Another starter relay question

[Fred Garvin]

Greetings,
82 here with starting issues. New batt. installed, bike spins true and fires up: some times. Once in a while when I turn on the key for a restart, nothing- no neutral/oil light on the dash. Pull the right cover and wiggle the relay, and every thing is right. I have pulled the relay and cleaned every possible item I could get to and checked/greased the connections. Re installed and the process repeats itself: some times it works, other times it won't.
35850-425-017 seems to be the one. Prices range from 15.00 on Amazon to 80.00 on Ebay. Are they all the same or do you think you really get what you pay for? Or do I need to look else where?

Thanks.

[cross]

Are you sure it's relay? If you work the key a bit left and right, do the ignition lights come on?
It's common for the ignition switch (the one behind the key lock) is either dirty or simply worn out. There is a write up on here from Nils on how to take care of it. It's a simple fix and if yo need new switch, you can get it on ebay

[Larry Zimmer]

This may sound simple; BUT, check the main fuse . The lead 'blade' type thing that it is the same place as the relay. It can develop a crack that you may not see. When you wiggle/play with the relay, you may be putting it back into contact at a hairline crack. A bit far out, maybe. Worth checking the next time this happens.

[Fred Garvin]

Thanks for the replies. I will check that fuse closely. I wiggled the key switch and no ill effect. Once, the bike quit running while ridding, pulled the cover, moved the relay around and all was well. Any recommendations as to where to purchase if I need to?

[NobleHops]

That relay also has the pigtail that handles all of the current the motorcycle uses to and from the battery. We have rarely seen a problem with that one on the Prolinks, but on the twin-shock bikes we often find those wires have overheated and the connector is at least partially melted and cruddy. When that happens you must extract the spades from the connectors, and trim back the wire till you get bright clean copper, and crimp on new spades on both sides. Waterproof with a little dielectric grease and reassemble. We also replace that short pigtail and the connector using a 30-amp ATC fuse in place of the stock fusible link, originality be damned. That looks like this.

IMG_1338.JPG

Possibly related to your current issue, there are two leads to the solenoid, one is an interlock from the safety switch, the circuit that will not allow the solenoid to operate if the bike is in gear, UNLESS the clutch is pulled in. The other is the actual signal wire from the starter button that triggers the solenoid. On a current CBX project we found electrical tape on those wires, which is always a point of suspicion for us - we remove non-original electrical tape every time to investigate what sort of carnage lay beneath it. This time we found both wires butt-spliced with solder, a good repair, but we can't account for why the repair was needed. We retaped and the over-wrapped with shrink tubing.

There are plenty of reproductions or NOS examples of that solenoid, there's no shortage of those.

Best,

Nils

[NobleHops]

Fred - one other point. Depending on a lot of prior storage conditions, the contact base at the bottom of the ignition switch can get really cruddy and introduce a lot of resistance into the wiring harness, as all the current the bike is using passes through those contacts. OEM replacements for the contact base are available reasonably as NOS on Ebay and elsewhere (Louis), plus Emgo makes a replacement part too. There is some subtlety in how to get into that part non-destructively, read the section in the 82 manual carefully about the position of the keyswitch before you do, if you elect to go in there. If you do replace it with an Emgo, preserve the stock outer piece, the plastic the Emgo is made of is soft and prone to rounding over, and that can cause a lot of freaky intermittent problems of its own.

[hondaman160mph]

If your fuse is original change it even if it "looks good".
The fuse oxidizes and becomes brittle over time and can break suddenly regardless of amp draw.
If you don't want to install a 30-amp ATC fuse like Nils showed get a few stock Honda fuse strips and change it every couple years.
There is place in the fuse block under the fuse to keep a couple spares.

[Fred Garvin]

Thanks for all of the great ideas. I will investigate and try to return with an answer.

[Fred Garvin]

I stalled a new batt. (needed one any way). Every thing seems back to normal using a multi meter to check start, idle and running voltage. When starting at the initial depression of the starter button, there is a clicking sound of about one pulse, then the bike stars right up and charges fine.

[Larry Zimmer]

Glad things are working, Fred. Still, I would recommend, highly, either replacing the fuse link; OR, be certain to carry a spare. That goes for anyone with an old OE lead blade fuse in the CBX. Those things do age and 'crap' -- at the wrong time! And, you just might not be lucky enough to find a nearby beer can!