Ugggg Xj550 shutting off

Going down the road, bike just shuts off.....no spark. Removed the side stand relay, no start. Engine cranks and cranks and cranks........then out of no where it will start, run awesome.....till a mile down the road where it shuts off, just like I hit the kill switch or turned the key off......crank and crank and crank........any ideas before I kick the snot out of it.....actually it is my son's bike, can't do that.....I need my riding partner

 

have you cleaned and checked the right handle bar control?
cleaned the ignition switch?
still have glass fuses?
cleaned the gas cap vent, replaced vacuum hose?

have you ohmed out the full ignition system? when bike fails ohm out pickup coils.
replace sparkplug caps with ngk replacments from chacal?
the resistors in the caps can fail when hot.
make sure the cap screw in the sparkplug hole is tight

next time it stalls out open gas cap set petcock to prime count to 5 try to start bike.

 

take off the gas tank near the ignition coils you will find a 6 position connector that connects to the right control clean grease and make sure it is tight and tucked it. maybe hold it together with wire tie
this cuts electricity to kill switch when it fails
found mine loose after stall no start slapped the tank it started.

I will get a photo of connector in am for you

 

Fuse box is new blade style, just redone. Pickup coil and both coils have been ohmed out, along with plug caps. Right controller has been taken apart and cleaned, plug wires have been stripped back and caps reinstalled. Both vacuum hose and fuel line are new. Carbs are spotless, valves in clearance...........all done when we brought the bike home a few months ago.......I got to get it to duplicate it now so I can find out what is causing it. I took off this morning and went 50 miles around the block, with meter and tools in back pack.....not a hiccup, not a miss....ran perfect. Grrrrrrrrrr......

 

My 900rk shut off one time, about 30 mi from home.

Shut right off, like hitting the kill switch. No start button, no, click, no turn over, NOTHING.

Trailered it home, couldn't find ANYTHING.
2 days later, I was standing next to it doing something else, and heard a little relay click. wtf?!?!
Pushed the start button, fired right up.

Hasn't done it since......5 yrs now------still no clue what/why

 

XJ gremlins?

 

check the connector under the tank for the right control clean and wire tie it tight then tuck it in

the connector pins on the control side can pull out when wires get tight from improper routing when you turn

 

So since the starter is working and the starter solenoid must have ignition power to activate that implies the ignition power is OK, although it could be degraded and still partially function so cleaning the applicable connectors is a good idea. A degraded condition might be noted by a dimmer than normal oil light when cranking.

Also, while the bike is running I would try a gentle wiggle on the TCI connectors and a gentle tap on the TCI with the plastic end of the screwdriver. A good cleaning and inspection of both connectors at the TCI would be prudent too, just in case a poor intermittent connection is present. Perhaps something like the low common side for both pickups at the 6 pin connector which would disable spark for all 4 cylinders, or power to the TCI at the 4 pin connector with the R/W or B wire.

 

^^+1 on this
if it cranks it would not be this connector would be more like a problem along the red/white wires which come from run switch run to tci coils starter relay as stated above


have you checked to see if battery cables are tight?

 

So how long before you trusted it again to go any distance away from home?

 

I don't go more than 36 mi.

 

I have went through the length of the harness....pulled all connectors apart, cleaned and re connected with dielectric grease......the only thing that has not been cleaned is the actual ignition switch.....

The only issue I found is the black with white trace wire going into the six pin plug on the tci was backed out some....I pulled it all the way out of the connector with it running and it did not kill the bike......as of now I cannot get it to die again....I have tapped on everything.....I hate not finding a reason for something, but my trust level for letting my son take it out is very low......have almost 100 miles on the bike this morning now.

 

Likewise on not finding the problem. One of my mangers used to ask me if I had fixed a problem I was working, and if I replied it has an intermittent failure, he would answer... there is no such thing as an intermittent failure, you just haven't found the problem yet.

http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/boom.115586/

This "BOOM" thread is not exactly the same as the starter was not turning over, but may lend some electrical clues as to what might be going on. Did you ever find a resolution for it or is it also another unsolved mystery?

That's the wire that is pulled low by the normally closed contacts in the side stand relay. The contacts in the side stand relay open in a safe condition. So if the B/W wire is pulled out, you disable the ignition cutoff safety feature similar to pulling the side stand relay. Inspecting that wire closely to look for any chafing that could get it to chassis ground would be a good idea.

 

The BOOM thread was solved by removing and cleaning the kill switch. Never surfaced again.

After reattaching the black w/ white trace, was able to get it to die by holding rpm at 2500 and beating on the side stand switch with a rubber mallet....ONCE......out of 15 min of doing it....have my son making the 8 mile trip around the block now, as I needed a break...told him to come back at 50 miles....we should be closing in on 200 miles today with no shutting off.....sitting in the A/C waiting for him to call an say it quit......

 

Almost 800 miles since the last time it has shut off.....approx half with the side stand relay hooked up, and half off.......never a hiccup or an issue......I am just gonna send him back out with instructions to always have his cell on him........

 

Or a quarter for a payphone..if you can find one.

 

I have been out riding stopped for gas and been asked what year my bike is...they are amazed something so "old" is running don't know if they are talking about me or the bike? Problems like this are hard to pin point , usually is as simple as a ground . Or you can shotgun your trouble shooting and replace everything.

