perplexed with an electrical problem By erinsdad (Read 592 times)

[erinsdad]

Hey everyone!! I hope your day rolled along much better than mine did!! I have a little problem with my scooter thought you could help. JR once helped me track down some problems. Thanks! JR. Anyway... here's the problems (s). It started about a week ago. Something totally random would crop up & fail on me. Then yesterday, everything shut down, came back up then shut down again. Did this 3 times. Then, it just went down. So, I walked it over under a shade tree & started in with my multimeter. What I soon found out is that everything had really good continuity. No scratches or dings in the wires except those I already fixed. It was the voltage. I am not getting voltage through the black wires only. With my scoot black wires are the power wires. Every other wire was working fine. This is where I remember that article JR hooked me up with. He said to always start at the key switch & work your way back. I tell ya, today has been too rough on my back and my eyes. I checked everything. With out the keys, with the keys turned to on, and with the motor running, believe it or not! So the verdict for today is that the black wires still don't work. I was VERY surprised that the motor would even start. Only problem the is you cannot shut it down with the key or anything else, except the kill switch. I just made one, came really handy today! I had an extra unused light switch on the hand grip. OH!!! one more thing!! I did get it to work once, I hooked up my battery to a few black wires & everything magically started working again until I shut it down.
So, if anyone has some answers for me please let me know!! A Minnesota winter is just around the corner! I'd like to ride a few more days!!

[tvnacman]

The black wire on the ignition switch get power via the red wire on the ignition switch . I would check for power at the red wire on the ignition switch . Then if I had power there , I would turn the ignition switch to the run position and check for power on the black . If the black is dead , insert a jumper from red to black see if things come back to life . I would recheck the grounds . Take a wire connect to the negative battery and put it to the green on the ignition switch , start the engine and see if it will shut down with the key in the off position .

You never stated where you were getting ground for your black wire testing .

John

[JR]

TV is right on, remember electrical gremlins are a process of elimination. After checking for power on the black wire on the key switch if it is dead like TV said just unplug the key switch and jump the red to black and then see if the horn, blinkers, brake lights work and see if the starter will turn over.

Then if you start it with it running just jump the green to the black/white and see if it dies, if so then it's time for a key switch.

[erinsdad]

Hello John,
I got the ground from the battery, the frame and from the individual items as I was testing. I think the best was probably from the battery.

[tvnacman]

Oct 8, 2013 19:18:13 GMT -6 erinsdad said:

Hello John,
I got the ground from the battery, the frame and from the individual items as I was testing. I think the best was probably from the battery.

yes and no , the reason being if your tracing a power/voltage present problem , using a ground from the battery is best . However if the ground in the area where that is giving problems and you use a different ground point you will get a good reading . If you use the local/closet ground point and that ground is not good you will not get a good reading with meter/tester .



John

[erinsdad]

Hey guys!! Wonderful weather outside! Just wish I was out there in it.My scooter is still not working properly, but when it gets cold, I'll bring it in & do the work inside. Not much has changed since I last posted. Most electrics are still failed. What IS working is the rear tail light, turn signals. Kill switch & the
red from the key switch, Black from the key switch NOT working, even jumping it as you suggested.
I've ordered a new key switch,hopefully that won't be much of a problem.

Just one more thing if you please.
When I bought this scooter approx. 3 yrs ago, God!! Was I a newbie!!! Anyway, I was poring over the Internet for anything I could find about my scooter- NOT MUCH! It was running in favor of headlights be on only when motor is running. For the last 6-8 months, it's been running just the opposite. Motor not running, headlight works with key in off position, and rear taillight identical to the headlight. Any thoughs??
Many thanks!!!!!

[erinsdad]

sorry, headlights in the ON position

[JR]

For the last 6-8 months, it's been running just the opposite. Motor not running, headlight works with key in off position, and rear taillight identical to the headlight. Any thoughts??

Wait a minute hold the bus! Lights working with the key off? You've got a shorted out R/R or wires crossed? Now if you meant the lights will work just by turning on the key then you've either got the black wire from the key switch crossed with the head/tail light wire usually brown or the R/R is shorted out causing battery power to go from red to yellow on the R/R?

[erinsdad]

My dear old dad used to say "Always keep spares of the parts you don't need". And he was a nuclear submariner! Scary stuff!
Yeah, my headlight goes on when you turn the key on (not started) and sometimes vice versa. I figure it can't be THAT hard, there's only 4 wires!