ignition switch

[dimitri]

hi, new member . i' have been reading here for 4 months now, and i have learned and fixed a few problems . thank you all for sharing. i have an 83 stock that i unplugged the reserve lighting and self canceling relay. i have 2 questions, i need advice with. with engine running... i turned the ignition key to off , it still ran until i turned the kill switch off. is this normal? the other question is .. when mounting the chrysler reg and radio shack rect to the battery tray , i'm to ground the regulator and therefor the tray. is this safe for the relays? like starter, headlight and safety relay? by the way..i haven't connected the gauges or signals. Headlight and horn is not getting juice, if that makes a difference.. . i got this bike 4 months ago from seating for 8 years. i cleaned carbs, rebuild forks, flushed the motor and it runs pretty good on new battery. either rotor or stator is not working ,but that's another story. can someone help?

 

[xjwmx]

To make the headlight work after removing the RLU you need to jumper two wires. I don't remember the colors but they're striped and side by side in one corner of the connector. When you turn the key to off the bike should stop. I doubt it would affect the relays to ground their mounting plates. I've taken most of them apart and I don't remember any connection to the mountings. Charging is fairly easy to debug. Look for Curly's checklist. Add to it that a problem can also be bad wire crimps on the connectors; easy to fix. For charging you can also use the procedure in the factory manual that you can download at biker.net. Years '80 and up are fundamentally the same in all respects. '80 has a rear disk an a better seat. '82+ has a kick stand switch that runs to the TCI.

P.S. regarding the ign. sw. problem, there's not much inside it that could go wrong, short of a wire come loose, which might cause what you're seeing. Some of the connections in there grow white powder, like battery terminals, and corrode loose. My guess would be that the problem is in the wiring after the switch. If your neutral light works, does it also work with the key turned off?

 

[dimitri]

thanks for replying. as to your question, yes the neutral light is on with the key off. i'm going to play with wires again and see what happens.

 

[xjwmx]

If you unplugged the ignition switch, you could use a meter to see if it breaks the circuit between the red and brown and red and blue wires when it should. That would exonerate or implicate the switch itself If the sw bad it's easy to get into and fix, like all the other switches.

In the off pos, red should connect to nothing.

 

[dimitri]

i just checked the switch and it's ok. With it unplugged and off position , there is no continuity between the 3 wires. With key on the on position , there is continuity, i have the meter that beeps when touching both probes, it helps me find breaks on a line. Anyway ,could a bad rotor cause this? I used the meter on the same position 200 as when touching the probes it beeps and i get 8.9 to 9 ohms , or 3 other positions 2k -20k -200k which i get nothing. I don't know what to tackle first anymore. thanks for trying to help xjwmx

 

[xjwmx]

Next I would look for continuity from red to brown with the switch still unplugged, at the connector. You'll probably see it because the neutral light stays on. At that point it's a matter of physically finding the place where they get together. I'd start under the seat and in the headlight looking for homemade connections and frayed wires. If I had to I'd take the tank off, side covers, everything, and start unwrapping until I found the place.

 

[nj1639]

Connect the blue/black to blue/yellow on the reserve lighting unit plug and normal headlight function will return.
Welcome aboard!

 

[dimitri]

thanks for the tip on the RLU but the headlight is still not working. I did make some progress though , i found the problem with power on all the time at the fuse box. changed it with a new one. Tomorrow I'll try again with the headlight and then on to charging. i have fried 2 chrysler regulators so far, so much for going cheap. i do have 3 reg/rect from 82 honda with 5 wires, i wonder how to use those.

 

[XSLeo]

On the Chrysler regs you can't hook the brown and green wires reversed. It fries the reg right now. Most have a 1 year free replacement warranty.
The Honda reg/rec's are for a permanet magnet alternator. They can be used but it's not the best way. You have to hotwire the brushes. This can overheat the rotor anf cause it's early demise.
When test the rotor ohms you need to rmove the brushes and touch the copper sliprings the brushes ride on. On the 200 ohm scale touch the probes together, This is the ohms of the test leads, remember this reading. Now touch the probes to the sliprings. Subtract the first reading from the second reading to get the actual ohms. Should be 5.15 ohms + or - 10% An example, touch the probes and get a .8 reading. Test the rotor and get a 5.9 reading. 5.9 - .8 = 5.1 ohms. Right on spec.
On your engine running after you turn the key off is not usual. The key should kill the power to everything. Power flows from the battery to the main 20 amp fuse, from there to the key switch, from the key switch to the fuse box where it feeds the other three fuses. One 10 amp fuse feeds the kill switch, from the kill switch to the TCI box, coil and the safety relay. So if you turn the key off and the coil ignition still has power then someone has screwed up the wiring somewhere, Damn PM's, thats Previous Morons. Probably at the fuse box. Most replace the busted box with individual blade type fuse holders. I like the ones with protective caps. Radio Shack has them cheaper than the parts stores.
Just do one at a time, solder and shrink wrap. Match the colors on the fuses. Red to red., red/yellow to red/yellow, red/white to red/white, brown to brown.
If the PM has redone the fuse box he may have hooked the red/white to the red. The red is hot from thre battery, red/white is to the kill switch.

 

[dimitri]

thanks xsLeo for advice.I did find the fuse box to be the problem. i did curly's guide to charging problem and found the rotor to be bad, it measures 1.9 ohm. Could the bad rotor have fried my chrysler regulators? or should i still look for a short .. before i put a new rotor? . i read that i should get my rotor rebuild....can you recomend a place? i'm in ny. NY.

 

[xjwmx]

Custom Rewind in Birmingham, AL 800-798-7282 is often recommended. I would go with them before a typical new one of Asian origin with every corner they're allowed to cut by who knows who being cut.

 

[XSLeo]

xjwmx has the place to get the rewind done. I have three here waiting for the money so they can be done. Gary is the guy to talk to.
On testing the wiring for shorts, yes I would do that. I'm not sure if the bad rotor would hurt the reg or not. It sure can't help it.