Yet another wiring issue!

Hi again folks! I've just been confronted with another perplexing issue. The bike (74 850, PowerArc ignition) has been running great, but the other day I went for a ride and it started sputtering, cutting out and backfiring. I then discovered that it was only happening when the ignition switch is all the way over in the "lights on" position. It runs fine when clicked one position over, with the lights off. I just checked the wiring in the master switch, and everything was tight. I'm going to try to trace the problem, but thought I'd run it by the forum first, in case it's an obvious fix.

Probably the switch itself. You can prise out the tabs that hold everything in place ,clean up and reassemble if lucky it will work again,or simplify with a modern keyswitch sacriledge.

Without knowing the Powerarc ignition at all, try removing the main headlamp bulb, and go for a ride (in the daytime !)
and see if the same problems show.

It could be that your charging circuit is not supplying enough herbs for both the ignition AND headlamp,
and many ignitions are sensitive to low volts.

It could also be that your switch has an intermittent connection problem, not unknown, and either needs cleaning or replacement.
It has been mentioned here before that a heavy set of keys attached to the ig key can wear the switch inside...
Hopethishelps.

Rohan said:

Without knowing the Powerarc ignition at all, try removing the main headlamp bulb, and go for a ride (in the daytime !)
and see if the same problems show.

It could be that your charging circuit is not supplying enough herbs for both the ignition AND headlamp,
and many ignitions are sensitive to low volts.

It could also be that your switch has an intermittent connection problem, not unknown, and either needs cleaning or replacement.
It has been mentioned here before that a heavy set of keys attached to the ig key can wear the switch inside...
Hopethishelps.

Click to expand...

Good acid test.

Well, it looks like the switch. In the "lights on" position if I wiggle wires on the switch, the red ignition light flickers. In the "lights off" position the light stays solid when I wiggle the wires. So, do I try to fix it, replace it with the same switch, or change to something else? Any suggestions would be great!!

davecox2 said:

Well, it looks like the switch. In the "lights on" position if I wiggle wires on the switch, the red ignition light flickers. In the "lights off" position the light stays solid when I wiggle the wires. So, do I try to fix it, replace it with the same switch, or change to something else? Any suggestions would be great!!

Click to expand...

New one from OlBritts is only about $40

I would fix it. I did mine and it was amazingly gritty and gummy. Easy to fix.
Or buy a new one, fix the old for a spare.

davecox2 said:

Well, it looks like the switch. In the "lights on" position if I wiggle wires on the switch, the red ignition light flickers. In the "lights off" position the light stays solid when I wiggle the wires. So, do I try to fix it, replace it with the same switch, or change to something else? Any suggestions would be great!!

Click to expand...

A couple drops of solder fixed the loose terminals on my 40yo switch.

See the discussion and a link showing how to clean the swiitch here:
http://www.accessnorton.com/clean-your-ignition-switch-too-t19072.html