1982 Kawasaki kz550 LTD no response in cluster

Recently purchased the bike from a friends dad who had it sitting in a garage since 87'... Got it home and replaced the spark plugs, brand new battery, checked all the fuses and electrical connections. All seem to be fine, replaced the master fuse, yet still getting no response in the cluster or any noise whatsoever from any part of the bike. Fairly new to working on bikes so I have no idea what the issue could be, especially with it being so old. any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Visual inspection of fuses may look good, but use a multimeter to either do a continuity check, or use it to see if voltages are through the fuse. The fuses are AGX in size, and auto parts stores, and boating supply places should be able to get you new fuses.

The Best Multimeter Tutorial

Bkirk24 wrote: Recently purchased the bike from a friends dad who had it sitting in a garage since 87'... Got it home and replaced the spark plugs, brand new battery, checked all the fuses and electrical connections. All seem to be fine, replaced the master fuse, yet still getting no response in the cluster or any noise whatsoever from any part of the bike. Fairly new to working on bikes so I have no idea what the issue could be, especially with it being so old. any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

getting no response in the cluster or any noise whatsoever from any part of the bike. -- does this mean the same as if no battery was installed?

Is there any electrical component whatever that responds with battery installed, as compared to when battery is disconnected?

Good Fortune!

Has the new battery been flooded with acid and charged? If a wet cell that is.
What do you have to test with a Volt Meter or Test Light?
Also tell everyone what bike you got, and someone will find you a diagram, maybe a service manual.
Patton has great links to adding info to your profile signature.

It's a 1982 Kawasaki kz550 LTD, the battery is brand spanking new, let it charge for a full day and still nothing, the bike acts the same with or without the battery attached. no noises, no lights, no clicks, nothing. As I've said I'm brand new to working on motorcycles so I'm not sure what all the check, the fuses look fine, i suppose I can replace them to be sure.

Bkirk24 wrote: It's a 1982 Kawasaki kz550 LTD, the battery is brand spanking new, let it charge for a full day and still nothing, the bike acts the same with or without the battery attached. no noises, no lights, no clicks, nothing. As I've said I'm brand new to working on motorcycles so I'm not sure what all the check, the fuses look fine, i suppose I can replace them to be sure.

Would inspect condition of the ground connection where the negative battery cable attaches to rear of engine.

Good Fortune!

Including information about bike year and model is helpful to viewers and usually elicits better responses.
It's easy to put the information in your signature where it shows in all posted messages, past and future.
And may be changed whenever and as often as desired.
If wanting a signature showing information about the bike in posted messages, it's easy to do. Here's how:





Good Fortune!

Get or make up a simple 12v test light. If you have nothing, make one out of a spare bulb. Use it, take one side of the bulb and attach to the Negative side of the battery. then touch the other side to positive, to make sure it works, should be nice and bright. then use it, still on the battery negative, move to the fuse panel and check the main fuse. Make sure there is power going in, and out. Then turn the Key on, you should have power now to the other fuses, or at least some.
Here is where to find your wiring diagram: www.kzrider.com/filebase/doc_download/305-z550c3

BIG NEWS! While tinkering with the fuses in the main box, the blue wired fuse (not sure what fuse this is) as I tried to pull the fuse out with a flat head screwdriver the lights all came on! not sure what the problem is but when the metal from the screwdriver touches the left side of the fuse mounting the lights stay on regardless of the key, does anyone know what this means?!

I found out that the reason the light is turning on is that my screwdriver was touching the white and red (MAIN 20-A) fuse attachment. not sure what this means again so I'm looking forward to hearing, super excited to see some life from this bike though!

Pull the glass tubed fuses out one at a time, and clean the fuse clips, look for loose clips, failed crimps on the fuse clips, and corrosion.