 

Ok, it shut off dead again, as luck would have it, pulling in the driveway. Except this time it would not crank either.......immediately went out to it, pulled seat and tank.....I had him hold the starter button while I started tapping. As soon as I tapped (what I believe is) the starter circuit cutoff relay, it roared to life. Could this allow it to crank at times while still killing the spark??? We did unplug it and it would still crank and had spark

 

pulling the starter circuit cutoff relay would not allow you to start the bike. it sends voltage to solinoid

what are the numbers on the relay and color wires running to it
wires should be red/white (2) sb (sky blue) and Y/b yellow black
that could be your sidestand safety relay

The Ultimate Relay, Switch, Sensor, and Diodes Guide

Starter/Ignition cut-off relay (no color): front of coil rear mounting bracket.
Sidestand (kickstand) relay (blue): left side, behind rear frame cross tube.

 

when you turn key on you should hear 2 relays click starter cutoff relay and sidestand safety relay

 

And the oil light was illuminated?

 

OK, I am hoping someone can direct me in the right direction, as this has been occurring on a normal basis now.........I have discovered now that when it dies, the voltage on the red/white wire going to the tci drops to 8-9V, while the battery stays at 12.x V. I have completely went through the charging circuit, all is in perfect functioning shape now after cleaning the rotor. I have traced the red/white series of wires completely out, have redid all the connections. I temporarly bypassed the right control shut off by jumpering the wires before the plug to eliminate that, and jumpered the r/w wires before the start cutoff relay. I have traced the grounds out and cleaned the connections at the engine and the coils. Nothing has any effect. I purchased two little voltmeters and zip tied them to the handlebars, one is fed from the r/w and black feeding the tci, and the other is ran directly to the battery. While running down the road I can watch them, and they are fairly equal, but without warning the one to the tci will drop to 8/9 and the bike will just die, while the one to the battery will remain at 12.x. I can just sit there with the key on, and suddenly it will jump back to 12.x and the bike will start.

While in the garage, i started it with the seat and tank off and watched, wiggling every wire as it ran and nothing, just idling happily......suddenly it just died and sure enough, 9v at tci.....so I wiggled every wire on the bike, nothing brought it back. I unplugged the right coil and it gained a volt or so, plugged it back in and voltage went back down. Same thing with the left coil........however, when I unplugged the tci itself, voltage instantly went to 12.x....plugged it back in and it dropped back to 9 or so volts. When I picked up the tci, I noticed that the metal bottom was fairly hot. Am I looking at a failing tci here???????

 

Can you unhook the TCI when it drops to 9 and shuts down? See if the voltage goes back to 12. I'm leaning towards the TCI failing and increasing the load causing the voltage drop and heat you are experiencing.

Nevermind! Just saw that you did that. Yes if the voltage is dropping significantly when you plug it in, it is most likely failed internally.

 

It does.....as soon as I unplug the 4 pin connector from the TCI, the voltage jumps back to 12.x.......when I plug it back in it drops back to 8 or 9.........

 

Ouch...
http://www.xs650.com/threads/tci-box-a-successful-repair-electronic-ignition-ignitor.3289/

 

Not to vote against the TCI, but with the kill switch bypassed and reducing to mostly wire (excepting the ignition switch) it would take some 40 amps of current to drop 3 volts from battery. I would make sure that the drop you are seeing is only isolated to the ignition circuit by checking the input and output of the Head, Ignition, and Signal fuse during the failed condition.

Edit: another thought is trying the turn signals during the failed condition to look for losses in the ignition switch, maybe while applying the brake light. Just make sure to do the test in the working condition to know what to expect.

 

there is a rubber covered bullet connector about 4 inches from unit the black/white wire from the tci disconnect it.
if you want you can send me your tci and i will test it in my 550 start a conversation with me

 

Thanks! I already had the black w/ white trace unhooked.....I have ordered a tci, and I kinda "dissected" this one. Curious to see if adding solder and cleaning the joints might have helped........

Now that I think back, this started as a very rare issue....once every 200 miles or so, and has slowly gotten worse to the point it dies within a mile.....looking forward to the replacement tci showing up

 

there is a site with repair instructions. also tells what replacment parts to use
http://www.xjcd.org/General_Electrical.

I had a similar problem would ride for 20 or 30 miles bike would die then start up 30 min later.
had one resistor in cyl 3 cap all black resistor cylinder 2 cap split in half and one pickup coil finally failed. changed caps and pickup coils have not had an issue

 

Well, hopefully final update.........received the tci today, hooked it up, bike fired up....let it idle for about 10 min. All was well. My son jumped on and ran about 80 miles with out as much as a studder......guess that has been the issue all along.....looking at the bright side, I know the electrical system is 100% with new wiring and connectors now.

 

I enjoyed reading this thread and keeping up with it as new posts arrived. I have learned quite a bit just from your experiences here.

 

Guess that was it.....almost 600 miles on the bike since Wed, not as much as a whimper out of it now.....for giggles, put the old tci back in it tonight and it shut off less than a mile from the driveway! Put the new one back in and we are planning on using the old one for target practice now. Thanks to everyone!!!!