Any Ideas?

[polluxtroy]

Hi ppl, first post! My zx-7r starts from jump leads, but dies when they are removed and the lights are switched on, also the green light glows up and down with the revs, could it be the battery? Rectifier? Or alternator? Thanks ppl!

[suprajztwenty]

sounds like a little of both. but you need to start with a new battery, or make sure yours will hold a charge-set it on low charge overnight and check the voltage with a meter, if it drops reasonably fast you have a bad cell in the battery(examp: reading says 12.61>12.60>12.59 and so on, mine dropped a tenth of a volt about every second..obviously a bad cell.

once youve determined that you have a good or bad battery then you can start testing the charging system. the way you describe the lights to come on stronger at higher rpms makes me think that you wont find a problem with the altenator...but somtimes at idle it wont put anything out at all.

start with the cheapest and easiest things first, charge the battery 0dollars, test the battery 0dollars, finding out your only problem was a simple fix-priceless...goodluck and let me know if you run into a bigger problem

[polluxtroy]

I full trickle charged the battery, it reads ok on the multimeter ( it seems to be holding a charge ok) The bike still only starts from jump leads ( car not running ) and warms up and idles ok, if I switch on low beam light it still runs but as soon as i go to full beam lights it just dies. Any ideas? Thank you very much for your answer it has at least got me on the right track!

[polluxtroy]

I forgot to add, when the lights were on and the ignition still in the "on" position but the bike wasn't running, the multimeter was reading around two volts, then as soon as the ignition was switched off the battery went back up to full power. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks guys.

[Chief]

Unhook the battery cables and test them with a multimeter. You should get 12 volts from the generator. If it's not reading close to that, then there is your problem. The battery will not have enough power to run all the electronics by itself.

Good Luck

[polluxtroy]

Originally Posted by Chief

Unhook the battery cables and test them with a multimeter. You should get 12 volts from the generator. If it's not reading close to that, then there is your problem. The battery will not have enough power to run all the electronics by itself.

Good Luck

Forgive my noobishness Chief, but do i disconnect the battery leads whilst the bike is running then test? I'm pretty new to this as i'm sure you can see. Thanks for the reply mate!!!!

[tone1378]

this might sound a little easy but have you tried disconnecting the battery leads and cleaning the terminals really good to get any corrosion off and when reconnecting makes sure you are getting a good connection... its very humid here in va and i have seen many cars have this prob... good luck

[polluxtroy]

Hi Tone, the leads are clean and free of corrosion, thanks for the input! One thing that puzzles me is why the bike will start from jump leads but not from the ( edit ) charged battery, along with the other problems!

[polluxtroy]

Bike is still not running. It starts ok from jump leads ( car not running ) But as soon as the bike is put in gear it stops, and the lights dim same as if the main beam was switched on, this has really got me stumped, any help HUGELY appreciated, thanks guys.

[tone1378]

do you have anyone near you with another battery that you could swap out to see if its ur battery? I'm not sure about the auto stores over there but many of them around here will test the battery for u...

[polluxtroy]

Quick update before I go buy a new battery, when the bike is idling after being jump started, it measures 15 or so volts, and 16.4 at around 4k rpm, is this normal? Thanks guys for all your replies!

[GreenT]

looks like your charging system is a bit high but that shouldn't cause your problem. I am thinking it is a weak battery. Sure it can have 12volts when you test it but amperage-wise it does not. You connecting the jumper leads from another battery gives me this clue and when you turn on high beams and the lights goes off is another clue as well. High beams requires more watt/work load on your battery.

Normally if your battery are low and you jump or pushed start your bike it will keep running. However, if the battery is completely dead it will not. Don't ask me how I know this by heart

Try this... get your bike started and keep the revs up. Then switch your lowbeams to high. With the added RPM it should be ok to run your highbeams.

Then let go of the throttle and it should dim or shuts off.

So far everything leads to a depleted battery internal. You can try to open it up and add more electrolyte but once the lead plates are gone..then it's basically worthless to try this.

You can like the other poster said..to have a shop amp test your battery for you.

good luck.. hopes it helps. If you have more questions pm me. I'll try my best.

[polluxtroy]

Thank you for the reply greenT! I rang a local Kawasaki dealer and they said that the voltage output being so high meant that the alternator/regulator/rectifier was the problem, tbh I still think it may be the battery, although the kawasaki manual states 14.2-14.8v should be the input whilst at 4k rpm's. If anyone could clarify it would be a great help!!!!

[suprajztwenty]

the way you describe the severe voltage drop with the lights on high beam makes me think there may be a short elsewhere in the harness-this could also drain the battery and kill it over time, just by sitting there. definatly get the battery tested before you go and spend big money on a new one. what you should do is look at the harness connector where the ignition switch plugs in-mine has high resistance and got really hot-and shorted some wires together, so even with the key out and ignition in the locked position it would still crank, wouldnt start but would crank.

with the altenator putting out 15-16 volts, id think its in very good working order and the obvious problem is your battery. i wouldnt try and run the bike very long with that battery, the altenator is under a heavy duty and you can actually do more damage than its worth.

so first, test it-replace if necessary (if a new battery doesnt fix, atleast youve got a good backup battery you can keep charged-so if you still have a problem its faster to throw a new battery in than charge the dead one-its easier on the dead battery as well-many charges and discharges will fry the lead plates fast)

if the battery isnt the problem and you tested the altenator with the bike running and leads disconnected, and say the altenator IS ok...you should pull the entire harness and inspect throughout

i found a short in my charging wires deep in the middle of the harness...note:wear gloves when removing old electrical tape-itll be a mess. also spend some money on a new protective loom and some 3m tape-makes it look brand new and professional. i had about 5 wires to repair in mine, 4 were ignition wires that got hot and the main brown wire after the altenator got chaffed at some point in time.
also, if you decide to pull the harness, i found it easier to hang each end up in the air-just zip tie them to somthing sturdy, it makes it really easy to cut the old tape off, perfect for inspection, and the easiest way i found to wind tape around it.

hope you nail it with the battery, let us know whats up

[ZX7Project]

Originally Posted by polluxtroy

Bike is still not running. It starts ok from jump leads ( car not running ) But as soon as the bike is put in gear it stops, and the lights dim same as if the main beam was switched on, this has really got me stumped, any help HUGELY appreciated, thanks guys.

When put in gear and it shutting down sounds a lot like a Clutch Switch/Kickstand Switch Problem.

Clutch in and Kickstand up when you are trying to put in gear, Right?

[bdruggan10R]

Check the voltage regulator

[suprajztwenty]

by the looks of things id assume the battery fixed the problem??

[polluxtroy]

Originally Posted by suprajztwenty

by the looks of things id assume the battery fixed the problem??

It did indeed, thanks for all your help guys, it really annoyed me though when the local dealer could have steered me better.

[davewaibel]

dealers are lame- its amazing what they cant figure out-