Pressed starter button no lights

[gbrauck1]

Hi Everyone,
I have an 07 Ninja 250r I bought new and have driven the heck out of it for twelve years. I have done all sorts of maintenance from valve adjustments to the usual timing chain tensioner problems.....

That being said, I know my way around the bike pretty well and I have done my own repairs on many bikes since the time that dinosaurs walked the earth.

Now to my problem...

Yesterday I had my ninja out for a short ride and when I pressed the starter button I heard one click and my indicator lights went out.

I pushed the bike all the way home, took all the fairings and the tank off, got out my multi tester thinking the key ignition switch failed.

Key ignition switch has continuity and the voltage is fine to the brown wire from the key switch.

Followed the ignition voltage path all over the place and I was reading the voltage at my junction box and the brown is hot to it at normal voltage, but my fuse hot side to ground read much lower.

At one point I managed to get the indicator lights on and bright ( fooling at the junction box connections ) and I sounded the horn, (fine) and when I depressed the starter button the same thing happened. One click near the junction box / starter solenoid area and no lights whatsoever on the dash again.

I am out there fooling around at the junction box for an hour and can't get the lights on by accident again.

My question is this.....

What should the voltage read on the hot side of the fuse terminals? What I am reading inside that box is way lower than the brown hot wire that feeds it.

Anybody have a clue???

I appreciate this site. It has helped me so much in the past.

Thanks in advance,

Gregg

[gbrauck1]

PS: The clutch switch is inop and I have been starting fine for years in neutral. The kick stand switch is bypassed.... never liked that thing. The neutral switch is fine.

[DannoXYZ]

Hi and welcome to Ninjette!

Need some more specific info on what you're doing. Please mark on junction-box where you are performing these operations:

the brown is hot to it at normal voltage, but my fuse hot side to ground read much lower.

??? What is "hot side to ground"? Do you have a wire going directly from fuse to ground? Mark on picture where you are measuring.

At one point I managed to get the indicator lights on and bright ( fooling at the junction box connections )

please write this out as step-by-step instructions (like baking cookies) so that someone else can repeat your operations. i.e.

1. Grab #2 wire on smaller connector 13mm from where it entre housing
2. Rotate left 37-degrees
3. Tug on wire with 200gm force
4. Rotate right 64-degrees
5. Push on wire with 250gm force

That way, someone else can perform same operation and figure out what changed. And you can repeat procedure to get it working again.

[DannoXYZ]

To gather more data for analysis, pull every fuse and measure its resistance across legs:

Fuse 1 = ??? Ohms
Fuse 2 =
Fuse 3 =
etc.



Also if fuse legs look grey or white, rub them with pencil eraser until they are silver and shiny.

[Triple Jim]

Did you verify that the battery connections are clean and tight?

[gbrauck1]

So I've been playing around today and apparently.... my one year old battery that has been in room temperature on a battery saver over the winter.... that reads 13.9 volts all the time, that has not failed me yet this year... may be stupid.

I plugged the battery saver trickle charger in today and it reads green..... FULLY CHARGED.... but when I leave it connected for a half hour or so the dash lights light up.

When I depress the starter button the dash lights go dark.

I'm wondering if this one year old battery that has more than the required voltage cannot draw the required amps to start the engine....

Or is my starter relay failing me????

[gbrauck1]

In answer to all your questions, yes, yes, and yes.

I misspoke when I mentioned the ground..... I was reading normal voltage at the brown ( powering junction box ) and lower voltage inside on hot side of fuse connections. Now I have battery saver connected and I have full voltage when I measure the hot ends of the fuse seats...

I am still a self-taught fairly experienced individual when it comes to checking the obvious electrical issues. That being said I am far from being a grizzled veteran at this perplexing electrical snafu annoying mess.

I am dubious now about my battery. Maybe the polar vortex killed it even with the battery saver connected.....

It could be a heat issue.

It is really F-n hot the last week here in northern Illinois.

[gbrauck1]

Also, the low readings in my fuse box are normal with the battery saver connected.

[gbrauck1]

To gather more data for analysis, pull every fuse and measure its resistance across legs:

Fuse 1 = ??? Ohms
Fuse 2 =
Fuse 3 =
etc.



Also if fuse legs look grey or white, rub them with pencil eraser until they are silver and shiny.

Did pull the junction box and performed the manual's test procedures and the accessory circuit did fail but all those terminals are not being used.

[DannoXYZ]

Simple test to find problem and fix this:

1. Measure battery voltage
2. Measure battery voltage while pushing START button

[gbrauck1]

Battery voltage when all is off 13.7 volts.

Turn the switch on at the ( key ) and voltage is at 4.7.

I put a different charger on the battery and provided 10 amps and the starter relay clicked and the fuse box buzzed. No cranking on the starter.

[DannoXYZ]

Forget charger, battery is no good. Your battery has no storage capacity. Doesn't matter how big of charger you use.

Voltage should stay at 13.7v when you turn key ON.
Voltage should not drop below 10v when you press START button. Do this test to fully confirm battery is kaput.

Another test to really put nail in coffin, is to jump-start bike. Find auto-battery in good condition, it can start car. Leave car off and connect jumper cables. Wiggle clamps on both ends to get good bite. Start bike now.

[gbrauck1]

Had the battery on a charge for several hours this afternoon. Turned the key to on position and the dash lights lit up dim and then brightened. Slow progression from low to high in brightness.

I read the battery once the lights were bright. It read 12.7 volts. I pressed the start button and the relay clicks once and the lights dimmed, and slowly brightened as before.

Ordered a new battery and hopefully it will solve the problem.

Thanks for replying Danno....

If I fix this you can book him....

I'll keep you posted when I get the new battery....

All the best,

~Gregg

[DannoXYZ]

[Alex]

/moved to pre-gen tech area

[DannoXYZ]

@gbrauck1 Gregg, what was final result of this with new battery? Did that get bike to start OK?

Originally Posted by gbrauck1

Had the battery on a charge for several hours this afternoon. Turned the key to on position and the dash lights lit up dim and then brightened. Slow progression from low to high in brightness.

I read the battery once the lights were bright. It read 12.7 volts. I pressed the start button and the relay clicks once and the lights dimmed, and slowly brightened as before.

Ordered a new battery and hopefully it will solve the problem.

Thanks for replying Danno....

If I fix this you can book him....

I'll keep you posted when I get the new battery....

All the best,

~Gregg