No power when turning on the key

[4W4K3]

Greetings. So I've got another electrical problem...

Went out for a 5 hour ride yesterday, about a mile from my destination I stopped at a carryout and turned off the bike. When I came back out ten minutes later, I go to turn the key on and there was no power. Puzzled, I took off the seat and checked for another melted harness but everything was intact and in good shape. I tested the battery, still had a full charge. Checked the coils and I could lay a screwdriver across the leads and it'd attempt to turn over. So then I thought it may have been my key switch. I ended up taking that all apart in the parking lot, only to find the switch looked fine too. Cleaned off the leads inside the switch, and then checked for voltage at the 3-pin harness and got 12v there.

So I'm at a loss here. There is power but, for a lack of better words, I can't get it to "come on". I was able to get a tow to a buddy's house, but need to figure this out and get it out of his drive

I turned the bike off probably about ten times yesterday and everytime started just fine-nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Whatever happened to it must have occurred between the last stop I made, about 15 minutes earlier.

Not sure if this would have even worked, but I tried basically bypassing the key switch by running the hot wire together at the harness hoping to see my headlight come on (assuming since turning on the key does the same thing) but no luck there either.

Anyone got any ideas on what could wrong here?

 

[SpecOps13]

Kill switch malfunction??? Bad solenoid???? Main Fuse?? I'm really picking at straws....

Good Luck.......

 

[4W4K3]

Should have mentioned it earlier, but the fuses are fine.

 

[ninjaneer]

sticky "starter" button? the maxes are notorious for this. just give it a wiggle.

 

[4W4K3]

Hmm, I'll check on the button but shouldn't I still get my headlight/neutral light when I flight the key on?

 

[ninjaneer]

nope, not necessarily. when the button is pressed in, the headlights are cut off to maximize the juices going to the starter motor. so if the starter button is stuck in the "in" position, you will have no headlights.

 

[4W4K3]

nope, not necessarily. when the button is pressed in, the headlights are cut off to maximize the juices going to the starter motor. so if the starter button is stuck in the "in" position, you will have no headlights.

Ah! I'll check on it when I get off work. Hopefully that's all it is...

 

[jfeagins]

"the fuses are fine".

You did check ALL the fuses, right? The MAIN fuse is separate from the rest of the smaller fuses, and in a different fuse holder........just thinking out loud.....

Do you get a head light when the key is on?

Batteries have been known to 'break' internally, and could have just a bit of power, but won't take a real charge, and might even show good voltage on a meter just sitting there. But when attempting to crank, there's no where close enough real amperage to get the starter to budge.....still thinking out loud..

Get a volt meter on there, and get back with addt'l info.

 

[4W4K3]

"the fuses are fine".

You did check ALL the fuses, right? The MAIN fuse is separate from the rest of the smaller fuses, and in a different fuse holder........just thinking out loud.....

Do you get a head light when the key is on?

Batteries have been known to 'break' internally, and could have just a bit of power, but won't take a real charge, and might even show good voltage on a meter just sitting there. But when attempting to crank, there's no where close enough real amperage to get the starter to budge.....still thinking out loud..

Get a volt meter on there, and get back with addt'l info.

Yep, checked all the fuses. Battery is brand new. Just replaced it a couple weeks ago when i did my R/R fix.

And no, I get no power whatsoever with the key on. But my voltage levels look normal at the key harness and battery/coils.

 

[Thevmaxrider]

Check the main power connection just in front of your airbox. It has the red and brown wires passing through it. It may be either corroded or potentially come apart. You can also take a peek under your fuse block and make sure one of the power wires hasn't fallen out the bottom. Happened to me on Toxic last year and freaked me out. Got myself all ready for a massive electrical troubleshooting session only to look and see the wire hanging under the fuse box. Just a thought or two.

 

[ninjaneer]

so if in fact you have no NEUTRAL light, then the sticky starter button more than likely isn't the issue. Did you dismantle the ignition assembly. I wonder if you have a melted contact armature or the blue wire's solder joint disconnected. If you haven't delved into the ignition assembly, have a look at this: How To: Recondition the Ignition Switch

 

[4W4K3]

so if in fact you have no NEUTRAL light, then the sticky starter button more than likely isn't the issue. Did you dismantle the ignition assembly. I wonder if you have a melted contact armature or the blue wire's solder joint disconnected. If you haven't delved into the ignition assembly, have a look at this: How To: Recondition the Ignition Switch

That was one of the first thing I looked at, but now I'm wondering if I put the contacts back together backwards... gonna go check on that now.

 

[MaxMidnight]

I would start at the main fuse - have you got power at the switch side?

Move to the switch - do you have power to the red wire?

With the ignition on do you have power to the blue and brown wires?

I hope you can see what I am doing - a I work along the loom and at some stage I will find a point where there is no power.
It will either be a component that remains open circuit or a break in the wire.

These faults can be a right so and so to diagnose (especially an intermittent fault) so it is essential that a systematic approach is adopted.

 

[4W4K3]

I figured it out. It was a combination if two problems. First, a pair of hot leads to the starter button seemed to have been rigged together by a PO and they werent even wrapped in tape, looks like he just held a.lighter to them. Anyways, got rid of that and properly spliced.

But for the main issue, the red wire at the key switch harness is not getting any power. There was power at the fuse block so it must have shorted somewhere in between. I couldn't find where so I cut it and ran a direct lead from my battery in place of the red and that worked- lights, power, everything. Added an inline fuse on the new run and put everything back together. Also did that switch refreshing since I had it out already.

Really appreciate the help and ideas guys!

 

[MaxMidnight]

The 'handy-work' of previous owners can often come back to bite you, I hope there aren't any other traps lurking around.

Thanks for the feedback - it's always good to find out what was causing an issue.

 

[Miles Long]

I figured it out. It was a combination if two problems. First, a pair of hot leads to the starter button seemed to have been rigged together by a PO and they werent even wrapped in tape, looks like he just held a.lighter to them. Anyways, got rid of that and properly spliced.

But for the main issue, the red wire at the key switch harness is not getting any power.

There was power at the fuse block so it must have shorted somewhere in between. I couldn't find where so I cut it and ran a direct lead from my battery in place of the red and that worked- lights, power, everything. Added an inline fuse on the new run and put everything back together. Also did that switch refreshing since I had it out already.

Really appreciate the help and ideas guys!

I'm almost willing to bet money (well, not really, because I'm a cheap Son of a Bitch), that your problem is that three-wire connector, the one just below the front of the faux tank, the one that the ignition switch plugs into. I know that you already checked it for power earlier, but as you say now, you weren't getting power to the ignition switch, therefore the problem may be on the downstream end of the connector.
At least three people on this forum, myself included, have had this connector go bad - in my case, the red and brown wires shorted out right thru the plastic, so that the bike would not shut off when the ignition switch was turned to the off position. It was an easy fix - I just tossed the connector, and soldered and shrink-wrapped the wires.
and by the way - welcome to the forum!

 

[4W4K3]

I suspected that connector as well, I might get back in there and check it out on the next rainy day...

And thanks for the warm welcome! I've been reading this forum ever since I got the bike :cheers:

 

[naughtyG]

Real glad you got it sussed! Wroom

And yea, welcome here it's the best Vmax community on the interweb!

 

[Michael Foley]

Turn key on 2003 VMAX 1200. No Power. Never worked on MC. Where is the "Main Fuse" located..

 

[Michael Foley]

Are there some pics of these fuses/locations?