I think I have a short?

Hi, I'm new to the site as I'm a new owner of a '78 kz650. This is a project bike and while it has been sitting for twelve years, it's in amazingly good condition.

Anyway, I was going through the bulbs in the idiot panel and the speedo and tach. The neutral and oil pressure indicators aren't lighting up when they should be. However, when I was changing the bulb in the speedo and putting it back into the housing, I accidentally touched the side of the bulb (the metal part) to the speedo housing and then the neutral and oil lights came on. I'm not very skilled or knowledgeable when it comes to electronics, but it seems there must be a short somewhere or that those idiot lights aren't grounded sufficiently?

I have a multimeter and have been looking for a ground wire that has resistance but haven't found one anywhere. Even the ground wires (Black & yellow) on those bulbs is showing minimal/no resistance. I also checked the neutral switch in the crankcase for excessive dirt or earthiness and cleaned it up, but that did'nt change anything either.

A couple other notes, in case they help:

-The neutral light does seem to know when it's actually in neutral... if I ground out that bulb's metal when it's in gear, the light won't come on.

-The clutch lever/starter switch is working fine as well... the starter will only go when the clutch lever is pulled in.

If any of you could help me with a troubleshooting approach, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!

-Shane

The forum member "Patton" made this up:

The Dreaded Shorting/Intermittent Electrical Problem!


Here is the most basic method I know.

1. Charge your battery and have it load tested if you can. The floating ball hydrometer can be used to check the specific gravity of the charged cells in the battery.

2. Disconnect the Black lead from the (-) Battery terminal... or Red from the (+) Battery terminal, it does not matter which one.

3. Connect one of the following test setups in series with the Battery terminal and lead:
3.1 A 12 V light bulb,
3.2 A 12 V test light,
3.3 A 12 V test buzzer or,
3.4 A 12 V horn... you get the idea.

4. With the Ignition Switch OFF, go through your harness and wiggle the wires while looking/listening for the test setup to go on/start buzzing.

5.With the Ignition Switch ON, repeat the test except this time the looking/listening for the test setup to go off/stop buzzing.

6. Be prepared to open the Ignition switch and check/test for solder joint failure and or circuit board micro breaks (don't ask how I know this ).

7. Be prepared to pull the wires out of the Head Light to test for failures at or near the grommet.

8. Be prepared to open the harness at or near the Steering Neck for failures. This is where wires tend to exhibit fatigue due to repetitive movement.

9. Be prepared to open the left and right switch gear to search for rust and or broken parts. CAUTION: watch out for flying springs, ball bearings and stuff. Do indoors on White sheet (again don't ask).

10. Be prepared to follow the heavy gauge wire from the Starter Solenoid (Relay) to the starter for bare wire exposure. Especially near bends and grommets.

11. If you can reproduce the fault symptom your are pretty much home free. Be prepare to find and repair/replace any internal wire breaks, insulation break downs, exposed wires, rubber grommet failures, etc. Often, shrink tubing will solve the problem temporarily until something better can be done.

12. I use a very good electrical contact cleaner/preservative called De-oxit made by Caig Labs in San Diego Ca. Their website is www.deoxit.com It can be purchased at Radio Shack and any other electronic supply store. I use it on all of my motorcycle’s electrical connectors , in my home entertainment center’s stereo patch cords and cordless phones charging cradles.

don't worry most guys have a short...