New to the forum- 1982 XJ 650 Maxim

Hey everyone- so just joined! Hello! So end of last summer I randomly went and purchased a 1982 XJ 650 Maxim off of a buy and sell site. The guy I bought it off of had purchased it off an older gentleman who had bought it new and had let it sit for a few years. This guy didn’t have the time to fix it up so I paid $350 for the bike. I bought it for something to learn on mechanically and of course actual riding when I get it going. So far, I’ve fixed up the electrical as the mice had gotten to the fuse box. I seem to have that figured. Lights are good and everything seems to be wired right and functioning. However... until recently I’ve been able to get it to at least try to turn over. I haven’t succeeded at getting it actually running yet. I checked compression and I’ve got decent compression (at least 100psi) on all four cylinders. I changed the oil and the filters before I started anything too. I also have spark on three plugs... I really think that this bike will run if I can figure out what the problem is. So when I started I found that every 4th or 5th time I’d try to get the engine to turn over by pushing the electric start, it wouldn’t do anything and the little red low oil light would come on. However next time I try to start it - tries to start like normal. Now however, I can’t even get it to try to turn over at all anymore. The battery is good, so not that. It’s in neutral for sure. I did realize that one spark plug wasn’t firing so I believe I’ve fixed that but until I figure out why it won’t try to start, I can’t check for spark on that. I do need to get new carb boots for it, but they aren’t so bad that it would prevent it from running. Could I have worn out the ignition coils by trying to get it running? I added the right amount and type of oil according to manufacturer after the oil change. It always comes up with that red light now but oil level is good. I’ve looked in the Haynes manual which says that it’s either the oil level or it’s an electrical fault which is kind of vague. All the electrical seems to be in order. I should add that before I did anything with the bike, I also removed the carbs and cleaned it as well. I noticed that I wasn’t getting fuel into the main line so I removed the petcock and checked the filter and gaskets etc and they’re good. I get fuel in the line when I have it in prime only. Never when I was trying to run it while valve was In the ON position. Sorry this is a lot of info in one post but I’m stuck now. I’m not super mechanically inclined but that’s why I bought the bike to get better at it. Anyhow, has anyone got any ideas? I really like the little bike and would love to get it going again!

 

red oil light comes on when starter button is pushed it is a test for the bulb. This also means your starter button is making a ground connection.

check voltage from battery neg to large nut on solinoid from battery. thenon the large nut that is hooked to the starter cable test voltage when you press starter button.

next use a coin or junk screwdriver and bridge across the 2 large nuts see if starter spins turning over motor.

disconnect the connector to the 2 small wires and ohm them out what do you get for ohms reading.

final tests are to hook meter to negitive on battery then to pin on connector with key on.
you should get 12 volts on 1 pin 0 volts on other pin.
move meter probe to positive on battery repeat test you should get the opposite readings on the pins

you may want to dissemble right control and clean starter button contacts.

 

petcock should be a vacuum style petcock fuel will only flow in prime position until enough vacuum is supplied from hose to intake boots. this will be when motor is spinning or running
are there 2 hoses and nipples on petcock?

 

you should understand if battery drops below 10 volts when cranking starter bike will not start.
you should also ohm out entire ignition system
this link gives you the spec for ignition system way down the bottom

The Ultimate Relay, Switch, Sensor, and Diodes Guide

 

Thanks! I haven’t had a chance to do anything yet but you’ve been very helpful! Ill post once I get a start on it and hopefully I make some headway!!!

 

Well that's no good

 

Don't know why this part got posted funny, anyhow here it is again:


Finally got back to the bike- so I charged the battery, and took apart the right hand starter button controls so that’s working again! Yay! I do t have a volt meter unfortunately but I discovered that I have power running from my positive battery to the battery terminal on the starter solenoid. I also have power off of the switch lead. I don’t however have power coming out of the starter motor lead. Nor do I have power on the line that runs from the starter to the starter motor. So I pulled the starter motor out- hooked up the line again and tried the starter switch and nothing but a click coming from my solenoid. Before I did all this I should add that I tried to jump the starter with the screwdriver like you said and the engine did the tried to start thing like always but that was it. So do I need a new a new starter solenoid? Is there a way of checking to see if my starter motor will turn at all? There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the wiring from the solenoid to the starter motor itself. Also I believe I need a new throttle cable. I’ll add a pic of it on here but maybe there’s a way of fixing what I’ve got?

 

Also, just tested the starter motor out of the bike and it's working fine as far as I can tell. Would I even show power at the starter motor lead when i use a test light? Or would I only show power there when the starter button is pressed?

 

You don't have power "coming out" of your starter motor lead? This is a strange statement, and following the statement that you don't have a voltmeter is somewhat disturbing. Also, removing the starter then trying the starter button is one thing, but was the motor grounded for this test?
I don't like telling someone what to do, its up to you how you tackle this, but really, you need to buy yourself a multimeter - 5 dollars will get you one. Then we might understand what your symptoms are, and someone will tell you what they mean.
For info though, if the starter spins when you short the solenoid, and you can hear it (the solenoid) click when you press the starter, its pointing to the solenoid being faulty.

 

the battery connects directly to solenoid so 1 nut is always hot the other nut should not be hot untill you activate the solenoid.

sounds like a new solenoid is needed

hook the battery up with a set of jumper cables positive to starter bolt and when you touch /clamp the negitive lead to starter body( i would run a nut and bolt through the starter mounting holes for this) starter should spin

yes you need a new throttle cable

 

only when starter button is pressed which activates the solenoid and closes the internal contacts.

