Intermittent electrical power loss to no power at all

[bmx9854]

I'm having electrical issues with my 07 sv650s. It started a few months back and only happened twice. I'd come to a stop at a light, hold the clutch in until the light was green and as soon as I'd let the clutch out and give it a little gas the bike would die. No electrical power what so ever. Then about 10-15 minutes of fiddling with perfectly good fuses the bike would regain electrical power (lights, fuel pump etc) and it'd be fine. It was never particularly hot either time.

This morning I went to fire it up and as soon as I turned the key on I had electrical power for a split second then nothing. Had to hop in the car and hustle to work.

Since I've gotten home I've been running through the bike checking voltage and continuity across all the basic circuits (starter relay, ignition switch, battery, grounding points, the 'green connector') and can't seem to find any clear issue. And as I sit here typing this in front of the bike with the ignition on it mocks me by regaining electrical power. This time when I went to push the start button in I heard a snap and now I'm back where I started. I could not tell if it was from the battery area (by the starter relay) or the tail (fuse block and other thingy).

Something I'm not clear about is the starter. If I jump the connections on the starter relay should I be able to spin it? I'm getting nothing here. And when I check continuity between the starter cable and the ground I get ZERO which would indicate to me that the starter is grounding out. But should that affect the ignition (lights, speedo, etc)?

[golden chicken]

Battery connections good and tight? Battery good and fully charged?

[bmx9854]

Battery connections good and tight? Battery good and fully charged?

Yes, I cleaned the terminals after the first incident. They were a little dirty, hit them with a stiff brush and tightened them back up. Current voltage is 12.5v. Cells have water in them.

[tls25rs]

If the SV is anything like the predecessor TL there are likely grounding points that are corroded or just poorly crimped buried internally to the wiring harness. There could also be similar joints in the power supply lines of the harness as well.

Good luck! Electrical can be fun to figure out sometimes.

[golden chicken]

If I jump the connections on the starter relay should I be able to spin it?

Yes. Do you have 12.5V on one side of the relay contacts? Ground on the other side through the starter, but it should be slightly more than 0 ohms since it has to go completely through the starter motor. Is your 30A main fuse (the one on the starter relay) good?

[Danz19899]

sounds like a bad power or ground to me. my old honda did this when i had a poor ground connection. either that or a power supply relay issue (not even sure if it has one) just throwing out ideas here.

If you are handy with a volt meter voltage drop test from chassis ground (frame) to the battery terminal with the bike running. it shouldnt be more then .3-.4 Volts if theres more then that you have high resistance between the frame and the battery which probably means corrosion/loss connection or ground wiring corroded.

also you could always ad and extra ground wire and see if that imporoves anything

[Degsy]

From memory here. Check the wiring between regulator/rectifier and battery. I believe there's a buried ground inside the electrical tape wrapping. It gets corroded.

[bmx9854]

Thanks guys. I'll check out the things you've mentioned when I get home tonight. Can't wait to look at more colored spaghetti.

[Stromper]

DO you have the main fuse part of starter solenoid

On mine when all else fails I short the 2 large wires on the starter solenoid
right next to each other the starter should crank

Make sure bike is not in gear and ask my clutch lever how I know

Easy to add another ground just try it

[bmx9854]

Had a quick chance to fiddle with the bike. I'm a bit embarrased but glad...

A guy at work suggested with the ignition on, pouring a little water on the battery terminals which I did. Heard a little crackling and buzzzz, everything lit up, fuel pump primed.

Although the battery neg terminal appeared very clean from the outside the screw post had a dusty like corrosion coating on it that cannot be seen without unscrewing it. I could clean it but seeing as the battery is possibly 8 yrs old I will replace the juice box.

[golden chicken]

Glad you got it figured out.

[myzx6]

Now you have learned what people mean when they say "clean the battery terminals", you have to actually remove them to clean the contact points, also I always put some dielectric grease on them to help prevent future corrosion