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[andyoutandabout]

Hey fjers, here's an odd one - my Fj just blanked out on me after 4 solid years of service. Initially I though main fuse - but no. I'm sure it's electrical - no lights, no stater solonoid kick, nothing. Only clue - the clock is still going when the ignition is off - but when you turn the key on even that blanks out and it's all down?
Any knee jerk guesses before I attack with my multi- meter this afternoon?
Thanks for any good steer
Andy

[Marsh White]

In this order: Starter switch stuck?  Then sidestand switch.  Then battery. 

[threejagsteve]

I had a similar occurrence about 12 years ago... turned out a bit of welding flash on the frame near the steering head had vibrated through the insulation and was shorting out one of the wires.

HTH...  

[mickarch]

I had the exact same symptoms earlier this summer, it was a bad battery.  Was fine one day, the next day nothing but the clock.  Replaced the battery and it fire right up.

HTH,
mickey

[higbonzo]

Replace the fuse even if it looks good.

[tqmx1]

Put a nice new accumulator in it and press on.

[andyoutandabout]

The oddness continues:
The battery Well I charged it - the charger said OK it's charged. The multi-meter said battery output was 12.34volts. Put the battery back in turned ignition  -
All the dash lights came on - both indicator lights - high beam light - neutral, oil looked like a christmas tree. No action from the starter. The high beam worked opposite to what is normal - high when switch in low position and vice versa. Turned of ignition - turned on again - and nothing. Nothing rest of afternoon. Checked wires, connections.
Maybe it's possessed?
Andy

[tqmx1]

You have a dead cell, Change the battery and press on.

[Dan Filetti]

Clean and lubricate the STARTER SWITCH, as was indicated earlier.  It's cheap (free in fact, unless you count the cost of a bit of white grease lubricant).  Then I'd do the same for the side stand switch.  If these are not the issue, then at least they won't be in the future.  If this does not work, THEN you can start replacing stuff. Just prophylactically, if the battery is more than a couple of years old, I'd replace that.

If none of these things work, then they will help keep the bike running when you do finally figure out which wire has chaffed etc. and you're out nothing but some decent preventative maintenance.

Good luck!

Dan

[Editing lest the spell and grammar Nazi Klavdy decides to point out where I used 'your' when I should have used "you're".

[jvb_ca]

You should get more than 12.3v from your battery. A good battery will show more that 13.5v.Try jumping it with a good battery. Weak batteries do strange things.

Cheers...Jake

[Ratchet_72]

Hey Andy! strangely enough my Blackbird recently did the exact same thing, right down to the clock dimming out when ignition turned on. Turns out that I needed to remove both pos and neg lugs off the battery along with various sta-kon wire connectors under the terminal screws and file both the wire connectors AND the all that connects to the battery until copper shows. Sometimes in the electrical trades we have to rough up surfaces on a regular basis in order to maintain a bond. Dielectric grease also helps once you've filed the surfaces.

[andyoutandabout]

Yep - no prizes, but well done to those who guessed:
B-A-T-T-E-R-Y.
They sure can produce some weird effects when they're about to give up the race.
Thanks All
Andy.