86 suzuki lt230ge issues

[SteveCZ28]

i got my wife a suzuki lt230 ge for christmas. it runs pretty good. it has electric start, auto clutch, shaft drive with reverse. it ha some electrical issues. itll start just fine via the recoil start. but when you turn the key on, or headlights or anything, nothing turns on. even the elctric start is dead. but if you pull the recoil once or twice and push the starter button as your pulling it, the electric starter will kick in and start the bike. its weird. i havent had anything do this. electric start either works or it doesnt. i looked over the wiring the best i could in a cold garage. and dont see any broken wires, or missing connectipons. does anyone else have any ideas as to where to start on this thing? i know its 4 wheels and needs pushed off a cliff, but my wife loves the thing haha

[Toaster556]

Shoot me a PM with your email, and I'll send you a manual for the LT230 series. There's a decent wiring diagram, but even better, test values for most of the electrical.
However, my money is on the CDI being pooched, the early Suzuki 4-strokes were notorious for it (I have 3 dead DR125 boxes)

[6speedthumper]

A bad CDI won't cause a no cranking issue. It'll only cause a no start issue. His starts and runs fine, just won't turn over with the electric start. Unless there is wiring for the starting circuit routed through the CDI that I don't know about.

[SteveCZ28]

i dont think a cdi would be the culprit either. like i said it starts and runs fine via the recoil start. it has headlight, taillight, neutral light and reverse light. and none of those work, even when running. but like i said the electric start works if you pull on the recoil while pushing the starter button

[Toaster556]

I've seen CDI's do some funky things on their way out, but now that I think of it, a no-go on the E-start isn't one of them. My bad.
SteveCZ28, I'm sending the manual attached via google drive, it's a whopping 61 mb. If it doesn't load for you, let me know and I'll try to hop on my wife's server and post it temporarily.

[barnett468]

clean all connections.

might be the solenoid

once the connections are clean, push the starter button and check voltage at the solenoid. if it has voltage but does no turn over try jumping the solenoid just like an old car solenoid. if it does not urn over then run a jumperwire directly from the battery to the solenoid and try it again. if it starts you have a wire prob. if it does not the solenoid is bad.

try tapping the solenoid duting this prpcess to free it up in case its stuck.

[SteveCZ28]

You think its the solenoid even though the electric start kicks in like normal when pulling on the recoil? It won't click or anything if I just turn the key on and push the starter button. And like I mentioned I have no lights at all. It has a neutral and reverse indicator along with headlight and taillights that dint work running or not.

[barnett468]

electrical probs are hard to find

the solenoid is easy to check.

get the volt meter out and start checking everything. your prob is a strange one.

your ign switch might be bad or dirty also. i do not have an electrical diagram for that model. once you get one, start at the battery and follow that power wire to the ign switch then the start button, on/off switch then finally to the starter solenoid. easy deal.

if the neutral switch has one wire, try grounding it then try the starter, then unground it and try the starter.

if it has two wires try them disconnected, then connected.


as long as your bulbs are

kiswitccheck xk




sceckwthats easy

[barnett468]

Unplug voltage regulator and forget about it.

Follow the wires from the stator up to the regulator. Once unplugged from the reg, do nothing with these.

Look at the battery positive wire and note the color. This wire connects directly to the regulator. Check this wire for continuity and for 12v. If there is none, find out why and fix it.

With the key OFF, check the remaining wires for current AND continuity to the frame. One wire should have continuity. The color should be black or black with a yellow stripe or dark green. If there is not continuity to the frame, find out why and fix it.

Turn the key on, the last wire at the reg plug should have 12v. If it does not, look at the wires on your ign switch. One of them should be this color. If it is then check the wire for continuity from the reg plug to the positive side of the battery. If there is none, unplug the switch, jump the wire from the battery and the reg, and check continuity. If there is none find out why and fix it. If there is continuity your ignition switch is bad.

If the switch is bad, reconnect the switch and jump the battery and reg wire together for now and try the lites and starter.

If it does not have an ignition switch do this at the kill switch.

If the lites do not come on, check the voltage to the wire at the bulb, if there is none your lite switch is bad or the wire is broken. If there is power, then the bulbs are either burnt out or there is a prob with them grounding to the frame. Find out why and fix it.

Check battery voltage then reconnect reg and check battery voltage again. If it drops let us know.

Try starter, if it does not work use pull start. Once running, check the voltage at idle and around 2500 rpm. If the voltage is higher than battery voltage at both idle and 2500 rpm, the regulator and stator are likely good.

if the reg does not work check the volt output of the stator. if it is good your reg is bad. if it is not your stator is bad.

[SteveCZ28]

thanks for all this info. ill try to dig into it by next week. as im working 12's all weekend.

[barnett468]

you're welcome, no prob.

just take it one line at a time, it will go quickly. you can probably do it all in around 45 minutes, it just looks like it might take hours, lol.