Short while riding. Bad starter switch and or bad kill switch?

[Baci]

Well my beloved FZ6 betrayed me last night. She must have known I was winterizing her for storage. I just washed it like I have done easily a dozen times before. Waxed her up and was taking her for a quick spin back to my garage. Low pressure hand wash, very careful. That is when I started hearing an odd sound. So I quickly pull over and heard the starter on constantly. Fiddled with the switch and turned it off. Decided I better pull into a proper car lot to troubleshoot. Didnt have any tools to pull the wire on the starter, but with the other weird issues I wasnt positive that was my only problem. Luckily a local motorcycle owner and his shop sponsored racer came to my rescue, they saw me on the side and offered to get me and my bike home. Thank goodness for random strangers. PAY IT FORWARD! :rockon:


I suspect the kill switch and starter switch are possibly bad. Are these linked in some manor?


The bike scared me a tad when it bucked as it started on its own, in gear with the kill switch turned to the off/no start position. This was happening randomly if the key was on. The starter would also not disengage if I could start it. The only way I could turn off the bike and stop the starter was to use the key(this is why I suspect the kill switch too). Now that the bike is back at my garage, it wont start. I just hear the fuel pump endlessly prime and if left long enough it will try to start.


So could water in the handlebar buttons cause this? I plan to check my wiring for the turn signals(just in case my solder job came undone). Then I will carefully open the switches up and see if they are damaged. Anyone have other suggestions?

Sounds similar to this guys issues, except my kill switch also isnt working it seems.
http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-...-starter-switch-mid-ride.html?highlight=short


I would love to discuss with anyone interested. Hopefully I am on the right track to find the problem. However I am no pro, so please chime in if you have suggestions.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Not sure what switch you messed with to stop it (kill witch, ignition, push START button).

If you never had an issue with this, you probably got water somewhere it don't belong.

Let the bike dry out good or use an air compressor around those area's...Squirting WD40 in all those areas won't hurt anything and can only help.

It shouldn't CRANK with the RED kill switch off.

The starter (push button) could have gotten water in it or its worn but either is pretty rare...

Does the starter switch feel normal, IE, return back, no binding etc?

I would also check near the battery, the starter relay. If that failed, got water in it (again not likely) it would engage the starter.

 

[FinalImpact]

I cant imagine water conducting in that maner. I would be looking at the Starter Circuit Cutoff Relay in the left side pod.

On the center Stand, in gear, kickstand down, it should not crank when you turn the key on. If it does, Id bet the cut off relay failed in some way.
However, if once the switch is dried out, maybe that was it. But surely many others would have encountered this by now.

Any chance your jumper job at the switch has contacted the starter circuit? The black wire from the starter switch needs to be at Ground potential. If open I would think it would not start vs cranking continuously??

Have to look at this closer. Ohm out black wire from start switch to chassis ground. It should be a direct short.
Inspect under pod and remove connector for inspection.

Report back.

 

[gnyce]

I'm "that guy" - wish I could contribute to this, but I can't say if my kill switch was also not working or not. I had not just washed my bike, but _was_ on a ride when I also heard a noise, pulled over and realized the starter was constantly running. I did end up replacing that switch (starter/kill-switch mechanism) and it has been fine ever since. You might not have the same thing going on, true - I'd listen to FI and Scott over me any day. And I think Scott said he's never heard of (what happened to me) happening before, but - it can happen, I'm proof of that. Sadly I fumble-fingered the post-mortem so I can't tell you exactly what happened.

 

[Motogiro]

It does sound like the starter switch has the starter relay locked on. You can lift the fuel tank, and right on top of the battery is the starter relay. Unplug the plug from the relay. The plug has the 2 small gauge wires. Turn the key on to see if the normal prime occurs and then stops. If the starter motor still stays engaged the starter relay contacts may have overheated and fused the contacts. You will have to disconnect the negative battery lead and then disconnect the 2 heavy gauge wires. After you disconnect the heavy gauge wires you can use an ohm meter to confirm if the contacts are fused by seeing a closed circuit when it should be an open circuit.

Sent from Moto's Motorola

 

[FinalImpact]

Or put a volt meter across it. If it shows 0.0volts it is shorted/stuck on. Needs replaced. Perhaps the first one here to fail in that manner.
If it reads 12+ volts (battery voltage) across the big lugs, your problem is somewhere else.

Pinched and/or damaged qwire near triple???

Under left pod is the starter circuit safety relay. Find the white w blue trace wire. That comes from the switch. If you unplug the connector from the relay and set meter to ohms, a lead to the white blue trace wire and the other lead to ground. It should read open or infinite ohms until you push the start button. Then it should read zero ohms.

A 12v test lamp from battery pos to white/bue wire should be off and only light when switch is pushed.