I have a 80 xs , 277 rephased with pma alternator. For the past month my engine would occasionally cough once and pretty minor. I convinced myself that it might be a fuel problem? On the last ride, just before taking off, I flipped my headlight switch on and the motor died. I re started it, turned on the light and died again. Restarted it again, turned on the headlight and it ran, so I took of. Quarter mile down the road it started missing and back firing. I turned off the headlight while it was still running and it appeared to run much better. Made it back to my house. I'm running a Shorai battery, maybe 5 months old and appears to be fully charged. Put the charger on it and within a minute or two got the message that it was fully charged. Checked the voltage at the battery with the engine running and I, was getting 14 volts. That's where my knowledge of what to check is limited. Any ideas or anyone else had simular problems. Lastly all my connections are soldered?
-
Enjoy XS650.com? Consider making a donation to help support the site.
XS650.com receives a small share of sales from some links on this page, but direct donations have a much greater impact on keeping this site going.
Help trouble shoot electrical
- Thread starter bearcat
- Start date
-
- Tags
- electrical problem
Did you run and now check ground wires, battery, frame, engine, headlight, voltage regulator? look for a rubbed wire grounding everywhere. Pretty easy to have a sharp edge with no grommet slice some insulation. or a wire under the tank, back at the tail light etc. rub through.
Your description of the problem is similar to a dirty (carbon) ignition switch too.
Scott
Scott
Thanks for the advice, that will help. I have run all my wire in braided sleeve and then through grommets. The problem is definitely intermittent, so a grounding problem makes sense. I'll also take a good look at the ignition. Thanks
You said you got 14 volts with the engine running. You don't say if the headlight was on or off at that time. I assume it was off.
Since the engine dies when you switch on the headlight, that is telling you something.
Start the engine; with the engine idling and headlight off, measure the voltage. Then turn on the headlight and measure the voltage to see what it does.
Since the engine dies when you switch on the headlight, that is telling you something.
Start the engine; with the engine idling and headlight off, measure the voltage. Then turn on the headlight and measure the voltage to see what it does.
Volts seem to be normal.Switches are fine as long as they are rated for the current that they have to carry.
Are the switches of high quality? If they are cheaply made, they might not be able to stand up to the vibration of these bikes.
Switches probably not highest quality (Oreiley's).I'm going to pull the headlight fuse and see if the headlight switch may be the problem. I'm going to check my ground under the battery after that. My hunch is with your info that it could be one of the switches? Thanks again
Last edited:
