Kawasaki bayou 220 1989 no start at all,

[maxbeg]

hey guys, I just bought a bayou 220 1989 and it doesn't start manual and electronic, keep blowing the fuse on the starter coil 20 amp when I plug the battery, ignition is not even on.

I removed the body to make myself some space to see the wires, they are not that bad. The only thing that I found is the relay assembly is rusted on the top, like water infiltration in the relay.

lets me know if you ever have experienced this problem or you have solutions for them.

[Gwbarm]

You have a direct short somewhere if its blowing the fuse immediately after turning on the switch, i would replace the rusted soloenid. It should start manually without that, are you getting spark, the short maay be affecting the ignition system i would still start at the soloenoild and check out the starter if shorted it would be pulling a lot of voltage causing your problem

[maxbeg]

i unplugged every connectors with wires  and the fuse popped directly when i plugged the battery on it, i jumped the starter by bypassing the starter solenoid, the starter motor runs but no sparks yet again with a new spark plug. it won’t start. Wires look great, don’t seem loose at all.

i ordered a new starter solenoid and the relay assy too. 

Edited August 20, 2025 by maxbeg
error

[Gwbarm]

Hopefully that will be it, keep me posted.

[jen]

Imisssed something...Did he isolate the stARTER Solenoid and the fuse did not blow?   But with the solenoid wired it did Blow?

One needs to prove the Fault,

[jen]

An easy test is the BLUE FLASH test.  If I had a component that I thought was grounded /or shorted  I would remover wire and touch a live wire to the component terminal..    A big Blue flash meant it was at fault .  a tinkle arch was normal...That is from the "RESET AND RUN"  technician's handbook...LOL

[Gwbarm]

The starter soloenoid is rusted and corroded needs to be replaced may not be the fix but a good starting place.

[jen]

yes getting everything back to OEM spec's is alwaysn a good thing and makes TSng easier

[jen]

Hmmm....20 amp fuse??/where was that fuse mounted? I.E., Protecting what circuit?

[jen]

BTW  having walked in "HeaD scratcher' fuse blowing problems.  One thing I look for is extraneous wires! I am looking for something some added.  You can tell as the "extraneous" wires will be a different color from the OEM wiring.  The "added circuit" cam be the culprit.  Good example is people adding alarms to cars  etc 

[Gwbarm]

The fuse is either inline or attached to the soloenoid.

[jen]

HMMMM...I would think that the motor starter would draw 20 amps normally.  However,  fuse blowing when bat connected is a fault condition.   We are assuming polarity is correct Bat + and Bat -..

[maxbeg]

i found it, somes wires that weren’t on the wires diagram that the precious owner put for some extra accesories. they were plug into each other, they shouldn’t be, that why the fuse was popping everytime i plugged the battery. Now everything seem to be working as normal.

[jen]

great...wires different color?   You found it

[Gwbarm]

Good work finding that, i have seen that so many times people unplug wires troubleshooting  and dont pay attention when plugging back together.

[shorty]

Good work, I've been following this thread, gwbarm and jen provided enough support for me to be quiet. That fuse is isolated from the starter's armature. The armature pulls more than a 20amp fuse can handle. The starter relay coil DOES pull power through that fuse. 

[jen]

What is the expected amp draw from that starter?...I  would guess it's 20 amps at least.

[maxbeg]

when i tested the relay, i ran out of 20 amp fuse and put 30 amp fuse and it still pops,it was drawing a lot of electricity. Pretty happy to have it figure it out for pretty much 0$!

[shorty]

Most motorcycle starters draw over twenty amps for the first few seconds. It's the armature that pulls all the amps. The relay coil (starter solenoid) is only 5 amps or less .. maxbeg did very well 

[Gwbarm]

Most soloenoids have a 30 amp fuse for that reason.

[maxbeg]

yes that why I think. Now I think it's burning oil because it running rough and I tried adjusting the carburetor, it was a bit better but not my expectation. The level is low on the gauge beside the foot brake. When I bought it, it didn't ran for like 2-3 years. I will do an oil change soon and check the oil level regularly. Could be valves seals or piston ring? or maybe old oil 

let me you know what are your thoughts.

Max

[Gwbarm]

Great you got the electrical sorted out and running. Is it smoking badly or why do you think its burning oil.? I would definately do an oil change and check the compression with throttle open and then put oil in the cylinder just a little bit, check again and see if the compression goes up. If it does worn rings.. When oil gets old it gets thinner and contaminated with condensation and possibly gas leaking into sump from poor carb needle seal. Its also possible that the rings may be a little stuck from sitting for a few years and that will get better the more you run it. Generally running rough is fuel and air related not always but the first place to look. Is the the original Mikuni or has it been replaced. I would do a thorough cleaning of carb, which you may have already done, but remove the emulsion tube to make sure its clear, junk seems to grown in there and can only clean it by taking it out. I would check the valve clearances and make sure they are in specs and then run it for a while and see if it gets better.

[maxbeg]

i haven’t check for the mikuni, i do an oil change first and clean the carburetor after. It was just smoking when i was giving it gas, and this afternoon it started but after some time running on idle, it died. Trying to start it back up but it wouldn’t. went to check the oil it was low. i’m waiting for my oil filter to come in tomorrow. 

[Gwbarm]

Oh! That might explain the rough running if its been sitting for years no telling what you will find in that carb, if the PO did not use ethynol free gas maybe jelly. Im surprized it started at all.

[maxbeg]

yeah look like it. Gas is good, it is old but no jelly, it close to empty, i’m trying to burn it all and after put 91 in it. Cleaning the carb should help a bit a think, i adjusted the valve on the carburetor.

[shorty]

I wouldn't run it with that old gas. Like gwbarm said I'm surprised it started. Drain that gas and kill weeds with it. The idle jet is real tiny and clogs easily. If you're familiar with the carb I would take it apart and clean the jets (orifices)

[jen]

How rusty is fuel tank?  I would expect that the fuel petcock / Strainer could  be removed /replace if dirty.  My '92 KAW SAT FOR YEARS  I had to epoxy cote the tank as he rust was plugging the carb jets.

[shorty]

9 minutes ago, jen said:

How rusty is fuel tank?  I would expect that the fuel petcock / Strainer could  be removed /replace if dirty.  My '92 KAW SAT FOR YEARS  I had to epoxy cote the tank as he rust was plugging the carb jets.

Yes I've seen that. It can be very time consuming to clean and coat the inside of a fuel tank. Like you said the debris will continue clogging the carb

[maxbeg]

the tank itself isn’t rusty inside, super clean, i think there is like 0.3 gallon inside remaining. i restarted just now and it run just fine, but i’m doing an oil change and carb cleanup this weekend.

[Gwbarm]

Shouldnt be any rust its plastic, petcock is generally cleanable mostly corroson should work fine with new seals, but you can buy a nifty chinese one for less than the OEM seals.