Hello, everyone! This is my first post here. I hope i'll get some help with my problems so here goes:
A few days ago my bike (1993 Kawasaki EN500A - Vulcan 500 ) wouldn't start. All i could hear when pressing the Start button were some clicks in the Junction Box containing the starter relay circuit (as the manual said).
First i thought it was the cold weather (0 to -5 degrees Celsius) but after eliminating the bad battery possibility I ended up assuming it was the starter relay. When i tried jumping the starter relay the starter motor would start spinning. So before I'd order a 120$ new starter relay i took it home for testing/repairing. I opened the starter relay metal case, cleaned the metal parts, assured the moving metal piece had free movement, closed the case. Then i put a voltmeter on the starter relay's small contacts and got continuity (so the coil inside was OK). Then i thought of putting it to the test so I got 12 V from the recharged motorcycle battery and fed them through the small contacts. And the starter relay clicked and did it's job of connecting the two big contacts, thus letting current flow to the starter engine.
I took the starter relay and put it back on the motorcycle. But it still didn't work. So i went on measuring the voltage fed to the starter relay through the 2 wires to the 2 small contacts. I got 10V when pressing the "Start" button.
So what is the problem? Are the 10V not enough to power the starter relay? Is it a bad contact problem (maybe the 2 small contacts on the starter relay). What else can i check before taking it to a mechanic? Could it still be a bad starter relay problem even though when feeding it 12V directly from the motorcycle battery it clicks and does what it is supposed to do?
A few days ago my bike (1993 Kawasaki EN500A - Vulcan 500 ) wouldn't start. All i could hear when pressing the Start button were some clicks in the Junction Box containing the starter relay circuit (as the manual said).
First i thought it was the cold weather (0 to -5 degrees Celsius) but after eliminating the bad battery possibility I ended up assuming it was the starter relay. When i tried jumping the starter relay the starter motor would start spinning. So before I'd order a 120$ new starter relay i took it home for testing/repairing. I opened the starter relay metal case, cleaned the metal parts, assured the moving metal piece had free movement, closed the case. Then i put a voltmeter on the starter relay's small contacts and got continuity (so the coil inside was OK). Then i thought of putting it to the test so I got 12 V from the recharged motorcycle battery and fed them through the small contacts. And the starter relay clicked and did it's job of connecting the two big contacts, thus letting current flow to the starter engine.
I took the starter relay and put it back on the motorcycle. But it still didn't work. So i went on measuring the voltage fed to the starter relay through the 2 wires to the 2 small contacts. I got 10V when pressing the "Start" button.
So what is the problem? Are the 10V not enough to power the starter relay? Is it a bad contact problem (maybe the 2 small contacts on the starter relay). What else can i check before taking it to a mechanic? Could it still be a bad starter relay problem even though when feeding it 12V directly from the motorcycle battery it clicks and does what it is supposed to do?