Cleaning Motorcycle Electrics

1. Get some of the De-Oxit electrical contact cleaner and figure on spending a good day going from the front of the bike to the back. It’s a plastic safe cleaner/preservative. www.deoxit.com is their website. It can be purchased at most Radio Shack Stores or any electronic supply places. Or use any plastic safe electrical contact cleaner(NOT WD-40 !).

2. On the older Kawasaki's, a majority of electrical connectors are inside the headlight housing requiring removal of the headlight, then the fun begins.

3. Do one set of electrical connectors at a time to avoid mixing up what connects to where. Usually disconnecting, spraying with De-Oxit and reconnecting is about all you'll need.

4. However, when encountering the green crud of corrosion, a brass wire brush may be needed on the pins you can reach. Some 400-600 grit wet and dry sandpaper strips rolled into a tube should reach the male and female pins in the more difficult to clean connectors.

5. Smoker’s pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and wooden toothpicks work as cleaning aids.

6. Really small electrical connectors may require the use of a welders tip cleaning tool assortment.

7. Most pins in the connectors are coated with a thin plating of tin, and others may be nothing more than copper or brass.

8. If moisture is added, the resulting corrosion lowers the voltage/current being carried causing dim lights, slow engine cranking, slow turn signal responce and lower input voltage to the ignition coils resulting in weak spark.

9. The left and right handlebar switch pods will need attention too as they have circuit functions like turn, horn, run/stop, and start. The older Kawasaki’s have reports of the soldered connections crumbling, if your bike has this problem, just ask, as I’ve got a repair procedure for this.

10. Usually a spritz or two with actuation of the switch is about all needed for these switches unless corrosion is detected and then careful disassembly is required.

11. The ignition switch may or may be not sealed to allow spraying the internal contacts. I urge caution if attempting to open this up as springs, and ball bearings may fly out never to be seen again!

12. If your bike has the older style glass tubed fuses, I suggest replacing them as vibration can cause internal failure. AGX is the type used, and most auto parts stores can get them for you, along with boating supply stores.

13. Clean the fuse holder clips, looking for signs of overheating(discolored insulation, signs of melting). I use metal polish on a cotton swab, followed by spraying another clean swab with the De-Oxit and then rubbing the inside of the fuse clip.

14. All battery cables must be clean and tight for maximum current transfer. Check the cables going from the Negative(-) battery terminal/post to the engine mounting bolt

15. Also the one going from the Positive(+) terminal to the starter solenoid and from there to the starter motor.

16. If any battery cable feels ”Crunchy” when flexed, replace it as possible corrosion is inside the insulation. Inspect all heavy duty battery cables and the smaller wire terminations(Bullet Connectors), for failed crimps, and those used in the electrical connectors, as they can fail over time.

17. Each "Bullet Connector" will have to be sprayed to ensure good connectivity, especially the ones going to the energizing coil of the starter solenoid.

18. The alternator output “Bullet Connectors” are usually behind the engine sprocket cover and will need inspecting and cleaning too.

20. The turn signal light sockets will benefit from a spritz from the contact cleaner along with the tail light/brake light socket.

21. Some brake light switches can be sprayed on the actuating rod, with the spray running down inside to the electrical contacts, others may be sealed requiring replacement if the switch is intermittent in operation.

22. Some people put the Di-Electric Grease on cleaned terminations/connectors, I don’t, as I’ve read/heard it can cause problems when it gets hot, actually insulating the connections, so the choice is yours to use or not.

I think I've covered about all of the electrical systems on the bike.........

“I spent a weekend going through every electrical connection and switch on the bike with a little scotchbrite pad and DeOxit - what a difference! Everything was brighter, gauge backlights, indicator lights, turn signals, I was getting a nicer spark, it fired up quicker, etc. Well worth my time. WELL worth it! “

From a forum member at www.kzrider.com

Went and installed new AGX fuses onto it, still nothing, as I touch the main fuses lead wire from the batter and the blue fuse, I get a readout that's perfect, but if I connect it to the other end of the main fuse, I get nothing... so confused! I'll attach photos