Little Electrical Help

I am in the process of saving a 1982 Seca 550 that I purchased for $180 after it had been taken apart. The bike is complete, except for the side covers, with all the parts that were removed in a big box. It sat for a few years and has proven to be quite the project.

My current issues are electrical; I believe that I have all of the connectors sorted out. However, there are three disconnected wires (see pic), two of which may go to the rear brake switch.

I also have a loose ground from the solenoid that I'm not sure where to attach. The main problem is with the fuse block. I have two brown wires, one of which goes to the ignition switch, two red wires with a white stripe and two red wires with a yellow stripe, one might be a white stripe, the stripe is kinda thin and hard to tell. There are also two solid red wires.

I hooked them up the way they had them before, with like wires running to like wires, and I don't have any voltage showing on the gauge, no idiot lights and the bike will not start. Oddly enough, if I touch that loose ground from the solenoid to a frame ground the bike starts cranking, found out by accident. There's no spark cranking that way though.

I have a manual and a wiring diagram, it shows the fuses connected differently and I'm not certain about whether I should rewire it according to the diagram so I thought I would ask anyone familiar with the necessary fuse wiring to shed some light on how to proceed.



he attached pics show the fuse block,

 

Those two disconnected wires are on the wrong side of the bike for the brake light switch; more than likely they are the leads to the side stand switch. The rear brake light switch is on the right side, hiding behind the muffler/passenger peg bracket.

The fusebox is not the original, so being suspicious of it is a good idea.

Keep in mind the bike has a safety interlock system whose components include 2 relays, the side stand switch, neutral switch, and clutch switch. The purpose of this is to keep you from engaging then starter when the bike is in gear, prevent you from putting a running bike in gear with the side stand down, yet allow you to use the starter with the bike in gear IF the clutch is pulled in. Great ideas when it works. When everything is wired correctly, simply disconnecting the safety relay bypasses all that and is the usually recommended first troubleshooting step. You may have only part of it wired in, thus causing the issue, it's hard to say.

 

Thanks for the info, I think I have all the connectors hooked up properly. The kickstand switch is connected to one of them. I will check for the rear brake switch wires on the opposite side, the switch itself was removed like most everything else. I'm going to connect the fuse block wires according to the wiring diagram in the manual I purchased and see if that works.

~Gene

 

the black wire ,with the large ring crimp on , is not a ground wire.
the solenoid should have a thick feed wire from the battery , then a thick wire to the starter motor .
the one in the middle picture that you're holding is a positive feed wire to the fuse.
stu

 

Thanks! I appreciate it.

 

Which manual are you using?

 

Pic attached, I seem to have the fuse block and electrical connectors wired properly. I have power to the bike now when I pull in the clutch. However, the clutch relay buzzes quite loudly as soon as I pull the clutch in. I'm going to look up how to bypass it for now.

 

Clutch relay?
No such thing.
The Ultimate Relay, Switch, Sensor, and Diodes Guide

 

Not sure what you have here "power to the bike now when I pull in the clutch." Should that read power to the bike now, however when I pull in the clutch I hear a relay buzzing?

Normally, the starter cutoff relay is part of the safety circuit and is energized when the bike is in neutral OR when the bike is in gear and the clutch is pulled in AND the side stand is up. So any relay buzzing / chattering you are hearing when pulling in the clutch is most likely the starter cutoff relay.

Knowing which relay for sure is chattering will be helpful.

 

It's the sidestand relay that buzzes.

 

I thought it had something to do with the clutch switch because the buzzing stopped when I pulled in the clutch. I think that was just coincidental though. The buzzing is actually coming from the kickstand relay. As soon as I turn the key on the neutral light comes on and the buzzing starts. If I put the kick stand up the buzzing stops; however, for some reason the start button stopped working between yesterday and today, even though nothing's changed.

I ordered a replacement relay for the kickstand and looked up ways to bypass it today. I unplugged the relay and that didn't work, so I unplugged the black and white wire leading to the TCI and left the relay in place. that didn't work either, the relay continued to buzz.

Another odd thing is that I was checking voltage to the coils in an effort to trace where power seems to be stopped and when I disconnected the ground wire that is attached to one of the coils, it affected the relay and caused the buzzing to stop when that wire was disconnected. As I reconnected the wire there was some light sparking as if there was power running to the ground wire.

 

The ground wire eyelet that attaches via the coil mounting is the main harness ground - all circuits with the exception of the starter connect to this point to complete the frame / engine return to the negative side of the battery. So with the wire disconnected there is no power to any circuit so no relay buzzing. When re-connecting with the key on the active circuits coming back on line will cause a small spark as the circuit is once again completed.

And just to verify in case you haven't had the time to read the link k-moe posted:

XJ550 models:

Flasher: on a tabbed bracket at the rear of the ignition coils rear mounting bracket.
Flasher canceller: behind ignition coils.
Starter motor solenoid/relay: behind the right side cover, behind the access panel, below the regulator.
Starter/Ignition cut-off relay (no color): front of coil rear mounting bracket.
Sidestand (kickstand) relay (blue): left side, behind rear frame cross tube.
Headlight relay (yellow): behind ignition coils, behind flasher canceller.
Diode block: inside the headlight housing.
Neutral switch: located inside the engine shifter case side cover

So it is the relay as outlined above and it has a blue dot on it. Keep in mind that the 3 relays, headlight, side stand, and starter cutoff all appear identical and can inadvertently be swapped to the incorrect location causing strange things to happen.

 

I really appreciate the insight. I ordered the correct relay given the blue color coding. I'm looking forward to it coming in so I can start sorting out what the other issues are. I'm not sure if the lack of spark is due to a bad relay or some other issue. I have to figure out how to connect the pictured wire too. I have the solenoid wired to the battery and to the starter, I'm certain this went to it somehow.

 

That is the negative wire from the battery to the solenoid and to ground (frame).

 

https://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/need-engine-ground-wires-clarification-please.112042/

Text below from above thread:

"the 550 battery ground wire has 3 connectors on it, frame on small wire, battery on large wire and the engine connector has both wires connected to it .
it would be useless to hook the small gauge wire to the motor , its intended purpose is to make a solid ground from frame to motor then to battery
the wire is all ready connected to the engine
and the handy bolt location on frame is right there"

 

Thank you, I was given some incorrect information before, this makes sense. I was certain it had to be a ground wire.

 

Brainfart on my part. No negative batt lead to the solenoid.

 

rooster53 is right, in your original picture ,you had the wire connected to the solenoid. so it appears this is the main battery- engine- frame earth wire, sorry for earlier confusion.
so the "single" crimp goes on the battery negative, the "twin" crimp should go on an engine bolt (usually a rear crankcase bolt) the thin wire then goes to the frame, usually around the battery box area