Faulty Ignition Barrel ???

[leegriffiths128]

Got on bike today after finishing work, turned on ignition and.......nothing..kapput,nadda,dead as Barrymores career.

Now I'm guessing that I have accidentally turned the key one click too many when I left the bike this morning and left the parking light on all day.

Would it be so difficult for Suzuki to fit a gizmo that beeps for a few seconds if you activate the parking light ? Surely I must not be the first plonka to have done this [-o< :oops: Suppose it all boils down to keeping the bike to a budget price.

Anyway, just need to check......the battery is 12V isn't it before I blow the thing up charging it !!

Thanks all.

Edit: This post has been edited...original problem incorrect- please see further details in thread. Thanks

[Razor]

12 volt yes indeed.
Certificate of muppetry is being despatched to your location as I type.

[leegriffiths128]

Ha ha...thanks Razor mate. Thankfully Mrs Griffiths isn't such a bad type and made an hours round trip to pick me and battery up.

Charging as we speak.....ahem, battery that is, not Mrs Griffiths.

[Mr Toad]

On the naked bikes you can remove the parking bulb - problem solved :thumbsup:

Not sure about faired bikes - try it when you've charged your battery

[leegriffiths128]

Good idea Mr Toad....might look into that suggestion. :thumbsup:

[Blue_SV650S]

my replies to this thread might intrest you? http://forums.sv650.org/viewtopic.php?p=510750&highlight=#510750

:)

[Ed]

Surely I must not be the first plonka to have done this [-o< :oops:

Indeed not :oops: :oops:

[Sid Squid]

Would it be so difficult for Suzuki to fit a gizmo that beeps for a few seconds if you activate the parking light?...Suppose it all boils down to keeping the bike to a budget price.

Why this? Would you like a buzzer or perhaps a warning light to tell you when you'd pulled the clutch in? :lol:

[Stig]

On the naked bikes you can remove the parking bulb - problem solved :thumbsup:

Not sure about faired bikes - try it when you've charged your battery

Correct me if I am wrong, but the parking position not only turns on the side light bulb at the front, but also turns on your rear lights :?: I would have suggested that it was the rear lights that would drain the battery far quicker than the front light. Not very practical to take those lights out also. :?

I'm sure that now you have been through this scenario, your unlikely to go through it again.

[Mr Toad]

. . . also turns on your rear lights :?:


#-o

I'll check it at lunchtime, but you could be right

[copper kettle]

Yeah it turns on the rear light too. I remember walking up to my bike not so long ago and seeing the rear lights beaming away, as they now must have been for 9 hours. Anyway if the lights are on then there is enough juice in the batteries to start her up right? Wrong. After 6 times pushing the bike up the ramp (of the underground car park) and trying to bump it on the way back down (twice with the fecking kill switch on :oops: ) i was knackered and foretunately another biker in his car had some leads and managed to jump it. Now i always have a little look back to make sure those dasteredly parking lights are off.

Dan

[JakeRS]

does anyone actually use the parking lights? :?

[TEL]

Nope, not me...... :)

[GSXR Carlos]

only the one time i killed my battery :lol:

[leegriffiths128]

Ok....so the Muppet Certificate isn't needed.

Took the battery home last night to charge it, refitted to bike at work this morning.....still nothing. Turns out I hadn't left lights on after all (didn't think I had to be honest as I normally have a rearward glance to check but thought I may have missed it what with bright daylight and all).

So calls Mr AA man to get me home. After 15 minutes fiddling he manages to get the bike started by by-passing the ignition switch with a fuse and some wire (very technical I know :( )

Some peeps on here may recall that I had a similar problem 7 or 8 months ago when the ignition barrel had to be replaced as a terminal had melted inside (this is what the Dealer told me anyway). Anyhow Mr AA man (top bloke) seems to think this is a reoccurence of the same problem.

