Author Topic: Electrical system just went dead  (Read 1085 times)

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Offline jkot55

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Electrical system just went dead
« on: June 12, 2010, 11:44:47 PM »
I was riding yesterday and the bike lost all power and stopped.  No electrical functions work. (1975 CB750K5).  I pulled the left-side cover and inspected the fuses.  There are 3.  The lower one came apart at one end when I removed it so I traded it with the middle one and no change, still dead.  I had it towed home.  I checked the battery with a tester and it showed 12.7 volts.  The batter was replaced last year.  I keep it on a tender when not riding.  Any ideas what I should check next?  I will replace all 3 fuses next chance I get and go from there.  Prior to this the bike was running fine.

Thank you
When I ride my CB750 I'm a teenager again

Offline Spanner 1

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Re: Electrical system just went dead
« Reply #1 on: June 13, 2010, 12:04:08 AM »
Main fuse clips... unless they are 'shiny' and tight to the fuse... you can spend all the time you want ( and the fuse is good ) delving into nowhere........
If your sure it's a carb problem; it's ignition,
If your sure it's an ignition problem; it's carbs....

Offline Bodi

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Re: Electrical system just went dead
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2010, 05:57:38 AM »
I don't have a '75 wiring diagram here, but:
The three fuses should be "MAIN" "HEAD" and "TAIL". Some fuseblocks hold 5 fuses but only use three, the other two are a spare for MAIN and a spare for HEAD or TAIL.
The MAIN fuse is likely 15A. The others are likely 7A. Using the 7A one for MAIN will probably blow it within a few seconds.
The fuses are not the normal AG3 type you find in automotive stores, they are a metric size that's very close to the AG3 but different enough that you should get the right size, an AG3 will work in a pinch but the contact area is a lot smaller and overheating and failure may happen in time.
The fuse block itself is occasionally a problem, the clips have wires soldered to them in the back and the soldering job is sometimes poor causing the wire to just fall off after a few dozen years.
The obvious point of failure when you lose all electrical power is the MAIN fuse. If you have a voltmeter (you should!) just measure from ground (frame or battery "-" post) to both ends of the fuse, you should have voltage even with the key off. If you do, try with the key on: you can have a very high resistance fuse or wiring fault that reads voltage with no load but shows up when you draw current.
The battery may even do this: I've had several batteries in cars and bikes that measure a healthy voltage with no load but won't supply more than a few mA.

Offline steam-powered man

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Re: Electrical system just went dead
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2010, 06:16:54 AM »
try turning the key on and wiggling the lower "cap" of the ignition switch.  on my later cb750 it was white and located behind the headlight.  you may find the power comes back, good luck.
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Offline ekpent

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Re: Electrical system just went dead
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2010, 04:38:19 AM »
Pull the gas tank and also check the main plug in where the key switch harness plugs into the main harness.Had one come loose,lock tab was gone and wires got pulled because of the relocated key switch up by the bars.It will kill everything if loose.