a time.
Leo

 

[fredintoon]

The round glass fuses were state of the art back then, they were also crap back then, always hated them. All the years from then to now haven't made them better.
Replace them with modern blade type fuses. Easy to do I use Inline fuse holders or you can use a fuse box. Either way do one fuse at a time.
Leo

Hi Leo,
well, I dunno about the glass tube fuses being crap, although hating them is another discussion.
My stock glass tube fuses were still working perfectly when I submitted to this list's peer pressure and swapped them out for mini-spades.
But there again "I am my own PO" so I know that my fuses ain't been messed with.
But dammit, why don't scallywag offer a 4-way? The extra single fuseholder needed to run all 4 stock circuits really adds to the underseat clutter.

 

[weekendrider]

Hi Leo,
well, I dunno about the glass tube fuses being crap

Take heart Fred, I still run the glass fuses on an '83. Guess I managed to get the only good ones in the world cause they still work fine. I've reworked(8 yrs ago) the clips on the box but the fuses are still doing their job just fine. While I have changed some to blade type, large and small I kinda like still having the glass fuses just so folks will know it isn't a death sentence for man or machine. RG's predicted melt down hasn't happened yet.
http://www.650rider.com/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=5683