Clutch Switch Issue

jmassengill said:
You can bypass the clutch switch by unplugging the wiring harness from the clutch switch, jump the two outside wires together. See if that helps.
Click to expand...

same with the kickstand switch
 
jmassengill said:
You can bypass the clutch switch by unplugging the wiring harness from the clutch switch, jump the two outside wires together. See if that helps.
Click to expand...

Jumping the black and black/yellow wires is like having the clutch engaged; jumping black and black/red wires is like a released clutch.

Also, at the risk of stating the bloody obvious, if you try jumping the connector, don't forget that you still need to physically engage the clutch before putting it in gear. I only mention it because it sounds like something I'd forget. :biggrin:
 
The irony is almost too much. After getting the brakes done (finally) and an idle problem straightened out (seafoam is wonderful), my wife started out on a test ride, but the bike kept quitting as the clutch was let out when it was in gear. Jumped the clutch switch to make the bike think the clutch lever was released (black jumped to black/red) and worked as it should. Put dielectric grease on the switch connection and now it works right without the jumper wire.

@acevmp, any updates? Your problem may not take any more than some dielectric grease on the connectors, like several folks here suggested.
 
Thanks for the good news... alas no, I cleaned the contacts and greased them and no luck. I have a day off tomorrow so I'll start with my jump testing of all three switches and update you guys.
 
HEY EVERYONE! So my tests with jumping the wires proved conclusive... clutch switch is trashed.... going to order another one soon and that should set things right... the terminals on the kickstand switch were filthy as well and the wires weren't in the best shape so I'll probably replace that as well in the near future but for now there's connectivity. Thanks again for all of the help and support from everyone! Ride safe out there!
 
Update again*

Sooooo the kickstand switch is trash as well... so I ordered that one too.... current set up.. Neutral switch works great, clutch switch is plugged in (but I can't start the bike while the clutch is engaged) so I can only start in Neutral without the clutch pressed which is fine! and I have the kickstand switch bypassed completely. Now I guess I've got another thread coming because my headlight is acting up....

Thanks again, you all have been fantastic!
 
1 red zl9 said:
i did just that 2 years ago and worked 4 me! been fine ever since.
Click to expand...

:hello: WD-40 has many uses. I even used it to take indelible marker off of furniture & wood work. Also small oil stains in concrete. They now have WD-40 with silicone. It is not good to use on firearms or anything else that you do not want hardware to loosen up.
 
Turns out the quitting problem I was having a few days ago wasn't the clutch switch after all, but the kickstand switch plunger sticking and not releasing all the way -- WD40 fixed that. When I greased the clutch switch, the plunger must have by chance popped out. It looked like the greasing fixed the problem, but found out different the next morning ... leaving for the state inspection (aargh).

The big difference between what you're seeing and the bike here is that our bike quit only when the clutch was being released, whereas yours was quitting with the clutch all the way in. The way all these safety switches work together can make it a bear to pinpoint the problem.

Glad you got it figured out.
 
Yeah it's strange... with the current set up the bike has to start in neutral with no clutch but I'm starting to think the switch might be okay but the wiring is wrong... where the clutch switch connects I have a black and yellow wire far left (when standing at the front wheel looking at the tail) d... a yellow and green wire far right and a kind of sea foam colored wire in the middle... where's my red wire! ?
I just figured the harness might have been borrowed from another bike and used to fit but now I'm not sure.... the joys of a new to me bike ha ha ha :)
 
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Maybe what you're seeing and what I see is a difference between the '86 and '87 bikes, or it may be that we're looking in different places on the bikes. Here's how mine's set up:

At the clutch lever, there's a 3-pin connector with the black, black/yellow, and black/red wires leading in from the wiring harness. If I straddle the front wheel and face toward the rear, the connector plugs in from left to right, so my 3 wires are arranged from front to back -- black/yellow towards the rear, black/red in the middle, and black towards the front of the bike.

The black and black/red wires from the connector above go to a 2-pin connector as you move away from the clutch lever and further back into the wiring harness; on the other side of this connector they become yellow/green and light green (seafoam?), respectively. The black/yellow wire from the connector at the lever goes to a separate 9-pin connector (I think in the headlight housing), and is still black/yellow on the other side of the connector. The colors on the opposite side of the second set of connectors are the ones you describe, I think.

So ... it may be that we're looking at different connectors in the circuit, or maybe the wire colors didn't change at the second set of connectors on your year's bike. Disregarding wire colors, the symptoms you're seeing are right in line with the clutch switch being bad. If the jump tests you did made sense, I'd say the chances that the wiring is hooked up wierd is small.
 
salamander said:
Maybe what you're seeing and what I see is a difference between the '86 and '87 bikes, or it may be that we're looking in different places on the bikes. Here's how mine's set up:

At the clutch lever, there's a 3-pin connector with the black, black/yellow, and black/red wires leading in from the wiring harness. If I straddle the front wheel and face toward the rear, the connector plugs in from left to right, so my 3 wires are arranged from front to back -- black/yellow towards the rear, black/red in the middle, and black towards the front of the bike.

The black and black/red wires from the connector above go to a 2-pin connector as you move away from the clutch lever and further back into the wiring harness; on the other side of this connector they become yellow/green and light green (seafoam?), respectively. The black/yellow wire from the connector at the lever goes to a separate 9-pin connector (I think in the headlight housing), and is still black/yellow on the other side of the connector. The colors on the opposite side of the second set of connectors are the ones you describe, I think.

So ... it may be that we're looking at different connectors in the circuit, or maybe the wire colors didn't change at the second set of connectors on your year's bike. Disregarding wire colors, the symptoms you're seeing are right in line with the clutch switch being bad. If the jump tests you did made sense, I'd say the chances that the wiring is hooked up weird is small.
Click to expand...


Okay, good to know I'm not just being ridiculous, but I thought I'd mention it anyway... I ripped the switch apart just to be thorough (making sure both springs were springing in the right place when the plunger was pushed, making sure leads an contacts weren't bent out of shape and everything looks to be in place (after all, there is connectivity because the circuit is complete allowing the bike to start... here's a photo of the three pin at the switch...

http://www.zl-oa.com/forums/album.php?albumid=681&attachmentid=15870

as you can see, i just have the 3 pin connector and the black/yellow is joined with the yellow/Green and light green (seafoam came to mind first, maybe because my daughter is big on the little mermaid right now; she's 3 :) ) so it looks like on my bike it skips the two pin to three pin connection (along with the wire color change) but the wiring seems sound anyway.
 
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