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Electrical issues- solenoid?

3K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  Denae84 
#1 ·
Hi all,

My '06 has some gremlins in the electrics and I'm kinda stumped. I've got a fresh new battery but and when I put my meter on the solenoid poles, with the ignition off, I get a steady 12.8v. Switched on, it instantly drops to ~1.3v and I'm getting nothing to light up on the instrument panel. Is this indicative of a burned out solenoid?

Thanks for any ideas!!!!


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#2 ·
It could well be a dodgy solenoid. They can play buggery when they muck up.

I'd also check any earth points on your bike. Between engine and frame, srater motor and engine/frame if applicable and from the negative pole on the battery to the frame if any. Often bad earths can cause a lot of strange issues too.

If that still fails to rectify the issue, check the connection between the solenoid and starter motor. Or any wiring around the battery, anything else that runs from the battery via the ignition switch. (I.e. Alarms etc...)

It sounds likely that you've got a short to earth, a bad earth, or some major resistance on one of your leads going somewhere?
Electrical issues can be the hardest buggers to trace, but I often find the simplest solution is usually the right one. Earth problems normally...

Good Luck!
 
#4 ·
Haha, no problem at all!

Glad it got you sorted out and running again.

I'd say in all of the cases with electrical issues I deal with at work, around 70% usually come back to bad/faulty earths. I've made it almost a habit to check the earth first when dealing with them.

Happy riding!
 
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