[thorne]

98 yfm600. Chasing down electrical. Started with no electric start, no spark. In the process of testing, I discovered that though the starter relay will not engage with the engine stop switch set to on, it will engage with the engine stop switch set to off.. but still no spark.
I pulled the main (key) switch connector and checked for continuity with ground. I get ground at both black, which is correct, but also at brown, which does not seem correct, as that's the hot wire out to everything. Through process of elimination, I found that ground is eliminated when I pull the wire to the neutral switch.
Between the neutral switch and the main switch is the neutral light and two electrical symbols I have not been able to identify. The first is right off the neutral switch, a triangle with point of triangle facing away from the switch toward a rectangle. Just past that is what appears to be a small circle with a "V" (or maybe an A, hard to see)
inside, with the point of the V facing away from the neutral switch (see drawing). I think the first may represent the connector, but not certain. No idea on the second. Can't find either in a search of electrical diagrams.
If anyone knows whether that brown hot wire out of the main switch should be showing continuity with ground, or can help me with the electrical symbols, I would appreciate it very much. Thank you.

 

[reogem]

The "A" is a detail of the connector use it is located on the left side of the page.

 

[thorne]

That helps; but is a bit confusing. The connector in the circled A detail joins two wires, Sb to Sb and G/W to G/W. There is only one wire coming off the neutral switch, Sb. In addition, I found another circled "A", on a single wire coming off the "reverse" switch, that joins a G/W wire to a G/L. Maybe the connector joins wiring for both the neutral and reverse switches, and they made an error listing the wire color in the detail. I'll look next time I'm in the shop. And if that's the connector, I'm back to zero with respect to the triangle/rectangle that comes right off the switch. There are several of those throughout the wiring, some w/ an add'l line across the base of the triangle and one end of the rectangle.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Patroller]

First one is a diode that prevents power going back towards the switch.

 

[thorne]

Thanks for your input, Patroller. I had considered that initially, but then dismissed it; will reconsider and go through all of these symbols w/ that in mind.. there are a lot of them. There are diodes on the chart, but they look different, as shown. In one case, #23 is recorded on the legend as a "diode," but in other cases not. In the second image, the 30 refers to the relay, not the diode. In addition, the diodes are fairly large, I can find them in the wiring. There are two more of the same type symbol right above on the first drawing, and several near the battery, but nothing found to correspond in the actual wiring. Thanks again for taking the time to comment.

 

[reogem]

# 30 has a diode symbol. It appears back in the early days the electrical designer used the symbol in #31 to indicate a component with a stud to connect a wire to like the reverse switch, neutral and others.
The G/W to G/l appears to be a typo.

 

[Patroller]

Might check google for electronic symbols, there's a bunch of different ways to indicate diodes and all that other "gremlin" stuff. Not to be an azz, but a bunch of those electronic items are safety things so no one can hurt themselves.

 

[thorne]

I've looked at a lot of charts, but found nothing similar. I've also asked two people who do a fair amount of electrical, they had no idea. Thanks again for your help. Will just keep chipping away.

 

[reogem]

Here is some info about why and where your will find diodes in DC circuits.
Transient voltage suppression

 

[thorne]

Thank you. I'll read that.

 

[thorne]

I had the idea to ck the ohms coming from the neutral switch to the main switch hot line out at the connector, reasoning it must have continuity through the neutral switch indicator light. It measured at 15 ohms. I then checked the same across the lighting circuit, and it measured at 10 ohms. So I no longer think that's part of the problem.

I've been using the old battery, which is weak, supported by a charger set to a 50a engine start function. Will have a new battery next week, see if that makes a difference. Also pulled the neutral switch for a look. It's just a pin on a spring, grounded mechanically by whatever contacts it when the transmission is in neutral, nothing there to fail unless the spring breaks, and it has not.

 

[thorne]

I verified function at both diodes, one upstream of the reverse switch relay, the other upstream of the oil light and fan motor control unit.
Discovered the lead to the reverse switch is wired directly to ground. I assume a previous owner didn't want it functioning as a lock-out.
Neutral switch is in place, light comes on in neutral, goes off in gear. Oil light comes on when start button is pressed, both with engine stop switch in on and off positions.
If rear-brake is not engaged and it isn't in neutral, starter relay will not engage, but it will if rear-brake is engaged or it's in neutral, so they are functioning normally.
Starter relay and starter engage only when engine stop switch is off, not when it's on, and there is no spark at the grounded spark plug (new). The only line out of the engine stop switch sends ground to the cdi when off. It's common w/ a line from the main switch that also sends ground when off.

Think I'm going to have to order a new cdi.

 

[thorne]

Just wanted to close this out for potential assistance to anyone having similar difficulties.

I did get a new CDI, ordered the one out of Belgium listed on e-bay, came to $206 w/ shipping. That and the new correctly wired stator assembly solved the problem, restoring electric start function and spark. It's running great now. Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[Patroller]

Excellent ending,, have fun riding.