 

Jen, our posts crossed. You need to start thinking logically, get a meter and stop guessing. The problem you have is very simple to diagnose if you do this.
Without a meter, do what 550 said - short out the solenoid main terminals with something sturdy - does the engine spin over?
Yes? Then turn the ignition on, select neutral, press the start button. Does the solenoid click?
Yes? Its likely the solenoid is duff. No? Then the issue is in the starter switch/inhibit circuit, a little more difficult to diagnose, but still not impossible if you give us the correct info.

 

if all you have is a test light , the starter button connects to ground when pushed hook light to positive on battery probe the wire in small connector of solinoid going to starter button light will light up when button is pushed. undo connector first wire should be blue. the other wire in connector will be hot with key on connect probe to negitive of battery probe the red wire light should light . or when every thing is connected when you press starter button oil light should light up

 

Where do I go to find a voltmeter that cheap?! I haven't been able to find one under $50 and unfortunately I can't swing it for a bit. What does a person refer to when they're using a test light to see if I have what I call "power" and the light activates? I haven't tried starting the bike without the starter motor in it as that would be kind of pointless- sorry I wrote that incorrectly and it should have said that I put the motor back in and tried but now all I have is a click from the solenoid. I realized later that the test light wouldn't light up on the line from the solenoid to the starter motor, so that's just learning as I go. The starter motor does work outside of the bike from a battery. When you're asking me if the starter motor is spinning- I can't see the motor spinning when it's installed but I know that the engine is trying to turn over. Prior to removing the starter motor and cleaning the starter handle switch, I was able to short between the posts on the solenoid and the engine was trying to turn over however, now for some reason I'm not able to do that anymore. Like I said, I'm just trying to learn what I can as I go. I also have a question about the test light- XJ550H said to hook to positive of battery when testing for the small connector in the solenoid- I only know how to check with the light hooked to the negative terminal- what does hooking to the positive terminal change in regards to what I'm looking for? Thanks for the replies and I'll try to get a voltmetre as soon as possible. Maybe I'm looking at the wrong( More expensive) kind or something. I'm going to do the above suggestion tomorrow and will let you know the result. I'm going to put the battery back on the charger again and check to see that it's holding the charge as well.

 

the light can be used for 2 things testing for positive voltage or testing for ground.
so if you want to test for positive voltage you hook 1 end to ground and the probe is used to find 12 volts positive.
if you want to test for ground you hook 1 end to positive terminal of battery and probe for grounds.
so if you hook your probe to positive on battery and touch probe to motor casing (ground) light should light indicating a ground point if you hook probe to negitive terminal of battery and probe to motor casing no light because you are going from ground to ground.

here is a pratice test for you hook probe to negitive of battery then touch both sides of the fuses with key off.
main fuse should show light on both sides of fuse remaining fuses will show no light turn key on and all fuses should show light on both sides. if not you have a bad fuse.
if you pull the horn ,signal, and ignition fuses with the key on you will get light on only 1 side when touching fise clips that is the input side of the fuses and is connected to key switch.

 

folow this link to learn how to test with a multi meter which can test for many things where a test light can only test for voltage.
How to Use a Multimeter and Read Schematics and Wiring Diagrams.
do you have walmart in Canada they sell meters for 25$ you may be able to find 10$ meters in stores or auto parts stores

a test light can only show you that there is voltage but not how much voltage.

 

Harbor freight have both test lights and volt meters cheap. I would replace the start solenoid , I replaced mine think it was like 12$ off eBay .

 

Thank you! This is very helpful- I never knew this! I’ve hopefully got some work coming up so volt meter shouldn’t be too far off!

 

A voltmeter (actually you need a multimeter, if you're looking online), will tell you what is happening with your battery, it may be dying, so charging it only half charges it - enough to click the solenoid but not enough to spin the starter. So don't change the solenoid - yet. Meter first.

 

Okay- I borrowed a meter! Now I’m fairly certain my solenoid is good as the bike is cranking and the starter motor is spinning.y battery was on the charger overnight and with meter this morning shows 12.30. Which should be right and enough to crank engine. It crankedfor the first three tries with the start ignition button. Always got the red ground light. But... only those first three tries and now won’t crank. Still have the ground light when button is pushed. The inside of the starter button casing-( with the run, off and starter button) is fairly clean however someone prior to me has stripped the screw on the ignition lead- does anyone know how I can get the screw out to clean underneath? I’ll try to attach a photo. There’s a bit of corrosion in there. But like I said it works sometimes and always gives me the ground light ! The battery still shows 12.30 volts even now. And the bike will still crank when I jump the solenoid. But that ignition button just isn’t working for me this morning. So what I could do I’m going to post the readings I got on the meter. Battery negative to the large nut on solenoid that comes off of positive lead- 11.92. Negative on the battery to the pin on solenoid connector I got 0 for one side and 12.29 for the other. Then I switched the lead to the positive side of the battery and had 0 on the opposite pin and 12.33 on the other. I’m fairly certain these are good readings? The only one I didn’t do was the other nut of the solenoid because I wasn’t sure if I could have the meter attached and be jump starting the solenoid to get the reading since my electric ignition isn’t cooperating. But if I am able to do that without causing damage let me know and I will try it. I did manage to check the last spark plug that I couldn’t check before. So I don’t get a spark on that one while pushing the starter button BUT it will spark a blue spark the second I let go of the button and the engine stops cranking... - so timing issue? All other plus are good. Thanks and I hope this makes sense and I’m getting better at this. I’m driving the bike out to a friends this weekend- he’s got tools and can help me out. I feel like I’m going to need a new battery. After two days or so seems to need to go back on the charger so it doesn’t seem to hold a charge but doesn’t drain much according to meter when I’m testing the bike???