If geting caught in the rain wasnt bad enough...

Now my bike wont start! The oil light comes on like you would expect but nothing else happens. No noise, no nothing. I really wish these had a kick start! I checked the fuse's none looked blown, the one on the far right side felt pretty hot. What does that fuse do? Any ideas out their in XJ land?

 

can you push start it?

Rob

 

I suspect you might have the dreaded XJ TCI problem.

Usually happens when they get wet (or even damp! ie fog). Nothing for it I'm afraid but to replace it with a (hopefully) good one. Several people have tried sealing them better, to no avail.

If you let the bike dry completly and all of a sudden it's back to working perfectly -- this would be my best idea.

 

Don't panic.

Let the bike dry.

The coils, wires, plugs and head are all great conductors of electricity.
Being wet probably introduced all the component electric paths to the one place they rather go than not.

Ground.

Being wet probably grounded ... Everything.
Once the bike dries-up and the bushings, ceramic and plastic parts separate the juice from the nearest convenient ground ...

I suspect you'll be back in action.

If not ... don't think slamming a set of Iridium Plugs in there is going to help.

Most Submarines are Diesel's!

 

Ha! I remember trying to start my old lada in the rain - wouldn't start. Grab a couple of sheets of paper towel, remove the old distributor cap, towel it out and off she'd go to the races.

As Rick said - it's moisture - remove the moisture and you are good to go. Preventative dielectric greasing on key components will likely help. It just depends on what part of the system is failing. With a multimeter and someone else as a ground you could always probe the dark science.

 

Sounds like it's not cranking?

Not TCI----
Not Plugs ----
Not Coils-----

Cranking circuit. It is in Neutral, Right?

Kill switch on?

No sidestand switch on an '80 so that's not it.

Check/clean all your connections and switches in the starting circuit. If that don't do it look at the starter relay.

 

Thanks for all the quick replys. Yes it is in neutral. It was wet yesteday and should have been dry by today but Ill give it another day and try it tomarrow. Ill let you all know.

 

You can use WD-40 to displace moisture.

Try shooting the Kill Switch with some of that sweet-smellin' WD-40.

 

So it turns out their was nothing wrong with the starter. I push started it today and after it got started I turned it off, then started it right back up. It turns out the battery was dead. I have a brand new battery in it. Im thinking that maybe when it got wet something grounded out and it just ran all the juice out, is this possible? Im going to check my alternator brush as well (i know I already should have been I've only had the bike for 2 weeks and ive been riding it so much i havent had the time). Could water on something drain the battery or Im I looking for something else?

 

You got a New battery ... and, it went dead!

"You haven't had the time."

It's still just as much fun push-starting it ... huh?

It's gonna be a lot less fun when you get tired and try push-starting it ... one-more-time ... and miss making the quick hop-on-it, and dump it, because you won't take about 10-minutes and do a vital inspection.

____________________
1980 XJ650 Maxim (soon to be a cafe racer needing an Alternator Rotor and some body work.)

 

Hey. I own a 1982 Maxim XJ550 and had a similar problem. Here was my troubleshooting steps that lead to the problem...

I hopped on my bike one night, and it goes "rrrr-rrr" but never turns the engine over. I first suspected my battery went dead that night, so the next day I went and got a battery and replaced it, but it still would not turn over when I hit the start switch. The start switch was working because I could hear it go click in on the engine and my oil light was coming on.

Since the batter was brand new, I could rule out the alternator as the problem which lead me to the starter motor itself. It took a week for the part to come in, and I pushed started it the whole week (thank goodness I live at the top of a minor hill to help out the push start. When the starter motor came and I replaced it, I noticed that the other starter motor's seals had failed and this caused the starter motor to fail.

Having said all this, if you are able to start it up after connecting a new battery, then your starter is not bad, and is probably your alternator.

 

Thats what Im figurering and Im going to check it as soon as I get it home (i had to ditch it at my grandmas house). I tried to check it their but she doesn't have much in the ways of tools and the bolts seem like they will need persuasion to get them off. I don't plan on push starting it everywhere, in fact only enough to get it home. Back to my main question, what could get wet and make the battery drain out over night? I haven't had any problems with the charging system and then when it got wet overnight the whole battery drained out.