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1989 GL1500 suddenly died electronically

1165 Views 11 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  Bikeseoul90, 
Bikeseoul90
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Hi, just out with the wife and suddenly all power is lost as if the kill switch was made. Turned it off, waited and it restarted and ran for about 1 minute then died again. This happened a couple of times and then she never started again. Battery's good. Turns over but does not fire. No spark from the plug so started checking ignition system. Fuel is present as I can smell it when I turn it over. Checked the primary and secondary resistance on ignition coils. Cylinders 5 & 6 show open circuit on secondary. Other two coils check out. What confuses me is if the other coils are good why won't it fire up on 4 cylinders?

comments appreciated

cheers
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agnogel
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hi what it sounds like is one of the pulse genarators is cracked they can open when hot and when the bike cools a bit fire up again you have two in the timeing belt housing there is a small hole in each one with a silver disc inside if the disc is coroded its normaly gone forgot to mention you can test from one of the connectors at the right hand fan cant remember witch one but you can follow the wires up from the timeing cover
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Hatchetman
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Or a bank angle sensor????
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Bikeseoul90
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Cheers guys, I shall check these out. I don't suspect the bank angle sensor as I believe it stops fuel and electrics and the fuel is present, however I shall check out the pulse generators.

much appreciated for the response.
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plainmech
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had similar problem w/ my 87 1200a, turned out to be kill switch, took it apart cleaned and new dielectric grease and everything was fine. very simple job, only invest was time:action::waving:
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jemj
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I would kep it simple first and checkthe wiring, supply and feed to and from the kill switch.
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P
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Same problem to me today. Cruising along and bam no power. Turned the key off and then turned it back on and it fired right up. It happened once last year and this is the first time it has happened since.
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Bikeseoul90
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Well, I was led on a bit of a wild goose chase with one of the coils not giving the correct reading. However taking all the advice given and using a CD that I purchased for the GL 1500 I started checking the rest of the starting system and it turned out to be the Kill Switch. When I took it apart it had melted probably from the starting current as the contacts had shrunk down into the plastic housing. I had to cut the melted plastic away and then knock the contact back up so it would work. All is ok now however I guess I will be buying a new switch. Thanks for all your help.

bst rgds

Mike
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wpgfire
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Thanks for updating us on the solution. Much appreciated. You purchased a CD for the Gl1500? What, pray tell, is on the CD?
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Bike...and Dennis
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pastorwing wrote:
Same problem to me today. Cruising along and bam no power. Turned the key off and then turned it back on and it fired right up. It happened once last year and this is the first time it has happened since.
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This one sounds like the bank angle sensor.
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D
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Bikeseoul90 wrote:
Well, I was led on a bit of a wild goose chase with one of the coils not giving the correct reading. However taking all the advice given and using a CD that I purchased for the GL 1500 I started checking the rest of the starting system and it turned out to be the Kill Switch. When I took it apart it had melted probably from the starting current as the contacts had shrunk down into the plastic housing. I had to cut the melted plastic away and then knock the contact back up so it would work. All is ok now however I guess I will be buying a new switch. Thanks for all your help.

bst rgds

Mike
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Keep in mind, Honda does not sell the kill switch by itself. You have to purchase the complete right handlebar switch cluster. I just replaced the right switch cluster on my bike.

Part # 35013-MAM-A70, I purchased it from Honda Directline.

You might find a good used kill switch somewhere.
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Bikeseoul90
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In response to the question regarding the CD I referred to. It is an electronic servicing manual that was produced by American Honda Motor Co. It is menu driven giving step by step instructions on how to replace certain items, some good quality circuit diagrams of the system and so on. To be fair it is not as comprehensive as the paper manual but I found it very useful when carrying out my fault finding. I got it from ebay for about £15 I think, probably get it a lot cheaper now.
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