Just got off the phone from the dealers who have basically said its nowt to do with them as the bike is now out of warranty. Does this sound right to you guys ? Thought the workmanship would have some kind of guarantee. Also, doesn't sound as thought they tracked down the original problem to start with. Ignition barrels should last the life of the bike I would have thought, I'm thinking something else is wrong to cause a second one (possibly) to fail.

Well I have to call Suzuki GB tomorrow to see what they say but just thought I'd run it by the experts first.

Cheers everyone.

[Blue_SV650S]

Some peeps on here may recall that I had a similar problem 7 or 8 months ago when the ignition barrel had to be replaced as a terminal had melted inside (this is what the Dealer told me anyway).

Are you running non standard/high wattage headlight bulbs?

[leegriffiths128]

No - everything on the bike is totally standard apart from the exhaust.

[Blue_SV650S]

Humm, unless you have just been extremely unfortunate and had 2 carp ignition switches, this does point to something more sinister causing it to burn out.

Do you have a multimeter? It might be worth checking the current drain from the battery when the ignition is on and bike is running. That said if it was too much surely the fuses would have popped by now?!?!

Do you know which contacts have burnt out??? This would aid prognosis.

[leegriffiths128]

Well to be honest I can't say for 100% sure that its the ignition...just that the AA man said all things pointed to this.

Hmmm not got multimeter......got a big drill and huge hammer if that helps !! All I know is that the AA fella put the wire and fuse on the orange (ignition wire ?) from the box under the riders seat. Sorry for the vagueness.

[Spiderman]

This isnt going to help but it'll give you a giggle.

The only time i did leave my parking lights on the guy from the shop next door came to tell me. I laughed and told him he's wrong as my lights go off when i switch my ignition off. He insisted. While i lauhed at him for being such a fool. I even waited till he left before i casualy wandered out to see what he's on about.

:oops: :oops: :oops: Did i feel a tw@ or what. :( i'd only had the bike a month or so and didnt know about that. :oops: Doh

Went and thanked the guy with a stoopid look on my face too.

:lol: i am such an idiot sometimes

[leegriffiths128]

Same kinda thing happened to me Peter Parker......thats why I was pretty sure I hadn't left them on yesterday - I'd already done it once before so I always check now !

[Spiderman]

hope you fix whatever it is, and dont mention pp, its a secret ya know

[GSXR Carlos]

hope you fix whatever it is, and dont mention pp, its a secret ya know

Peter Pecker :?:

[Blue_SV650S]

Well to be honest I can't say for 100% sure that its the ignition...just that the AA man said all things pointed to this.

Hmmm not got multimeter......got a big drill and huge hammer if that helps !! All I know is that the AA fella put the wire and fuse on the orange (ignition wire ?) from the box under the riders seat. Sorry for the vagueness.

Ah, I see, well it could just be that the contacts in the ignition are corroded. Does the bike spend much time open to the elements?

Try spraying some WD40 into the ignition lock and switching it back and forth (on and off) lots.

Do all the lights come on, it just doesn’t turn over?? If they do, is it possible that he just shorted the starter solenoid out to make the starter motor turn?? If this is the case then it is probably faulty wiring to the starter solenoid , perhaps not the ignition itself burnt out.

If the lights come on, then you can short the starter yourself. Do you know what the starter solenoid looks like?

[leegriffiths128]

Hello...thanks for your reply.

Bike is garaged and kept undercover whilst at work so no, it doesn't get much weather at it.

Also, there was nothing at all when the key was turned - no lights, Fuel pump, nothing.

Hopefully I'm gonna get someone to look at it this weekend (fingers crossed) so I will post the outcome. Don't really want to go back to Dealership as I have no faith in them whatsoever - I'm sure theyr'e top mechanics but they are under constant pressure to get the jobs cleared as quickly as possible

[leegriffiths128]

No-one got any ideas on this problem.....any thoughts would be really appreciated before it goes to the mechanics on Tuesday ?