lt 80 electrical problems

[jneuge]

I have a 1988 suzuki lt 80 and it would not start the other day. I checked the battery and it was bad so I replaced it and still had the same problem. I noticed that I was not getting any power through the starter relay so I replaced it as well. The motor turned over strong and then stopped and there is no power going through the new relay. Before this happened I rode the it the day before with out any problems parked it, and the next day all of this starts to happen.
I checked the wiring harness to see if any bare wires was grounding out to short out the relay and did not see any signs of wear on the harness.
Can someone shed some light on this and help me out.
Thanks.

[wilkin250r]

Sounds odd.

I know a lot about electricity, and even the LT80, but I'm a little confused by your problem.

So, you tested and found a bad starter solenoid, replaced it, and then the new solenoid went bad almost immediately?

[Jason Hall]

Check the ground wire? Nothing works without a ground. I've chased my tail looking for power and a bad ground was the problem the entire time.

[jneuge]

Thanks for the reply. I checked the ground and everything looks good. After putting on the new relay it turned over fast and appeared to be working fine , and then the battery cable had a puff of smoke. After that it would not turn over again. I am going to check the starter to see if it is putting out to many amps and feeding back to the relay.

[wilkin250r]

Originally posted by jneuge
I am going to check the starter to see if it is putting out to many amps and feeding back to the relay.

It's possible, I suppose

The starter wouldn't actually be putting out too many amps, your terminology is wrong, but I understand what you are thinking.

It might be possible the starter has a bad connection, an internal short, and is pulling more power than it should. But if that was the case, I would expect the starter to turn SLOWER, not faster.

How do you plan to check for this?

[Jason Hall]

That sure sounds like a bad connection to me. Could also be the brushes are worn bad. Like wilkin250r said. If the starter pulls the battery way down, like 8.5 to 9.0 volts then the brushes are probly shot. Can you take the starter cover off easy? to look at the brushes It's not very hard to check them. It's kinda like checking your brake lining. You can tell how long It will last by their thickness.

[jneuge]

I took the starter off and took it to the parts house, they put it on their bench tester and the starter pulled way down. I have not taken the starter apart yet to see what the internal parts look like. I did double check my connections and made sure that they all were tight and clean.
You do not want to take this starter off unless you have to. It is not very easy to get to.

[norcalatver]

Try buying the optional pull starter that bolts to the left side case. If it starts and runs with that, you know its not in the harness and that you have a problem with the electrical between the starter button, solenoid, and starter. I had to replace the starter on my son's 80 once. That's when we bought the pull starter. There's no push starting an lt-80! The backup startting is always nice to have!

[jneuge]

I have a guy who says he can rebuild it for not much money. I am going to try this and eventually get the pull start for a backup.
Is the pull start kit hard to install? I have priced one for around $70.00, can you buy this cheaper ?

[chris46250r]

Went through this same crap with my nephew's LT 80. I agree on the starter removal, it sux. I have put two starters on it and one relay and it still wont start sometimes. I finally just put the pull start on it, which is very easy to just bolt on, and told him try the button and if that dont work pull the rope.

[jneuge]

Thanks for the info. I'm glad someone else knows what a poor design this is!