Engine turns over as soon as battery is connected
 

Hi,

Just got my 2000 SV650SY last Friday. I passed my test yesterday, bought myself some leathers and sorted out insurance. Walked my bike down to the bottom of the drive, hopped on it and tried to start it.

It was really struggling to start and after a few tries there was no power left - none of the dash worked when turning the ignition on. :cry:

So, I popped down to halfords and got a charger, moped around for a bit and tried to refit the battery later that evening. After connecting the +ve lead, as soon as the -ve made contact with the battery, the engine started to tick over. (without the key in the ignition!)

First I tried putting the key in, making sure it was set to Off but also tried it in Lock and still the same. This worried me a little so I tried to connected the battery again, this time with the engine-cut off switch on. And it still tried to tick-over :!:

Had a look in the Haynes & also some help from a colleague, and he thinks that the starter relay has become stuck and is causing a connection directly from the battery to the starter motor. I've been informed I can check this by unplugging the other wires from the relay and seeing if it still tries to start.

This theory seems pretty sound to me, but I was wondering if any of you out there might know some more :wink:

Cheers,

Kieran :cry:

Hard lines! Not exactly what you want after just passing your test eh? I can imagine the frustration of not being able to just get on the bugger and away.......
Stuck starter relay sounds like first place to look, maybe a hefty thwack with a solid object can release it before you go to too much agro....GOOD LUCK!

have a good look around on the wiring loom, especially on the frame under the riders seat behind the black panels. The screws that hold the seat on can chaff the wiring.The starter relay is located behind the right hand panel. It's unusual for the starter relay to stick so I'm wondering if it's a short on the start button that's causing it to stay closed.

John

it starts to turn the engine over without the key in the ignition, could it still be a shorted button?

Either the starter solenoid's contacts have fused shut, (rare but not unknown), or the trigger terminal on the solenoid is somehow permanently live, so operating it as if the button were pressed.
Take off the right hand sidepanel and pull the four pin plug out of the socket on the solenoid, if when you reconnect the battery the starter spins, then the solenoid is faulty.
If not, then you have a wiring fault.

cheers for the help guys :)
got to hear the lovely sound of my sv again today.
just re-plugged the wires on the starter relay and gave it a few taps with a screwdriver handle.

now i just need it to stop ****ing down so i can ride it!

Electrics are simple! Altering the weather is the difficult part :P

SV Wiring and little japanese chappies are not always the most careful when routing wires through the chassis.

Glad you have got it going though, at least you can listen to it running in the shed while you do a stop rain dance :lol: