Another Post about Starting Issues

OK. Here is question about starting issues. Trying to check my Maxim for the new season. The battery shows 12.15 on the multimeter. When I turn the key it drops to 11.75. I turn the key, disengage the kickstand and kill switch, open the choke and click the start button. Nothing happens. The lights all work, the neutral light is on, the oil level indicator lights when I hit the button but nothing happens. I disconnected the lead from the starter solenoid to the starter and click the start button. I hear and feel a click in the solenoid. The volts stay at zero but jump briefly when i release the start button. I was going to check the starter but I am unsure how to test it next. Would I just save time if I pulled a sparkplug out and hit the starter and look for the arc. Does that give me the same results? Thanks

 

Your plug won't show a spark if the motor is not spinning. See if you can, very carefully hook up a set of booster cables and see if the motor spins then. If it does, then you know your battery is baffed. Can you see the fluid levels in the battery? How long since the bike was last running? Have you had it on a trickle charger during the off season or are you charging it from dead overnight? By the way, how old is the battery and what model is your Maxim? The more info you can give us about the bike in the post helps.

 

Could be a number of things, starter, starter brushes, starter selenoid, tci, battery, engine kill switch off, hungry mouse chewed through a wire......you get the idea.
Mine ended up being the connecting box in the harness for the cut off switch.
Max-x is right, the more info you can give us about the bike and what you have done, the better it is for us to try to help.

 

Its an 82 XJ550. I didn't have it on a tender over winter, so I am starting it cold basically. I did come out every couple of weeks and fire it up and let it run for a little while. I actually started it the day before and many tries where I would hold the button for 10 seconds and it start to crank, then wait. try again and it would go a little further, then wait...Finally it turned over. Once I came out to it on Thursday, It didn't eventually turn over. I see that the cable that goes from the battery to the solenoid is a little frayed.

 

Flat battery; you said the "wiring is frayed" (although it may just be the goofy sheath) so you should take a careful look there anyway.

Fully charge the battery, and take it to the auto parts store and have it tested.

That being said, it could be anything from the solenoid itself to the button on the handlebar to a crunchy original fusebox or any wiring in between. When I had the problem on one of my 550s it took a new solenoid and "refurbishing" the button contacts to get it fully resolved.

You can "bypass" the solenoid by shorting across the two large terminals to test-spin the starter, but beware there will be SPARKS.

Fit a brand new set of spark plugs too; once they get fuel saturated they DO NOT like to fire until they've sat and dried for like a week.

For future reference, running it for a short while every couple of weeks is NOT a good idea. You won't get it warm enough idling in the garage to burn off all the moisture that condenses in the exhaust system and crankcase; that practice can lead to a rusted out collector box or even main bearing problems.

 

ok. Thanks for the advise. With the age of the bike i was always told that I had to "learn" a lot of the maintenance. I have recently found a good mechanic, but I am still trying to learn.

 

My analogy for the above statement goes like this:
When you first want to learn how to drive a car, you get in and all of a sudden there's 2 pedals, 3 if it's a standard. A steering wheel, signals, mirrors, looking all around, igniton switch etc. In the beginning it all seems so much to take in and "learn". Doing everything together so that you can roll down the street with everything under control.
Now, you pick up the keys off the table, walk out to the car, fire it up, put it in gear and drive away.
Like anything you "learn" in life, after a while it becomes natural to perform the functions that when you first started seemed so overwhelming.
Just take your time, learn as you go and one day you'll look back and think "Huh, that wasn't so bad".

I'm still learning stuff everyday and I've probably spent more time living than I've got left to live! Just sayin'.

 

Quick question. I pulled the starter out and tried to turn the wheel and it wouldn't move at all. Is this the way it should be? Should it turn by hand?

 

If your battery was reading 12.1 - it's just about dead. There might be enough juice to turn the engine over, but there will not be enough to turn the engine over and supply a good spark

 

Not easily, if at all. The problem is most likely NOT your starter; you're grasping at straws not troubleshooting. If you doubt the starter itself, put 12V across it but be sure you've got a FIRM grip or it will jump out of your hand.

You most likely have a solenoid or wiring issue. Test the starter, put it back in. Charge the battery and get it tested (they won't charge you.) With everything back together, see what you get. If still nothing, jump across the solenoid, see if that seems to be the "disconnect." The results of that test will give you something to go on. You may also have an issue with the safety circuit.

PM me with your email address and I can send you a scan of the starting circuit diagnostic page from the factory book.

Quit just taking things apart without a good reason that was arrived at by troubleshooting, or you're going to cause problems.

 

I think you should start by pulling your battery making sure there is fluid. if there is no fluid in there get some pour it in to each cell than trickle charge it. If there is fluid already in it up to the level, charge it on a trickle charger or take it to the auto parts store. your doing needless work, do the battery stuff first, that's the weakest link in the whole operation even if its brand new and your starter/solenoid are 30 years old. I know, Ive just had a crash course in XJ bikes bringing a 750 back to life from sitting for 3 years... and I now have a trickle charger, a jump starter, and a yellow top optima for when she doesn't wnat to start up right away in the morning

 

Figured out the starting issue. Solenoid was toast. Also had a shredded cable from battery to solenoid. I am now moving on to the next problem. When I start the bike it revs all the way to 6000RPM and slowly gets higher and higher. I have read that maybe I should get (make) a YICS synch tool and try and synch everything. If someone has a picture of exactly where the tool goes, it would be appreciated.

 

Found a picture and a description on how to use it.

 

@shuchman
The reason your RPMs race to 6000 is because there's an air leak somewhere from the carbs to the engine, allowing far more air in then it should.
In my case, this was partly due to two cylinders not firing. It may be a good idea to check if all four exhaust pipes are getting warm.


I noticed the same problem on my starter solenoid yesterday. Was going to take it out for a ride and noticed that the RPMs were about 1000 higher than normal.
Went around the block and came to a stop, when I noticed that the starter wouldn't disengage.
Troubleshot to the starter relay, and found that it's most likely been replaced by one of the POs (Ohm reading was 75, and should be 100, and the holder was torn from the sheer size of the relay).
I also opened the solenoid to check if the feet inside had welded shut, cleaned it up inside and put it back on.
From that moment, all I could hear when I hit the stat button was one click - nothing else...

 

OK. so I am back now to this original issue. I had a few set backs that I had to deal with for a while. Dead battery clogged Petcock. All of that is now resolved and I am back to the issue of high RPMs. Its not going all the way to 6000. Starts at 3000 then rides up to 6000. So you there is a leak in one of the boots coming from the carbs to the engine. The carbs were a bear to get in.