Electrical Mystery

[Dr. Frankenstein]

I was going to put this in the Electrical category, but I see that section is still overrun with spam, so I'll put it here -

I put my newly repaired switch in and it works great, or Seems to - yesterday I hooked up the battery and associated cabling and got it to crank, which is nice; the only problem is, it cranks while the switch is in Position#1 (bottom), AND Position #3, without me hitting the start button!

I figure I have a hot short somewhere, or could it be I reassembled the switch wrong? Could there be a wire in the harness hooked up wrong? I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to figuring out schematics.

The tail light also comes on in those positions when this occurs. The horn button also does not work, but that could be because of the rusty horn itself - I DO have continuity to it, but the shell is pretty rusted, although the innards look OK, and tested good...

[rrietman]

your start button is shorting to ground. if so then it should also spin the starter in pos 4. the horn is not related, probably doesn't work at all---most don't.
Good luck
Randy

[Dr. Frankenstein]

I'll have to go back and check again, but I think it does not do it in Position 4; it's a 5-position switch, and again I need to confirm this, but it appears to crank all by itself in positions 1 and 3. The tail light comes on when this happens too. I will confirm and report back.

I'll take the switch apart too. I did look, though, and it appeared to be OK, but that little shield over the button was in the way; I had a similar problem with my KZ650 that turned out to be just a slight contact with one of the wires in the switch housing. They pack a lot of wires into that switch, so its a possibility.

[Geoff Hastings]

To make the starter solenoid operate, the yellow and red wire going to the handle bar button is earthed when you push the button. If the engine spins over as soon as you turn the ignition switch on then the yellow and red wire must be either trapped or the button stuck. You could disconnect it at the joint in the head light, if it still spins the engine then go back to the solenoid and disconnect the thin wire. If it still spins over then the solenoid is stuck.