solinoid clicking!! electrical!! i need help!!

to start iv never been able to get my head around the electrics side of bikes, welding, fabrication, paint no problem but wires and volts???? the problem is the loom is in everything is back together, the starter turns when boosted of the battery straight, i have two good batterys, iv tested the starter switch and kill swith and all is good there but when i hit the starter button all i get is a fast clicking noise from the solinoid, iv got 3 of them and they all do the same thing,guys i need yer help!!!

Starter Solenoid Checkout

Some simple steps to determine what is working and what's not:

1.Fully charge and test the battery(most bike shops can load test the battery, and then use a floating ball hydrometer to check specific gravity in the charged cells).

2.Clean all battery terminals of corrosion.

3.Tighten all starting related connections(Positive RED(+) battery terminal, Negative BLACK(-)terminal) and from the terminal to the engine case. All connections must be clean and tight.

4.Clean the cable from the starter solenoid to the starter motor.

5.Clean and check the "bullet connectors" going to the coil side of the starter solenoid.

6.Try again to start the bike.

7.If no luck, go to step #8

8.Wearing eye protection, bridge with pliers or a screwdriver the two heavy duty(large)terminals on the solenoid. If the bike cranks, your solenoid may be bad.

9. If the starter won’t turn over, one of several things has happened; The starter motor has seized due to brushes binding up, lack of lubrication in the bushings of the motor, the battery is weak , the engine has seized or it could be a combination of any of the above. Some websites for starter motor rebuild kits are:

A. www.mawonline.com/newsite/rick_s_motorsp...-starter_brushes.htm

B. www.cyclewareables.com/pages/street_star...kits/startmtrkit.htm


10.The dealer may want $$$ for a new solenoid, but take your old one along and visit the nearest riding lawn mower shop. They have solenoids for about $15 that with a little work will fit. Be aware that the new solenoid from the lawn mower shop may require a ground wire for it to work.

11. I’d recommend upgrading from the existing battery cables to at least 6 gauge welding cables.
They are available in two colors(RED and BLACK) have more flexibility due to being constructed with finer conductors, and will fit in tighter areas.

12. The welding cable is sold by the foot, so take careful measurements or bring your old cables along. Most battery shops might be able to supply the cable too, so call to find out. The battery shop should be able to crimp/swage on the end of the welding cable the terminal ends or lugs using either a dedicated crimping machine or a tool that looks like a bolt cutter that has special dies to terminate the cable.

all this is done, i replaced the cables today, tested the starter, one of the batterys is brand new and 3 solinoids cant be bust?

does any one have a pic of there soilinoid wiring or a hymes manual diagram of the solinoid wiring as the clymer manual blows.

For help with diagnosis, could try jumping from a good automobile battery with ENGINE NOT RUNNING.

Good Fortune!

kzstreetfighter71 wrote:

to start iv never been able to get my head around the electrics side of bikes, welding, fabrication, paint no problem but wires and volts???? the problem is the loom is in everything is back together, the starter turns when boosted of the battery straight, i have two good batterys, iv tested the starter switch and kill swith and all is good there but when i hit the starter button all i get is a fast clicking noise from the solinoid, iv got 3 of them and they all do the same thing,guys i need yer help!!!

This may help: a solenoid "clicks" because the battery voltage to it's energizing coil is dropping low enough that the solenoid's coil releses the plunger. In other words: you hit the button, the plunger engages the high current contacts which loads down the battery, the battery voltage drops low enough and the solenoid releases....... which lets the battery volatge come back up and the cycle keeps repeating.

As to why the batt voltage is dropping too low? Most times it is a bad or discharged battery, could be a bad starter drawing to much current, engine siezed up, etc. Somehow, the battery is getting overloaded more than it can handle.

NOTE: the corroded contacts/ground connections is a good idea for the problem area. The voltage drop across a corroded connector can be why the battery voltage getting down to the starter relay is dropping so low each time the relay tries to suck high current through to the starter.

Sounds to me like you have voltage drop in the circuit going to the solenoid, the small wire with the bullet connector. This gets 2 contact switches in its circuit, plus ignition power from the Key switch. 1 is the switch at your clutch lever, the other is the push button. Take a decent test light that will pull similar amp draw as your solenoid, like a head light bulb, and hook it to the small wire at the solenoid and ground. Now try to start normally, the light should light up and stay lit. If you have 1 you can put a voltmeter across the circuit to monitor the voltage, and compare again at the battery terminals. The 2 big posts on your solenoid are for the Battery cable circuit to apply the high amperage to the starter motor, the small wires are to energize the actual moving part of the solenoid, which is a plunger to make those 2 big posts make contact. If the energizing circuit won't supply the correct Voltage and current/Amperage it will either not engage or may as you describe click repeatedly. Good luck.

So as to review the wiring diagram, manual excerpts on solenoid testing... What year & model Kawi are we speaking of?

OMR

For KZ900 & early KZ1000...

Starter Relay Testing:

Granted, may be different in your model but they all work more or less the same... Refer to your manual...

Starter Clutch Testing: