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95 RF900 - Starter Button nothing happens

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8K views 22 replies 4 participants last post by  Easy Rider  
#1 ·
My 95 Suzuki RF900 has always been a bit finicky when the starter button was pressed. Sometimes it would require a little “wiggle” to engage the starter. Now the button won’t engage the starter at all, when the starter button is pressed nothing happens. I have installed a brand new battery and have horn, lights, and dash lights when the key is in the start position. I’ve checked fuses from fuse box under the seat, but am not sure if there are other fuses to check. I’m thinking that the problem is with the starter button/kill switch assembly but I want to eliminate the simple stuff (battery or fuses) first. If there are no other fuses to check then I’m not sure how to check or verify power at the starter button/kill switch assembly and any help or ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks,
dan
 
#2 ·
Your history of symptoms points to the button itself.......or the kill switch........or the wires to same.
All of the required "safeties" must also be satisfied.....trans. in N, and on some models clutch must be pulled in too.

If you don't have a voltmeter.......or don't know how to use one, you are pretty much stuck with a shop visit or looking for somebody nearby who can help.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the additional reminders about other “safety” switches, all have been meet, including kickstand switch, while attempting to start the bike. If you are familiar with the RF do you know of any other in-line fuse locations other then the fuse box under the seat?
 
#10 ·
Okay, so here’s what I tested and found today. 1)Power to the starter button and kill switch 2)Power to the connection points 3)Proved kill switch is working correctly by checking power at connection points while toggling kill switch 4)Traced wires from starter button to connection points and breakout wires (one yellow w/green stripe other green w/yellow stripe) 4)Proved starter button is passing power to breakout wires by checking connection points while pressing starter button
Everything I’ve done has resulted with the same result, key on, bike in neutral, clutch in, hit the starter button and nothing. Completely at a loss with this one
 
#12 ·
Open the starter switch to see if the spring broken. To test insert a small screwdriver to complete the connection. If spring is good check your adjustment dials on your levers. Go 1 or 2 up and down each side 1 side at a time. Good luck
 
#13 ·
2fast4u, thanks for the troubleshooting suggestions. I have had the starter case open and button appears to be moving correctly, so spring seems to be in working order. I have sifted into gear and neutral light goes out once in gear and neutral light comes back on once shifted back to neutral. Have ensured bike is in gear and neutral by moving bike freely while in neutral and does not move when in gear, so all seems to to correct with gear position. Thanks again for your input. I now have the tank off and air flitter cove off so I have better access to wire loom, still can’t find any breaks or loose connections.

If the starter or starter relay is faulty would this cause the starter button to fail, meaning no sound of mechanical movement when button is pressed?
 
#14 ·
So, the next step is to check the small wire going into the starter solenoid to see if it gets power when you push the start button. When power appears on that small wire, the big solenoid relay should close and connect power from one of the big fat wires to the other which goes to the starter. When that happens, there usually is a fairly loud "click" as the solenoid closes.

IF....that does NOT happen, then the "safety" circuits or a wire is broken.
Just incase your model also requires the clutch pulled in, you need to test that switch too.
 
#15 ·
Easy Rider and others; appreciate you sticking with me on this and for the troubleshooting steps, I was really excited to walk this through and figured for sure I would find the problem but now I’m stuck still. Here’s what I did and found out; 1) No power at starter relay on the small y/g wire in the 4 prong plug. 2) Power at the relay on the red wire in the 4 prong plug. 3) Power at the clutch safety switch. Took clutch switch apart to check/clean. It’s a ***** to get the plunger back in place while holding in clutch lever 🤣 4) I have continuity from y/g wire at starter relay to clutch safety switch. 5) I have continuity from y/g wire at the starter relay to y/g wire in headlight bucket.

I think I still need to test the neutral safety switch but can’t locate a wire diagram that shows the location of the neutral safety switch. Needless to say problem still eludes me. 😬
 
#16 ·
You have lost me.
The starter solenoid, usually only has 3 wires and NO connectors.
Two FAT battery wires and one thinner "trigger" wire.
There may also be an intermediate relay that handles the safety logic and might have several wires.

Wiring diagrams usually do not show physical locations of anything.
 
#17 ·
Okay, I think we’re talking about the same part, I may have just complicated the discussion by trying to add detail to my description. There are only 3 wires, (black, red & y/g) that are in a 4 prong plug. Attached is a picture of the starter relay.
Image
 
#18 ·
That is a bit of an odd arrangement but.............
Given that there are also two fuses on that connector assembly, likely that only ONE of the small wires is the input from the start button and the other two are outputs that feed power to somewhere else and may not have anything to do with the starting process at all.
 
#19 ·
Thanks for taking a look at the photo and your hypothesis (which makes sense) as red wire to relay is hot. I went back to testing starter wires (y/g) in the headlight bucket and am completely confused. There are 2 y/g wires, one goes from the starter button to the clutch safety switch which is hot when starter button is activated and one goes to the starter relay based on continuity test, this wire does not have power and I can’t figure out if or where it would be powered up from. I believe this wire also runs through the clutch safety switch. If that is the case perhaps that’s how it should be powered up and one of the small solders on the clutch safety switch is faulty and thus not passing power to this wire which ultimately runs to the starter relay. Tracing and testing electrical wires in the loom is tedious but I’m not sure how else to troubleshoot the problem. Thanks again for your ideas and input, please keep them coming.
 
#22 ·
I finally found and fixed the problem. 😁. I went back to tracing wires from the starter button back to the starter relay. There are 2 y/g wires in the headlight bucket that run from the starter button to the clutch safety button then one of the y/g wires continues to the starter relay. By design only one of the y/g wires in the headlight bucket is hot when the starter button is pressed. The clutch safety switch has a small plate where the two y/g wires are soldered into place and a plastic plunger with a copper head that rests in the clutch lever engages the plate when the clutch lever is pulled. The whole assembly is held in place by two small screws and a plastic cover. When the clutch safety switch is tight and working properly the y/g wire that is hot when the starter button is pressed and the clutch lever is pulled the plunger makes contact with two small nubs on the plate where the y/g wires are soldered then powers up the 2nd y/g wire that runs to the starter relay and fires the starter. On my bike the plunger on the clutch safety switch was not making contact with the plate, once this was corrected the system started working as designed. Now on to getting the bike back up and running (hasn’t been on the road in the last 4 years).

Thanks to all for your help, but a special shout out to Easy Rider, he spent a good amount of time providing ideas and troubleshooting steps, and ultimately he identified the problem as a broken wire or issue with one of the safety switches.