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New user, rider, & XJ owner with a few questions!

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by k.joel.porter, Nov 12, 2009.

  1. k.joel.porter

    k.joel.porter Member

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    Good morning, all!

    I just picked up my '81 550 Maxim a couple weeks ago. I bought it with a dead battery and the carbs in a box for $250 (i knew what i was getting myself into... :wink: ) So far I've put in a new battery, cleaned and reinstalled the carbs, replaced the spark plugs & caps, and changed the oil. Engine kicks over wonderfully and runs like a top. I've been lurking on this forum for about two weeks now and I now have a few questions:

    Question #1:
    I was riding through my neighborhood and was braking for a speed bump from about 20 mph when my rear brake pedal went loose and then immediately tightened up. I could barely push the pedal and had to rev up to about 3500 to keep the engine from stalling in 1st. I finally got home and struggled to push the bike in neutral. It's as if the rear brake is locked up. Anybody ever experience anything like this or have helpful insight?

    Question #2:
    My horn doesn't work and it obviously needs to in order to pass inspection. I removed the horn and used scrap wire to tap the battery terminals. It works! ... and my ears are still ringing :lol: I used a multimeter on the harness connectors and pressed the horn button. It sat pretty comfortably around 9 volts. For comparison sake, the battery was steady at 11.83 volts. So the horn works and I'm getting voltage from the wires when the button is pressed; what am I missing? Is lacking 2 volts from the harness enough to make the horn in-op?

    Question #3:
    Occasionally my left turn signal only works when the right signal is activated first. Today it worked just fine. In the past week, however, I would pull the switch left and nothing happened but if I pushed right and then immediately left it worked. I'm baffled. Anybody have an idea of what's going on there?

    Thanks for taking time to read my lengthy post and I hope some of you can lend some helpful advice!
     
  2. jarreddaughtry

    jarreddaughtry Member

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    I am only familiar with question #1. Sounds like delaminating brake shoes. If you search the forum you will find a thread on delaminating brake shoes for these old bikes. It is VERY dangerous. The back brake could lock up while you are riding. Check and replace your brake shoes ASAP.
     
  3. MiCarl

    MiCarl Active Member

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    #2 is a poor connection or bad horn switch. With the key on there should be +12V on one lead. The other should ground when you push the horn button.

    #3 sounds like a dirty switch.
     
  4. k.joel.porter

    k.joel.porter Member

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    After looking at the pictures and descriptions and based on what I felt when it happened I'm willing to bet my rear shoes are, in fact, delaminated. THANK GOD it happened at 20 mph in my neighborhood and not 5 minutes earlier when I was going 55 mph on my way home from the DMV. I'm going to open up the brake this weekend and see what it looks like. Thanks for the info!
     
  5. k.joel.porter

    k.joel.porter Member

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    Thanks for the info I'll do some more digging on the electrics this weekend.
     
  6. Polock

    Polock Well-Known Member

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    many small parts live in that left switch housing, they've been in there a long time and are ready to make a break for freedom, watch out
     
  7. bigfitz52

    bigfitz52 Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    You were very lucky with the rear brake delam/lockup.

    I take it you found this thread: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=15874.html
    Sounds like it needs a "bump" why don't you add your experience to it; maybe that will give a few other new owners a heads-up.

    If your Max has sat a long time, keep an eye on the chain/sprockets. Both my 550s had chains that were internally rusted, and once I started riding the bikes again, failed quickly.

    The first place to start with the electrics is the fusebox; at the very least you'll need to replace the fuse clips with Radio Shack parts or upgrade to a modern blade-style box (the preferred fix.) The original clips will break for no reason and without warning, trust me.
     
  8. k.joel.porter

    k.joel.porter Member

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    thanks for your advice, bigfitz, I'll inspect the chain and sprockets today and look into replacing my fusebox with a blade-style box. I should be receiving my Clymer's manual today which should help overhaul the bike. The lady I bought the bike from said that it sat for a year in her garage. Since I've inspected all the rubber on the bike and nothing is dry-rotted or even cracked and since the rust is minimal I tend to believe her.

