Electrics help please?

discussion about the 750 Sport and '89/'90 900SS, which share many mechanicals with the Paso series
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Dukiwi
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Dec 19, 2015 6:06 pm
model: 750 Sport
year: 1989
Location: New Zealand

Electrics help please?

Post by Dukiwi »

Hi,

My 89 750s has an odd issue. When it's cold the electrics will cut out entirely. No power at all. The starter does not work and the lights in the dash go out. Leave it a few seconds and it comes to life again and the starter fires her up fine.

I had the seat off looking at the wiring and noticed that the relay under the seat clicks off. Now, I'm not sure there is supposed to be a relay. Has someone before me dine the wiring mod? I've posted a picture here. The relay is a 12v fused thing and attached to a combined block with the flasher.

Is the setup I have here standard?
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Mc tool
paso grand pooh-bah
Posts: 1874
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 12:35 am
model: 906 Paso
year: 1990
Location: Newzealand

Re: Electrics help please?

Post by Mc tool »

That relay is where Id start looking . Check all 4 wires go where they should. One should come from the ignition sw to trigger the relay , and the other end of that should be earthed . There is a power in wire which should come from either the battery or the fuse box , and go to the main elect feed circuit . Seeing as how it all works eventually Id say all the wires arewhere they should be .... you just have a bad connection somewhere..... shouldn't be hard to find :)
I wish I was young again............Id be heaps smarter than last time
Dukiwi
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Dec 19, 2015 6:06 pm
model: 750 Sport
year: 1989
Location: New Zealand

Re: Electrics help please?

Post by Dukiwi »

Thanks mate. I'm inclined to agree with you. The relay could be failing too. Am I right in assuming that the relay on the left with the plastic lid is non standard? I guess it doesn't matter if it is or not, it just needs to work :). But I'd be keen to know either way.
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ducinthebay
paso grand pooh-bah
Posts: 1323
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:00 am
model: 750 Sport
year: 1990
Location: SF Bay Area

Re: Electrics help please?

Post by ducinthebay »

That does look like what is under my seat. Looks all stock to me. Yes, one has a fuse in it.
Mine has a zip tie around the two relays and the block to hold everything in place. I guess a previous owner had some issues, so just left it there.

If you haven't yet, pull every connection apart, clean it off, put some silicone dielectric grease on it, cycle it a few times, and put it all back together. Just making a breaking the connection a few times will vastly improve the connection originally made 25 years ago, and the grease will keep it from corroding further.

Another modification is to drill and tap one of those fins to ground the ECU housing, as well as the voltage regulator up front. Ground loops make for funny gremlins.

Cheers, Phil
Last edited by ducinthebay on Thu Dec 31, 2015 2:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
Duc in the Bay
1990 750 Sport x2-Rosso Blanko (900ss copy) & Nuovo Nudo (Scrambler project)
1991 907 -mostly stock
2002 ST4s - Lots of mods.
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bmw851
Posts: 322
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:02 am
model: other
year: 1988
Location: The Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia

Re: Electrics help please?

Post by bmw851 »

And the same as when I had mine, all looks as it should
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So long, and thanks for all the fish...............

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paso750
paso grand pooh-bah
Posts: 5558
Joined: Sun Jul 18, 2004 12:00 am
model: 750 Paso
year: 1987
Location: southern Germany

Re: Electrics help please?

Post by paso750 »

pull every connection apart, clean it off, put some silicone dielectric grease on it, cycle it a few times, and put it all back together.
Clean the contacts put them together and then apply dielectric grease. It`s an insulator you don`t want that on you elecrical contacts.

I wonder why the protecting rubber boot on the connector to the Digiplex is missing.
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ducinthebay
paso grand pooh-bah
Posts: 1323
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:00 am
model: 750 Sport
year: 1990
Location: SF Bay Area

Re: Electrics help please?

Post by ducinthebay »

Yeah, the name dielectric grease kinda infers an insulator, but mostly it is a barrier to water, dirt, normal grease and oils, and anything else that may conduct electricity from the connection, or promote corrosion. It seals your connection from intrusion of water and debris that will degrade and oxidize the connector bits. Silicone grease is often sold as Tune Up Grease at the autoparts store, and has been in use for years. Its wonderful on your sparkplug caps, as it makes it easy to remove them, and seals out any dirt, dust or moisture.

Any connection should be metal to metal in the first place, and some grease is not going to improve that. But if your connectors are basically good, the grease will help seal that connection on a very micro scale, and keep the metal from oxidizing further.

Cycling the connection will make a great connection today, but oxidation will degrade it slowly over time. Gold is the ideal connector, but short of that, a touch of silicone grease helps brass and zinc live a longer and happier life.

Cheers, Phil
Duc in the Bay
1990 750 Sport x2-Rosso Blanko (900ss copy) & Nuovo Nudo (Scrambler project)
1991 907 -mostly stock
2002 ST4s - Lots of mods.
mickyfinn
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 10:07 am
model: 750 Sport
year: 1988
Location: Australia

Re: Electrics help please?

Post by mickyfinn »

Mine did the same thing, although yours looks different to mine under the seat, mine has 2 X CDI's, I found an 8 pin connector in a black rubber boot under the handlebars on the right hand side that was a bad connection, used some contact cleaner to clean the pins and voila she was all good again, i found that when i turned the steering and the wiring loom moved, the ignition lights would go on and off, if no contact cleaner use a jewellers screwdriver and scrape the pins clean...... must disconnect the battery first though !...... its really hard to put the smoke back in.... once it comes out of something important like a CDI or a regulator
Last edited by mickyfinn on Sat Jan 02, 2016 5:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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