djmant
3rd August 2009, 21:56
I had my Suzuki NZ250 in the shop a few weeks ago for not starting properly, at which time it was determined that the battery was borked and the electrical system was not charging fully when the lights were on, but would just charge it when they were off.
Since then, I've had to put it on a battery charger every couple days to keep it going without having to push-start it (no kick-start, much to my dismay).
Last Friday, I had it charged fully and rode it from the Heathcote valley to Cass Bay, which is about an 8 km trip. I parked it in the garage and didn't touch it until Monday morning, when I discovered that the battery had almost completely drained itself as it was sitting. It didn't even have enough juice for a push-start.
I charged it for 15 or so minutes, and there was enough juice for a push-start. Rode to work with my battery charger in my pack, and charged the battery for about four hours while I was there.
When I went to start it after reinstalling the battery, I found that the starter relay would click when the button was pressed, but there was no other activity. Oddly, if I put it into gear, the starter motor would labor a bit when the starter was pressed, but nothing if it was in neutral. This was a new problem, as of today. I push-started it and rode home.
Tonight, I charged the battery till it was full, and there's still nothing but a "click" of the relay when the starter is pressed. It won't even do anything in gear now, either.
I checked the battery with my multimeter, and it reads ~12.5v. When I press the starter button, it dips a bit, and the output wires from the starter relay read ~10-11v or so. So power seems like it's getting through, there's just nothing from the starter.
Any ideas would be appreciated, as it's looking like I'm going to have to bus it until I can get this fixed, and I won't be able to afford taking it to a mechanic until the 14th of the Month. :-(
Thanks for your time, sorry for the huge write-up.
Since then, I've had to put it on a battery charger every couple days to keep it going without having to push-start it (no kick-start, much to my dismay).
Last Friday, I had it charged fully and rode it from the Heathcote valley to Cass Bay, which is about an 8 km trip. I parked it in the garage and didn't touch it until Monday morning, when I discovered that the battery had almost completely drained itself as it was sitting. It didn't even have enough juice for a push-start.
I charged it for 15 or so minutes, and there was enough juice for a push-start. Rode to work with my battery charger in my pack, and charged the battery for about four hours while I was there.
When I went to start it after reinstalling the battery, I found that the starter relay would click when the button was pressed, but there was no other activity. Oddly, if I put it into gear, the starter motor would labor a bit when the starter was pressed, but nothing if it was in neutral. This was a new problem, as of today. I push-started it and rode home.
Tonight, I charged the battery till it was full, and there's still nothing but a "click" of the relay when the starter is pressed. It won't even do anything in gear now, either.
I checked the battery with my multimeter, and it reads ~12.5v. When I press the starter button, it dips a bit, and the output wires from the starter relay read ~10-11v or so. So power seems like it's getting through, there's just nothing from the starter.
Any ideas would be appreciated, as it's looking like I'm going to have to bus it until I can get this fixed, and I won't be able to afford taking it to a mechanic until the 14th of the Month. :-(
Thanks for your time, sorry for the huge write-up.