Electrical Short?

Long story short,I was cranking my 80 KZ1000 when gas spilled out of the Petcock down to the engine. I heard a few faint clicks, then when I went to start again nothing. Battery is new. Checked all fuses, none blown & good connections. Anyone experience this before?

Fuses need to be checked with a volt meter, voltage In and Out. Those Glass AGX fuses will look good but not make contact.
If those are good, then check voltage at the starter solenoid, and ground. That is on the two small wires to the solenoid. If it makes a audible "Click" sound when trying to operate the starter, it is getting voltage and ground. But it may not be making contact tot he large battery cable Post connections. One comes from your Positive Battery terminal the other goes down to the starter motor. So you can check the In and Out on those terminals with your meter, or take a solid metal object like a socket extension, and short across the two posts. This should make the starter spin. That is if you have good Battery voltage and Battery cable connections. The Negative cable also must have a good connection, both at the battery and the engine block. it the battery cables that operate the starter motor.

First thing...get Petcock fixed before you have a fire or kaboom.... :dry:

A friend of mine burned down his garage due to a leak ?????

I will make all checks and repairs as recommended. Thanks MH &4TKZ.

If the starter solenoid checks bad, and you don't want to spend $$$$, take your old solenoid to the nearest riding lawn mower shop. For about $15 or so, you should be able to find a solenoid that will fit. Keep in mind you might need to add a ground wire for the new solenoid to work.

Also check all of the battery cables, and ones going to and from the solenoid for internal corrosion. If you flex them and they feel "Crunchy", the corrosion has reduced the size of the conductor. A good replacement will be to have a set of cables made up using 6 AWG(American Wire Gauge) welding cables. Two colors are available, RED and BLACK, so either take your old cables along, or do careful measurements for length.

Some welding supply stores can crimp/swage on the correct cable terminals for you,if not, battery supply places or shops that work on electric golf carts, or forklifts should be able to help you. Make sure the new cable terminals have a clean,none painted surface when tightened down for maximum current transfer.

Fixed Petcock, jumped the Starter Solenoid turns over with no problem, but still can't find issue. Since spilling gas over the engine it want start.
Thanks for the cool tips MFolks.

Your losing either the power or the ground to the 2 small wires at the starter solenoid. Find out which is missing. Probably the power. There should be a wiring diagram here in "File Base" at the upper right hand corner of this page. Go in and down load your wiring diagram. It will show the path for the voltage, from the battery to the fuse box, up to the ignition switch, over to the handlebar switches etc. Remember the clutch has a switch, the lever needs to be pulled in.

Well I checked & tested the entire Harness and connections, all tested fine :woohoo: . So when I test the fuses that look perfectly intact, I discover the Main fuse is blown :evil: . I need to replace them with modern fuses.

Then again the KZ was the only bike to start on the first crank, where my 06 VTX and 01 ZRX took 3 to 4 cranks. It is a warm 42F here in Illinois.

Thanks Everyone for the Help.

I've not had time/space to convert from the older glass tubed fuses that came with my bike, but plan too in the near future. Vibration, amp surges, and age, all cause fuse failure in the older fuses.

Fuse And Fuse Holder Designations

1. The older Kawasaki’s use a glass tubed fuse with the designation of AGX 1” long. Most good auto parts stores can get them for you. They are ¼” in diameter.

2. The more common AGC is 1 ¼” long and may not fit the smaller fuse clips. Again, ¼” in diameter.

3. To clean and polish the fuse clips, I use a cotton swab(Q- Tip) and some Brasso metal cleaner or Turtle Wax Chrome Polish. I suppose any good metal polish would work.

4. These fuses can fail internally but look good, only by using a multimeter to check for voltage going through the fuse, or when the fuse is removed for physical inspection for tight end caps & continuity checks,can it be determined if it’s serviceable.

5. Most modern motorcycles are now using the automobile “Blade” style fuse with the designation of ATC or ATO.

6. The reduced sized “Mini” Blade style fuse holder uses the ATM size of fuses.

7. If the fuse and fuse holder overheat, it could soften or anneal the grip of the clip, it might require squeezing the clip to restore the tightness.

8. A list of where to purchase “Blade” style fuses and holders:

www.waytekwire.com order.waytekwire.com/productdetail2/M50/...20%20%20%208%20FUSE/

www.rallylights.com www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=765

www.delcity.net/store/6!way-fuse-blocks/p_10822.a_1

www.easternbeaver.com/Main/Elec__Product...ers/fuseholders.html

www.autowiringsolutions.com/item.php?item_id=251&category_id=89 (ATO/ATC Fuse Holder)


9. A source for the glass tubed AGX fuses:
www.boatownerswarehouse.com/browse.cfm/2,4986.html

www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Result.aspx?N...&D=AGX&Dk=1&Dp=3&N=0