    Also, after the second responder to my thread, jarreddaughtry, mentioned delaminating brake shoes I searched the forums (now that I had a name to go with my problem it was easier to find what I was looking for) and that thread you linked for me came right up. I'll take your advice and bump it with my experience and a few pics once I get around to disassembling the rear.

    Thanks to all, again, for all your helpful advice!
     
  9. ZaGhost

    ZaGhost Member

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    For the switches, pick up a can of electrical contact cleaner and go in and clean up all the contacts. That should put up clear there fro further diagnosis.

    Keep an eye of the tires after you get riding, mine sat for 7 years, tire still looked good, but a bit hard. a year later, bad cracking appeared at the base of the treads..... just something to be wary of...
     
  10. k.joel.porter

    k.joel.porter Member

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    Yeah... I already attacked the switches with contact cleaner and we'll see what that does. thanks for the tip on the tires.
     
  11. MiCarl

    MiCarl Active Member

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    If the sprockets are still good you might want to go ahead and slap a new chain on for insurance. If the chain is as fitz described it'll ruin the sprockets right quick.
     
  12. bigfitz52

    bigfitz52 Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    Speaking of tires: CURRENT tires all have a date code branded into them; beyond a certain age they won't even have this; I don't remember when it went into effect but it's been at least 10 years.

    If your tires are "young" enough to even consider keeping, this will aid the decision:
     

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  13. SQLGuy

    SQLGuy Well-Known Member

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    FWIW, I can shed a bit more light on what's happening with your turn signal switch.

    The auto-cancelling system used in these bikes has two pieces to it: a flasher and an auto-cancel module. The switch is actually a double switch; one part of it switches whether the flasher is connected to the left or right side signals; the other part is a momentary switch that enables the auto-cancel module to start the system flashing. After 10 seconds AND 150 meters of travel, the auto-cancel module disables the flashing system.

    It sounds like the left side of the momentary switch is iffy, so sometimes when you switch left, it's not enabling the auto-cancel... by first switching right, you're enabling the auto-cancel module, and then switching left is connecting the flashing system to left side lamps... which then run for the remainder of the time/distance until the auto-cancel module turns off.

    Worst case, if you unplug the auto-cancel module, the system will work but without auto-cancel.
     
  14. k.joel.porter

    k.joel.porter Member

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    Interesting... I didn't even know these bikes even had auto-cancel. After dousing the thumb switches with contact-cleaner, the turn signal is working great left and right.

    Now the horn button, on the other hand, is sending exact voltage to the horn as is on the battery. Today, with the engine running, I measured 13.4 volts at the battery terminals and 13.4 volts at the horn but the horn is still iffy. It crackled a beep on the first press, sounded like it was running out of juice on the second, and was silent on the third. The horn still works when tapped directly onto the battery terminals. It's frustrating.

    Also, the bike moved freely in neutral today and rear brake pedal has a "normal" feel to it now. I still haven't received my Clymers yet (should be in Monday or Tuesday) so I haven't delved into the rear wheel yet. But if it truly is a delaminated brake, shouldn't it still be locked up like it was last Monday?
     
  15. lostboy

    lostboy Well-Known Member

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    Do a voltage check right at the horn as you activate the horn switch and see what the voltage is.
     
  16. bigfitz52

    bigfitz52 Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    Not at all. If one (or both) of the linings completely fell off the shoe(s) which does happen, and it (or they) are "floating" around in there then it's a crapshoot as to when it gets trapped and locks the wheel. If it (or they) don't get trapped, then the shoe itself will go metal-on-metal with the drum. That's what happened when you felt excessive pedal travel.

    I guarantee you when you pull the wheel off you will find the problem, and I'll be really surprised if you don't find one or both linings just floating around in there.
     

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