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1987 Venture Royale won't start


Nighthawk

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I purchased a 1987 Yamaha Venture Royale.  I've done a lot of small tasks getting the bike ready to safely ride.  Ok, ready to start.  Handle bar switch in Run position.  Bike in neutral; sitting on side stand; depress the Start button, nothing.  Sit on the bike; pull up the side stand, bike in neutral, pull in the clutch lever, depress the Start button, nothing.  Battery is "new"; fully charged.  Headlight does momentary dim (as designed ?) when attempting to start in order for full electrical power to transfer to the starter.  Bike did start and ran shortly when purchased.  Instrument panel indicates transmission is in the Neutral position.  The red Warning light flashes when the key is moved to the "On" position prior to attempting to start.  Is this normal and will the light turn off after the engine starting?  I did apply a small amount of WD-40 to the start button in order to dry out any residual moisture or corrosion.  I'm guessing this is an "electrical issue".  So, I'm open to suggestions as to where to begin trouble shooting. 

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Need to do some electrical checking. First check battery voltage at the battery, then check it at the cables and then check what happens when you push the start button. Voltage should be at 12.6v minimum and should show about 9 to 10v when pushing start button if the starter was working. Next check the voltage on the solenoid (left side of battery) Live side should be 12.6v and nothing on the load side until you push the start button. Let us know.

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Thanks for your reply.  To your first point, battery voltage is 11.81 volts.  So, before I fiddle any further, lets get a new battery and go from there.  Any suggestions as to where I should search for a replacement battery?  Current battery is a SigmasTek STX 24-HL-BS (12V 22AH).

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Received new battery; placed on charger for approx. 6 hours.  Indicating 13 volts.  Installed battery.  Hooked everything up.  Nothing.  Is the stater relay located below the removable audio console?  I found a relay in that area that is labeled 30 amp. How can I visually identify the starter relay?  This particular relay is black, has 3 wires.  I believe the wiring diagram on the 30 amp relay shows ground, power in, and the relay closing (load side?)to relay the power to somewhere? 

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So now the question is again, is there 13v at the cables that come away from the battery, not the clamps, the cables, and what happens to that voltage when you hit the start button? If there is 13v at the cables and when you try to start, remains at 13v, then the next thing to check would be the starter solenoid. It should be at the left side of the battery and will have 2 heavy cables attached, one of which go back to the positive on the battery. There should be 13v on the battery side and nothing on the other side. Then there is also a small wire or two going to it and they would be the ones activated by the starter switch. When you push the starter switch it should activate the solenoid and there should now be 13v on both sides of it, if not, check to make sure you have power coming in on the one small wire and ground on the other (while pushing the switch) You might also find a fuse issue if you haven't upgraded the fuse box yet.

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The fuse box appears to be a nightmare due to the addition of auxiliary lighting and horns.  Also, isolating the travel trunk lights through an additional switch.  All that is working properly.  And all fuses appear to be functional.  I finally located the starter relay and tested.  No signal from the starter button on the right handlebar when the button is depressed.  I did start the bike by using a jumper across the relay terminals.  So, it appears that no signal is coming via the white and blue wire (positive ?) leading to the relay.  Do you have a process for testing the starter button? 

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2 minutes ago, Nighthawk said:

The fuse box appears to be a nightmare due to the addition of auxiliary lighting and horns.  Also, isolating the travel trunk lights through an additional switch.  All that is working properly.  And all fuses appear to be functional.  I finally located the starter relay and tested.  No signal from the starter button on the right handlebar when the button is depressed.  I did start the bike by using a jumper across the relay terminals.  So, it appears that no signal is coming via the white and blue wire (positive ?) leading to the relay.  Do you have a process for testing the starter button? 

You just did. Now you get to take that button apart and clean it. Be very careful, go slow and make sure you have a towel, large one, under the switch to catch any tiny things that you might have missed in seeing. I know there is a spring in there that wants to go pop and then totally disappear. That accounts for about 3 hrs of unpaid labour.

 

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15 hours ago, Nighthawk said:

The fuse box appears to be a nightmare due to the addition of auxiliary lighting and horns.  Also, isolating the travel trunk lights through an additional switch.  All that is working properly.  And all fuses appear to be functional.  I finally located the starter relay and tested.  No signal from the starter button on the right handlebar when the button is depressed.  I did start the bike by using a jumper across the relay terminals.  So, it appears that no signal is coming via the white and blue wire (positive ?) leading to the relay.  Do you have a process for testing the starter button? 

The white and blue wire does not give a positive signal. It grounds the neg side of the relay. So if you take a test light the one small terminal should be live all the time. If not you need to trace back to see why.  If it is, jump the other small terminal to ground  or bat neg. The engine should crank over, if not relay is the issue. If it does relay is OK and  you need to trace the wire back to the starter switch. there are a series of relays and switches on that ground circuit that under normal conditions complete the circuit to ground if any of them or open the relay will not get ground and will not operate. These switches are your clutch switch, kick stand switch, neutral switch and panic button. Also a dirty start button can be at fault it is not uncommon to have to take the handle bar switch apart and clean the contacts etc..  I recomend tossing an old carpet under the bike before taking this apart. There are springs and other little things that can go flying when you take this apart (very carefully) or bounce away if they hit the floor.

To help you understand a lot of the above I have attached a schematic for the starting circuit I retrieved from the tech section.

86-93 Yamaha Venture Starting Circuit.pdf

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