Ignition stays on when switched to off

Long time no problems guys.
Here is what happened.
I thought the bike was in nuetral, bright sun, could not see the lamp.
When I put the kickstand down it killed the bike.
I never turned the key off so the battery was dead the next time I went to ride.
I put the battery tender on the battery, 1.2 amp.
After 14 hours on the charger, I went out to find that it was still charging.
Further inspection found that the negative clamp had slipped and was now touching the gas tank.
The nuetral light on the dash was lit and the charger was exceptionally hot.
I let the charger cool and hooked it back up.
The battery fully charged and I rode the bike for an hour, only to have another biker point out that my headlamp was out.
I went home and found the lamp fuse was blown.
It had probably been out the whole time.
I replaced the fuse and rode to work all is well, until I turned the key to off and she keeps running.
A couple turns back and forth on the key and she shut down.
When turning back and forth the nuetral light woud stay on.
In the morning everything was fine, started no problem got home and I could not get the bike to turn off many turns and jiggling of the key later she stopped.
Nothing lit.
When I came out to fix her 5 hours later, the battery was dead.
I hooked up the tender and the nuetral light would not go off, no matter what position the key was in.

I pulled apart the switch and cleaned it out, it seems to be fine.
I found a check for the switch in the haynes manual I will do it in the morning.
The schematic says there is a relay before the switch Editthere is no relay), after the battery.
I'm thinking it must be shorting before the switch or else there would be no power.
Possibly a diode letting power in on the back side?.
So headlight comes on only when bike is started, which is correct for this bike, but, nuetral light is always on indicating a short.
Bike runs in all positions.
Any thuoghts would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

Time to start checking your harness (by battery and headlight bucket) for shorts me thinks :/

Sounds like you're on the right track, let us know how it's going.

 

Well, I don't know, it could be coincidence or the heat of the constant draw off the charger.
I think it was the, ..........wait for it.................... fuse block.
:?
I had the original fuse block in there.

After cleaning and lubing the main switch, making sure it worked properly.
I started to check for continuity.
As I'm working from the battery to the switch and farther, I think, this is stupid.
If I were looking for an open circuit I could find it this way.
I've got power on the backside of a closed switch somehow.
So I attached the battery.
I had not hooked up the main switch yet.
The nuetral light was not on.
I had power on the red going in to the switch.
Nothing on the backside, Brown or Blue, perfect.
Great, maybe it was the switch.
I put the front end back together, except for the headlight.
I started her up and revved it a couple times, shut it off with the key.
She shut off, I was smiling.
I thought well I'm not complaining but, wtf.
Then it magically turned on by it's self.
The nuetral light came on I heard a relay click and I now had thirteen volts everywhere, key on, off, in park.
I had power on both the blue and brown coming from the main switch.
I found that if I pulled the signal fuse I could get the nuetral light to go off and most of the draw stopped.
There was still voltage on the blue.
When I reattached the fuse the light would stay off all readings good then, mysteriously turn back on and draw power.
I thought I would try and start her up when the light was off and run it down the road.
I put the fuse box top on and before I could put on my helmet and thumb the button the nuetral light came back on.
I reached down to pull the top off the box and as I pulled the light went out.
Unlike when I pulled the fuse, I had no voltage on the brown and blue now.
So I experimented a little, light out by wiggling the fuse box, circuit behaves normal.
Light out by pulling fuse, still drawing power on other circuit.
I tryed to wrap my head around this.
How could the fuse block, with no wires touching be causing this short?

The only fuse box available to me today(I leave on vacation tommorrow) was a glass tube type, four bay from RS.
It actually fit perfectly in the old holder, the top snaps on like the original.
On the back bottom of the fuse connector is a small tab.
As I swapped the wires I found that the tab on the switch side of the main circuit had pushed ever so slightly through the ignition wire.
I'm thinking now that this is the way voltage was getting past the main switch and into the backside of the circuit.
I completed the swap and started and stopped it many times, all is well so far.
I rode her to work tonight and keep going out to check for the nuetral light to be on, so far so good.
Wish me luck.

 

Back from six days in Rhoad Island.
Almost 600 miles on the XJ and she's running good.
No problems.
Replace those original fuse boxes guys!

 

My 81 xj650 wasn't starting so I replaced the starter solenoid and it fixed the problem until I pushed the electric start button and the ignition wouldn't stop cranking over until I disconnected the battery. Any ideas?

 

Either the solenoid is shorted (doubtful) or the pushbutton switch is "sticking" in place. There is a spring underneath the black pushbutton that may have broken or slipped out of position.

 

How would i know if the solenoid shorted out? I took a look at the push button contacts and some wear is present but it wasnt stuck is there anything else that could cause this to happen? Also do you know were to get intake boots for an 81 xj650h

 

If the solenoid shorted (or just got stuck into the "on" position) your starter would run all the time (as long as you had the battery hooked up). But the same issue would manifest itself if the starter pushbutton unit has gone bad......only way to find out is to take the control switch apart and observe the inner workings. When you push on the button, a small brass plunger make contact with a movable contact plate which is inside a metal "cage". This sliding contact plate, when the button is depressed, allows a complete circuit TO GROUND to be achieved. This completed circuit "activates" the solenoid. When the pushbutton is released, a spring pushes the button out, the sliding contact plate no longer makes contact, and thus no longer provides a ground path (and thus, no complete circuit needed to energize the solenoid).

The pushbutton, the metal cage that holds the sliding contact plate, and the sliding contact plate itself are somewhat fragile, and pushing too hard on the button can bend or distort or otherwise damage things in there.

One thing you can do is to find the 2-wire pigtail harness coming off of the solenoid, and disconnect it (when the start refuses to stop running). Those two wires provide power to the pushbutton switch. By disconnecting the connector shell on that short harness, you're taking the pushbutton switch out of the picture. In that way, you'll know whether it is the solenoid that is "stuck", or whether it is the pushbutton switch that is "stuck" and signaling the solenoid to keep passing power to the starter motor.

Are you referring to the intake manifolds (carbs to cylinder head) or the airbox boots (back of carbs to airbox)? We have both available and in stock.

 

Carb to intake on head, its the solenoid then. how much for the 81 xj650h maxim intake boots and a starter solenoid? Would a fuse box conversion be good? What about a cone filter conversion? Would i have to change anything in my carbs for a cone filter conversion?

 

YES!

NO!

You'll need to rejet the carbs, at a minimum, and then tinker forever to get them right. In my opinion, not worth the effort, unless you enjoy tinkering with things on a regular basis (i.e. it's entertainment rather than an interruption).

I'll send you a private message on the other items.