1982 KZ750 E3 Complete Wiring Overhaul

MFolks wrote: On the older kawasaki's, the soldered connections from the factory seem to be crumbling. Sometimes a little fresh flux and a clean soldering tip to re flow the solder is about all it needs.

After ohm testing the switch while wiggling the wires, I came to the conclusion that there was a stressed or broken wire in there somewhere. So rather than figuring out where and which wire, and patching it, I decided to run all new wires. It was definitely a learning experience to have to be careful not to bridge the two connections that are pretty close together.

I went out and buttoned up the switch. Here is a pic of my rewired switch. Not pretty, but functional. I also changed it where the wire providing power to the starter circuit is soldered to the connector, rather than spliced into the wire. My only regret is that I got turned around and soldered the wires on facing away from the opening where they feed through.



And here is the switch reinstalled.

REWIRE Part III: Ignition System

I got motivated and went back out to the garage tonight. I finished wiring the ignition system (sorry no pics...left the camera inside). All that is left is lighting and gauge wiring. I think I will put the battery back in tomorrow just to check and make sure I don't have a short anywhere before I finish it all up.

I hooked up the battery today to test what I had done. The gauge comes on (wired that today), the coils and Dyna-S get within .5v of battery power, but when I push the starter button...nothing. I guess my soldering wasn't as good as I thought it was. I need to pull that switch back apart and see what's going on in there. I will have to wait til tomorrow though since I work tonight and go right back in tomorrow morning.

Can you bridge(jump across) the heavy bolts/studs of the starter solenoid? If the bike cranks, the problem should be in the starter switch. If no luck, the solenoid may have gone bad.

MFolks wrote: Can you bridge(jump across) the heavy bolts/studs of the starter solenoid? If the bike cranks, the problem should be in the starter switch. If no luck, the solenoid may have gone bad.

Yes...forgot to mention that I had already done this test. I'm pretty sure I messed something up in that switch and need to fix it. LOL! :silly:

The Japanese switch electrical contacts are very thin and not too heat resistant. When soldering this type, you gotta flux it, and then hit it with a light touch and get away, otherwise the contacts may move in the switch housing.May be some clip on heatsinks will prevent contact movement.

The worst I can think of is having either to buy a new switch assembly pre wired, or installing a push button(hidden some where) to start the engine.

Another pssibilty is that flux may have gotten inside the contacts, acting like an insulator. Alcohol is a good flux remover, with a cut down acid brush to scrub with.

clutch wrote:

MFolks wrote: Can you bridge(jump across) the heavy bolts/studs of the starter solenoid? If the bike cranks, the problem should be in the starter switch. If no luck, the solenoid may have gone bad.

Yes...forgot to mention that I had already done this test. I'm pretty sure I messed something up in that switch and need to fix it. LOL! :silly:

Ok...so here's what I tried tonight when I got home. I tried to jump the black wire from the solenoid to the positive battery terminal....no juice. I tested the purple (it's black stock, but I am using black for ground) wire from the switch...when the button is pushed, it reads within .5v of battery power. So, did I wire my solenoid wrong? The red/yellow wire goes to the black wire from the reg/rect as a ground and the black wire is power from the switch right? Or did I read my wiring diagram wrong? If that's correct, should I try grounding the solenoid to the battery and jumping the black wire again to see if that works?

EDIT/ I was just reviewing my thread here, and realized that the ground wire in the reg/rect circuit was replaced. I will be checking that to make sure it's connected properly. I wasn't 100% sure that the new 1/4" female blade connector seated in the connector housing properly. I will get back to you on this \EDIT

clutch wrote: If that's correct, should I try grounding the solenoid to the battery and jumping the black wire again to see if that works?

EDIT/ I was just reviewing my thread here, and realized that the ground wire in the reg/rect circuit was replaced. I will be checking that to make sure it's connected properly. I wasn't 100% sure that the new 1/4" female blade connector seated in the connector housing properly. I will get back to you on this \EDIT

Ok...the reg/rect ground wire I mentioned, was not connecting properly. I fixed that issue and still no juice. I hooked the red/yellow wire to ground and voila!!! the starter came to life. Now...where did I go wrong with that ground wire? There is a good connection now, but it's still not grounding properly. If I jump the red/yellow wire straight to ground, what do I need to do with the black wire from the reg/rect? Anything? Ground it? Pretend it doesn't exist?

I closed the kill/start switch back up and reinstalled it on the bike tonight. I tested the ohms on the switch and everything was as it should be. I removed the battery to top off with water and put it back on the maintainer for now. I found a spot to mount my ignition switch in a hidden location, and will mount that tomorrow.

I also tested the ohms from the red/white wire of the solenoid to the black wire of the reg/rect. There is continuity, so is the reg/rect ground bad? Or should I just ground both? Not sure what to do here.

There are three separate systems which include the charging system, the ignition system, and the chassis wiring system.

With a good fully charged battery properly installed, the engine should perform just fine without any charging system components whatever, until the battery runs down.

In other words, the "alternator and rectifier and regulator" function to keep the battery charged, and the ignition system runs off the battery without caring how the battery stays charged.

Good Fortune!

I got a little more done today after work. I reinstalled the battery and hooked it back up. Wired my voltmeter, and a few other random parts.

I'm still having issues with the solenoid ground from the regulator. I know this is probably a silly question, but if I do not have the brown wire from the regulator hooked up to power yet, would that affect the ground? I did test the ground by hitting the positive battery terminal and grounding on that troublesome wire. For some reason it only reads between 2-3v. Hopefully this does not mean that my regulator has gone bad, since I've only had it about 2 years.

Now, I know my solenoid works if I ground the red/yellow wire to the battery. If I rewire it this way, should I ground the black wire from the regulator, or is that not necessary?