Cranks, No Start, Lights stay on when switch is turned off.

iirc it's just put on with electrical tape on the harness maybe a subtle change in '04.
In with the filth looked like maybe some white goo I guess dielectric grease.

Mine's now cleaned up with a healthy dose of contact cleaner and regooped with plain old clear silicone dielectric grease in the contacts as well as the terminal entrance points on the connector halves.
 
That is the same connector that stranded Bones during Moonshine last year. When we got home I checked mine. cleaned allthe connections and liberally greased it with dielectric grease. Mine is also an 03 as is Bone's bike.
 
Great info PD.

That does seem like too much current for that lil pin
My fairing is off and I'm going to do that right now ..
 
SteveST1300 said:
That is the same connector that stranded Bones during Moonshine last year. When we got home I checked mine. cleaned allthe connections and liberally greased it with dielectric grease. Mine is also an 03 as is Bone's bike.
Click to expand...

Had a meltdown on my 03 right there too! Sub-Harness had to be replaced. Bike was still under warranty but Honda declined coverage due to presence of aftermarket equipment....a dealer installed electric shield! Thanks Honda!
 
Well guys I guess I should post no issues for two years now.

I tried everything suggested by folk here and still had the issue.

I stumbled on a thread here, I can't find it now, but it called for running a wire from the headlight socket to a good solid ground.

Did this and two years now without and issue...Yahoo.

Mike
 
After a similar problem on my 05 was fixed with a known good ground inserted "upstream" of the 24 pin connector I have paid more attention to this type of problem/complaint. As the ST1300 ages I think we will see more ground problems like this and it was an easy fix, at least in my case. I was glad to have this forum to research specific problems and for members like Stan v8-7 who told me where to look.
 
Mike said:
Well guys I guess I should post no issues for two years now.

I tried everything suggested by folk here and still had the issue.

I stumbled on a thread here, I can't find it now, but it called for running a wire from the headlight socket to a good solid ground.

Did this and two years now without and issue...Yahoo.

Mike
Click to expand...

Thanks for the follow up. Yet another piece of valuable troubleshooting that may save me some time in the future.
 
Jon'sST said:
My '05 is sitting in my garage right now after totally crapping out with the same problems last fall. All the fairings off, lots of testing done to no avail. Going out there right now and add the new ground to the left headlight and the parallel ground at the 24 pin connector. Fingers crossed.
Thanks, this is a fantastic bunch of people here.
Click to expand...

Your right on track with ground issues.
Maybe pull apart the ground cap and see if there are any burnt terminals also.
Here is a clip from my thread and what worked what worked for me on the same problem.
There is a 24 pin (Ground Cap) plastic connector that brings all the ground wires together behind the right headlight. I had one of the connections in there that melted part of the 24 pin ground cap. I removed all of the ground wires at the ground cap and put eyelets on the wires, then used 2 brass bolts to join all the eyelets together.
There is a write up on here about attaching the eyelets, can't seem to find it.
Also routed a larger green wire to the bike frame from this bolted connection.
No problems since.
Click to expand...


Also good reading material can be found here.

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/show...ke-won-t-start

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/show...n-Off-RESOLVED

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/show...ed-by-wire-rub

http://stwiki.notonthe.net/twiki/bin...roundCapRecall

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/show...-off-06-ST1300
 
pdfruth said:
This problem has really been bugging me.
After studying the wiring diagram for a couple hours, I'm convinced this is a problem with a bad ground. I'll bet money on it.
So, I set out to prove my theory, reproducing the problem on my bike.
I have precisely replicated the OP's problem on my 03.... simulating a bad ground, by simply extracting the pin, for the green wire, from the big white 24-pin connector, on the left side of the bike. See the attached picture.

That green wire carries the ground return for EVERYTHING connected to the front sub-harness (headlights, turn signals, headlight aiming system, bank angle sensor, instrument cluster, and the horn). If the ground return for the devices up front, have no direct path back to ground (via this green wire), then the next best path is the front turn signal light bulb filaments, via the rear turn signal light bulb filaments. And, the right-side headlight bulb filaments, via the left-side headlight relay coils. It all makes perfect sense now. The reason the lights glow dimly is - there's enough current flowing back thru the right-side headlight filaments, via the left-side hi & lo headlight relay coils (which are on an un-switched circuit), to keep the left-side headlight relays latched, which in-turn keeps the left headlight energized. Niffty little latch-up loop. I wonder if Honda ever considered this might happen? They should have put the left-side headlight relays on a switched circuit too.

So, Mike, either you've got an intermittent connection on that same pin, in the 24-pin connector.... or it could be anywhere else, on that green wire - from the ground block under the rear of the fuel tank, all the way out to one of the ground taps in the front sub-harness.

You can easily prove this is your problem. Simply get yourself a length of 22 gauge wire, and splice one end into the green wire at the left head light socket (it's the easiest place to gain access to). Route the other end to a place near a solid chassis ground point (or better yet, all the way back to the negative battery terminal). Tape the end of the wire so it doesn't come in contact with anything. Then, the next time your bike exhibits the problem (ie. lights glowing dimly while the ignition switch is turned off) simply touch the loose end of that piece of wire to chassis ground. The lights should immediately extinguish. With the wire still touching chassis ground, turn on the ignition, and the bike should start.

EDIT: Frankly, I'm surprised this hasn't happened to more folks. That poor little pin (for the green wire), in the 24-pin connector, has to carry a considerable amount of current. I measured it. Under normal conditions, there's 7-8 amps flowing thru that point. 15 amps when you run the screen adjuster. Too much for that little pin, IMHO. I'm gonna beef things up, by adding a parallel connection, before I have this problem too :)
Click to expand...

PDfruth. how exactly did you end up beefing things up. I have an 05 ST 1300 that needs attention. After tying into the green wire and running to the negative side of the battery terminal - my bike now starts and runs. However, the left headlamp is now very dim.
 
F
Peyton Sparks said:
PDfruth. how exactly did you end up beefing things up. I have an 05 ST 1300 that needs attention. After tying into the green wire and running to the negative side of the battery terminal - my bike now starts and runs. However, the left headlamp is now very dim.
Click to expand...
This is an old thread and Pdfruth hasn’t been on site for over 2 years.

Fashion a new ground out of the left headlight connector and ground to the frame.
 
dduelin said:
F

This is an old thread and Pdfruth hasn’t been on site for over 2 years.

Fashion a new ground out of the left headlight connector and ground to the frame.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the update. I've been dealing with this issue for quite a while.

I did wire the ground from the left headlamp connector to the battery negative terminal. The bike now starts and everything seems to operate properly except for the left headlamp that burns much dimmer than the right side.
 
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