Complete electrical breakdown on 380

[Ramjam]

Hi
Im fixing the gear lever on the 380 which hasn't been ridden for over a year and i connect the battery ...but there's nothing. Zero. No neuttral light, indicators. Absolutely nothng. Checked obvious things, fuse and earth straps. What am i missing here? Please help. There is no drain on the battery also, even with the key in the on position, if that helps

MJ

[karl pa]

I am assuming you have a good charged battery, you should check fuse out lead for power,sometimes the old fuse holders lose connection, if you have 12 volts there, then pull the headlight out of the bucket and check voltage on the red wire to ignition switch, should have 12 volts, if not you have a problem between fuse and ignition switch, then with ignition switch on you should have 12 volts on the orange wire coming from ignition switch, if not it could be a problem with the ignition switch. the orange wire feeds many things, so if you don't have power on it not much will work.

[dorT500]

Same thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago and a couple of times many years ago. Two different causes. Most recent time was when I came back to the bike after running an errand. First thing I did was to check the fuse. Then, with ignition on and kill switch off the run position, I just reached down and jiggled the main harness where it splits off to the ignition switch (below the fuel tank on a T500) and I saw the neutral light come on. Have not dived into it yet...just secured it a little better with a zip tie. Should be simple enough to find when I get some time and when it's not so bloody hot and humid around here.

The time it happened before wound up being the original factory 'quik connect' battery lead. Part ref# 11 and 12 on the GT380 parts fiche. Broken just inside the rubber molded connector I guess. The break was not evident just looking at the connector. I replaced it with the same thing but a cheap chinese made one from an auto supply. Long story short.... it happened again close to a year later. I think I replaced it with a factory spare I found or I bought a higher quality one...I don't remember but it has not been a problem since.  Since it could be an intermittent problem, I would do some jiggling of the wires around the battery and ignition along with just looking for something to come on and using a multi-meter as needed.



Also, remember, a fuse can look good but can still be defective....rare, but it can and has happened.

Good Luck

[Ramjam]

UPDATE
I pulled off the headlight bowel and put tested the red lead, which i assume comes from the fat cluster of wires and goes directly towards the back of the bike. The red lead shows 12 v is there so im guessing this is a problem with the ignition barrel? What else could it be?

I fitted an after sales ignition barrel about 5 years ago. Is it possbile that its cheap and nasty and has just fallen apart inside?

any views, always appreciated


MJ

UPDATE 2
I found the problem. The ignition barrel (inside) was not connecting. I chucked a load of WD into it and switched it back and forth a dozens times and it light up. MORAL of the story for 380 owners - DONT buy cheap after market ignition barrels as mine was only 5 years old before cheap parts inside started corroding (and Lebanon is not even a dmap or humid place, execept for 6 weeks in the summer). I should have bought a junk yard one (original). Would have saved a lot of time.

Martin in Beirut

[Indy650]

Glad you found out what was going on. Its amazing what a little corrosion can do. Ive seen where fuses were good but where they connected in the holder was corroded and cutting the connection. you couldn't see it you had to remove the fuse to even tell. I put electric grease on all my connections you should put some in the ignition if you can. even a spray silicon or white lithium spray would work. Good luck and have fun riding!

[dollydog]

suzuki gt wiring is pretty easy as they kept [mostly] the same colours all through the series. a red wire is ALWAYS live when the battery is connected. orange is live when the ignition is ON. black/white wires always earth.
cheers, dd.