electrical power drain

So I got this 82 xj550rj seca for free from my neighbor. I am trying to fix it's many problems to get it running again. What is vexing me now is that I got it to turn over by putting in a new battery GREAT! but after sitting turned off in the garage the battery has been drained down to near 0. There is a short causing a drain :evil: Does anyone have a suggestion? I love working on mechanics but not so much on electrical.

 

disconnect one of the battery cables. doesn't matter which one. either connect a test light OR a voltmeter. one end on the battery terminal. other end on the cable. that will tell you if you have a drain. a drain on the battery will light up the test light or volt meter. it could just be a defective battery.

if either lights up. then disconnect the fuses. one at a time. hopefully one of the fuses will shut the test light OR voltmeter off. that will at least tell you what circuit is draining the battery if that's the case. then you can trace all the components that particular circuit runs.

if the test light or volt meter doesn't kick on. then you can assume it's the battery not holding the charge.

THIS IS WITHOUT THE KEY TURNED ON.

 

Thanks I will try that

 

I have a 82 750 and had a battery drain that perplexed me for many days. Turned out that the previous owner had wired what should have been a switched hot directly to the battery. Do the 550's have the computer monitoring system? Checking for a drain as suggested above is good, my problem was not from the factory but it was hard to find. Well that was really no help at all sorry.

 

You NEVER Know what the PO did to the Bike.

Look at the Battery.
If there is ANYTHING hooked-up to the Battery ... besides the Bike's RED and BLACK Lead ... Un-do them.

Try to figure-out what the extraneous wiring does.

Most PO's who didn't know what to do when they bought a Battery that didn't accept a Battery Level Sensor ... wired the HOT Side of the Battery to the Sensor Lead.

Maybe the Bike isn't Charging the Battery. too.
Alternator Brushes are a Top Cause of finding the Battery Dead.

I've seen Bikes with extra horns, lights and "Audio Systems" hacked-on to the Bike by PO's who bought One Roll of Black Tape and One Roll of RED Wire to wire-up the whole deal.

 

Rick I think you may be onto something. I noticed when the bike was turned off the Volt meter registered 12 volts. When I rechecked some hours later it was down to 0 volts and was dead. So maybe the meter is hotwired in some way. I'm not sure if this is the same as the "battery level sensor" you were mentioning and what do you mean by a battery that accepts a level sensor? I bought the battery listed as a replacement in the local battery store book.

Also the prior owner did do some wiring which adds confusion.

Also the clutch lever had no sensor or wiring on it when I got it. I bought a whole used lever unit and there is a wire and connector coming off it but I can't find where it should plug in.

 

What you can do is set up your multimeter to measure amperage. Disconnect your red wire from the batter and hook one of your multimeter leads to that wire, hook the other lead to the battery. WITHOUT turning the bike on, if you have something draining your battery, it will show up on your multimeter

(NOTE: If you have a high end meter then the meter itself will measure a tiny bit of draw - 1 or 2 microamps - don't be concerned)

Next, go to your fuse panel and start disconnecting fuses one by one until you see the amperage drop out. That will at least narrow the circuit that is drawing your battery. From there, it is a process of elimination - disconnecting things on that circuit to see where the problem is.

 

The Seca Bikes had a Battery Sensor that monitored the Level in the Battery.
Battery's without Sensor Ports needed to have the Sensor Line "Fooled".

Some people just hooked it up to the Battery. +12 V Hot.
That didn't work. Because the Lead didn't cycle off.
+12 Volts Watts was too hot for the Lead.

The solution:
Hook-up the Battery Sensor to the TAIL-Light Lead.
NOT Brakes.
Tail Light.
+ 12 Volts ---Switched --->//> 2.5K Ohms Restitance >// to Dash.
Splice into the Tail Light Lead.

Don't leave it hooked-up to the Battery.