Thread: CL70 issue
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Unread 04-10-2011, 09:19 AM
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Smithers Smithers is offline
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You probably have a short somewhere. Look for discolored wires or feel around all the wires to see if any of them are warm/hot. These wires typically turn brown when they get really hot. You probably just have too much resistance in the whole system which is a result of corroded connectors all over the place. I can't see what kind of condition the bike or wiring harness is in so I can't say for sure. But you could just have a short somewhere which will drain the battery. Try taking off all the connectors from the rectifier and unbolting the unit itself and reconnecting everything making sure all the connections are free of corrosion and shiny. Check where the tail light connects and also the headlight. Maybe try disconnecting all of that since it's not crucial to the bike running. Since someone has connected the ground terminal to the frame with a wire they probably were trying to make it run because something else was wrong that they never fixed.

Then you have to resort to tracing every single wire in the harness looking for the cause/short. Some people have replaced the rectifiers with success but I have never seen one personally malfunction. I think they were successful because of a bad connection they replaced. You could also cut out all the connectors and solder all the wires together. Other than that replace the whole wiring harness.

I have never seen any component fail to cause an electrical symptom like you are describing. I think it's a connector problem or short which is caused by wired rubbing on the frame or rubbing against each other!

And last but not least you could also replace the battery completely with a brand new one since they are so cheap. If your battery is a little old I would probably just toss it and buy a new one. I have seen them sell for $15. Electronics are tricky. You just have to spend a lot of time looking things over really really closely.

Last but not least you could also have a problem with the ignition switch. It is a mechanical moving part that COULD potentially break. I would simply unplug the two wires and put them together and run the engine to see what happens. There are only two wires going to it and I just connect the wires myself on mine. Keep in mind you must unplug these wires when you part it (turning the switch off) so the battery won't drain from sitting there.

Last edited by Smithers; 04-17-2011 at 10:46 PM.
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