wont start

[gasman]

Hi all, i,ve had my L5 about 10 years and very rarley use it, i came to try it last week but the battery was flat , got it tested and was told its knackered so i bought a new battery put it on and it started straight away, i didnt ride it just left it ticking over for a few minutes.Today got all my gear on to take it for its MOT started it up first time but then just cut out, dash lights come on but all i get is a slight tick from under the seat.Surely it cant be anything major its only done 7000miles and always garaged with a cover over it. Any advise as to what it could be or how to test things would be greatly appreciated...thanks

[cargo]

Sounds like the battery is flat again.

New batteries are not fully charged if you put it straight in and started the bike without out taking it for a ride then waited a week and tried again then it could well be flat
The click you hearing is a classic sympton of flat battery.

It may be side stand cut out switch but flat battery is my bet...............

ZXR batteries are small they do not tolerate being discharged and will sulphate very easilly.................
Put it on an Optimate or similar charger and being new the batery should recover.....................if you bike is stored for long periods then you need to keep the charger on the battery to maintain it when the bike is not in use

[gasman]

thanks for answering so quickly, when it cut out i checked the terminals were tight jiggled those 2 electrical boxes looked at the fuses, tapped that small thing to the left of battery( i dont know why) trired it again and it started it didnt struggle like when a battery is flatish..but as i was putting things back it just cut out again like a broken connection or something, could it be the ignitor box or junction box?

[gasman]

click deffinately coming from junction box (the one on top of battery with fuses in) when pressing start button

[diesel]

sounds like a dodgy connection somewhere. take the starter circuit apart , clean, dry and re fit al;l connectors. look for corrosion etc. see if that helps.

[gasman]

thanks for replying do you mean the junction box with fuses in when you say starter circuit or the other box next to it..

[diesel]

thanks for replying do you mean the junction box with fuses in when you say starter circuit or the other box next to it..

best bet is to check everything. no missing owt then is there

[gasman]

i could only get one of the plugin connectors out of the junction box the other as a funny little tab thing on it does it just pull out. also does the other box come apart

[Davw]

i could only get one of the plugin connectors out of the junction box the other as a funny little tab thing on it does it just pull out. also does the other box come apart

Before going much further does the engine turn over when you hit the starter. The starter circuit is pretty simple and if the engine doesnt turn it has to be one of the follwing (given that you havent modified the look since you last had it running)

1) Starter moter u/s (unlikley)
2) Starter solenoid u/s - possible - particluarly if the clicking you are hearing is coming from that (this is located to the LHS of the battery)
3) Loose wiring in the wiring to the starter solenoid preventing the solenoid from tripping the current to the starter motor - likely
4) Flat battery - charge it to isloate this as a possibility

If the engine is turning then you have a whole load of other possible probelms but on the assupmtion that the engine doesnt turn then my bet is either 2 or 3 with the best bet being 3 as you have had an intermittent start - although this clicking noise isnt consistent with a loose connection but might be consistent with a failed starter solenoid.

So I would trace the cables from the starter solenoid to the loom/ junction box and try them first - the wiring diagram is here on the site which makes it easier as it identifies the wire colours etc but given that hitting the starter sends a current to the solenoid which trips and sends battery power to the starter motor it is pretty simple - as I said before however if the engine is turning but not starting then a whole load of other possibilties arise - good luck

[gasman]

hi thanks again for all the help so far, just to be a bit more clearer. i got the brand new (already charged)battery thursday 2 days ago fitted it thurs night started first time didnt struggle at all, left it running a couple of minutes didnt move bike. this morning ( saturday) wheeled bike out of garage started bike again first time did not struggle at all to fire, a minute later just stopped would not even turn over, all i heard was aslight click from the junction box when i press the starter button i have since read through previous pages on here and i am lead to belive that could just be the starter relay,which would be normal is that correct ? ..so if the the starter relay is clicking would that rule out the the start button?...and if it was running when it stopped would that rule out the starter motor?

[Davw]

If the relay (solenoid) is clicking then it is trying to engage in order to send power to the starter and so it is receiving current from the starter pushbutton. Sounds like the solenoid is goosed or at least faulty.

Simple to test if you have a multimeter - check to see if you have contiuity across the outlets of the solenoid when the starter is pressed - dont forget to isolate solenoid from battery before you do this. If solneoid is OK then you will have 100% copntinuity 0 if solenoid failed then obviously zero - or at best poor continuity.

However - this all hinges on the clicking coming from the solenoid - the large (around 3cm diam) sealed circular unit on the LHS of the battery.

However, (sorry to go on about this) clicking of the starter solenoid can also indicate a discharged battery - ie there isnt enough power to engage and hold the solenoid engaged whilst turning the starter.

I would put the battery on charge overnght and try again tomorrow

[gasman]

i didnt hear the click from the solenoid, i heard it from the plastic juction box that holds the fuses.it just clicks once each time you press the start button just like a switch making, if that helps?

[Davw]

Sorry - just read the thread again and am a bit concerned that the bike stopped and now wont start - I had missed that piece. Failure of the starter soenoid would not have caused the bike to stop as the starter solenoid is only engaged when the starter is pressed. So the starter solenoid shouldnt explain the bike stopping.

Did bike stop abruptly or could this have been a fuel problem (you say the bike has been idle for a while). An electrical failure would tend to see the bike stop abruptly whilst fuel issues/ carbs etc would tend to see the bike spluttering before ultimately dying.

It is imprtant to try to establish if the stoping and the failure to start are connected so i would still test the starter solenoid and then I would make sure that the engine will turn over freely before attemting to restart (with fresh fuel).

[Davw]

Sorry - mails crossed there.

The junction box holds amongst other things a relay for the start circuit. If this is clicking once (and not continuously) then sounds like it is OK however - easy to check the leads into the starter solenoid to see if that is the case - - again though - unless there is some torching of components in the junction box it is difficult to see how this caused the bike to stop. Assuming junctiopn box is OK how about the fuses- and the main fuse on the starter solneoid - a failed fuse could explain a lot - both in terms of the bike stopping and a failure to start


sorry if this is "all over the place" but always difficult to visualise what is going on and it is too baltic up here to go out to the shed for a looksee at mine

[Davw]

The more i think about this the more I reckon it is a short circuit/ fuse problem but you could isotate any doubt about the starter by taking a 12v supply directo the starter to see if it will spin.