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Vtec electrical problems info post


Baileyrock

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Thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction. I had no owners manuel so didnt even know where the fuse box was. I downloaded the manuel and found out my bike has two fuse pannels on left and right side, luckly I toke your advise and started on the right once I figured out how to take fairing pannel cover off. Replaced the 10 amp fuse and ssshes up and working again, so my test ride for tomorrow is going to honda and getting some spare 10 amp fuses. Thanks for your help!

Kelly

Your welcome, that's what were here for! :goofy:

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  • 4 months later...

I purchased my 2005 VFR in October this year. Barely a week after the buy, the flicker stopped working as well as the tail light and one of the relays buzzed under the dash when switch the bike on. Honda replaced the relays and the problem appeared to have gone, but it happened soons after.

After Honda stopped being helpful, my brother and I decided to have a look our selves - this sounded lik a grounding problem. After stripping almost all the covers, and my brother figured out that the green and silver wires are the earth wires seeing that they are the only ones present on all the components, he traced it to a single connector that bridged all the earth wires. This plug was brown from rust/burnt? We cleaned it and the problem immediately dissapeared.

Its now two months down the line - problem is still gone. This connector is located behind the small cover just left of the dash.

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I purchased my 2005 VFR in October this year. Barely a week after the buy, the flicker stopped working as well as the tail light and one of the relays buzzed under the dash when switch the bike on. Honda replaced the relays and the problem appeared to have gone, but it happened soons after.

After Honda stopped being helpful, my brother and I decided to have a look our selves - this sounded like a grounding problem. After stripping almost all the covers, and my brother figured out that the green and silver wires are the earth wires seeing that they are the only ones present on all the components, he traced it to a single connector that bridged all the earth wires. This plug was brown from rust/burnt? We cleaned it and the problem immediately disappeared.

Its now two months down the line - problem is still gone. This connector is located behind the small cover just left of the dash.

Hi and welcome to VFRD to you there in Cape Town! :goofy:

Yes, like discussed in this thread that dash buzzing is a direct indication of the common Ground wire issue. There is only one ground point on the entire bike and that's at or near the rear of the tank on the frame, I don't know what connector that you are referring to under that small cover.

This is the link to the repair needed to the blue connector for grounding issues to the front sub harness.

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=34394&st=0&p=411780entry411780

If you haven't done this repair already, I Strongly suggest you do it ASAP as this is the only source of grounding to the front harness.

Here in the USA Honda did a RECALL of all VFR's 05-down to replace the wiring harness. Seems many other countries did Not get a recall! :fing02:

PS the previous owner probably got rid of that bike because it started having that issue before you ever had it! :laugh:

BR

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  • 1 month later...

I purchased my 2005 VFR in October this year. Barely a week after the buy, the flicker stopped working as well as the tail light and one of the relays buzzed under the dash when switch the bike on. Honda replaced the relays and the problem appeared to have gone, but it happened soons after.

After Honda stopped being helpful, my brother and I decided to have a look our selves - this sounded like a grounding problem. After stripping almost all the covers, and my brother figured out that the green and silver wires are the earth wires seeing that they are the only ones present on all the components, he traced it to a single connector that bridged all the earth wires. This plug was brown from rust/burnt? We cleaned it and the problem immediately disappeared.

Its now two months down the line - problem is still gone. This connector is located behind the small cover just left of the dash.

Hi and welcome to VFRD to you there in Cape Town! :wheel:

Yes, like discussed in this thread that dash buzzing is a direct indication of the common Ground wire issue. There is only one ground point on the entire bike and that's at or near the rear of the tank on the frame, I don't know what connector that you are referring to under that small cover.

This is the link to the repair needed to the blue connector for grounding issues to the front sub harness.

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=34394&st=0&p=411780entry411780

If you haven't done this repair already, I Strongly suggest you do it ASAP as this is the only source of grounding to the front harness.

Here in the USA Honda did a RECALL of all VFR's 05-down to replace the wiring harness. Seems many other countries did Not get a recall! :fing02:

PS the previous owner probably got rid of that bike because it started having that issue before you ever had it! :pissed:

BR

Thanks BR

I will check that link you posted out and fix that asap.

The connector I was refering to is a small plug in the wiring that is like a connection point of all the earth wires from different components in the front of the bike. I think then that from here the one wire maybe goes to the earth point. This is just a plug where 16 earth wires or so connect to, and inside plug is simply a bridge that connect them all together. Like I said - this plug had some serious corrosion and after cleaning it and properly seating the bridge plate again, all was well. Worth a look anyways if things turn south...

Thanks for this awesome website for proud VFR owners!

Edited by Bean
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Thanks BR

I will check that link you posted out and fix that asap.

The connector I was refering to is a small plug in the wiring that is like a connection point of all the earth wires from different components in the front of the bike. I think then that from here the one wire maybe goes to the earth point. This is just a plug where 16 earth wires or so connect to, and inside plug is simply a bridge that connect them all together. Like I said - this plug had some serious corrosion and after cleaning it and properly seating the bridge plate again, all was well. Worth a look anyways if things turn south...

Thanks for this awesome website for proud VFR owners!

Yeah that is the grounding block which another member discovered a few years back, it's located on the left inside of the frame rail 1/2 or 3/4 the way along the engine or something like that. A plastic POS with all the green ground wises in it and only a few out going wires to the grounding point on the frame. :fing02:

I'm not sure what thread it's in, but someone covered it pretty well and it doesn't seem to be as common of a problem area.

BR

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  • 1 year later...
  • Member Contributer

Hey guys - looking for some regurgitation on this stuff. Some of the links and pics are gone so I need some fresh help.

Been looking for a reason why I'm losing battery charge and I thought it was all related to my recent install of HID's and leaving the bike not charged for several weeks. Checked the Stator and it's fine, checked the RR and don't know what I'm looking for, and then looked at the 30A fuse at the battery and it looks like it's on it's way to meltage.

So - would that 30A fuse be enough to create a lot of problems?

Thanks for any help you can offer!

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I've got an '07 with only about 3700 miles on it. No problems yet but I'm about to start looking at these areas of concern. Anybody with and '07 or newer having any problems?? Or have they been sorted by the factory???

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I've got an '07 with only about 3700 miles on it. No problems yet but I'm about to start looking at these areas of concern. Anybody with and '07 or newer having any problems?? Or have they been sorted by the factory???

Actually 06-up had a factory update, but as far as I can tell there are still issues for these later models per member complaints. :sad:

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  • Member Contributer

The '06 and newer bikes still have a weak 30-amp connector, just beefier wiring than the earlier bikes. Essentially there's a wiring connector (one potential source of resistance), followed shortly by a non weather-proof fuse holder (another potential source of resistance). This whole area can corrode, which causes resistance. Resistance causes heat, which can make the fuse holder, wires, and fuse itself overheat and melt. When this happens, you can get heat-induced circuit breaks where the bike will just trip out on you suddenly and then power will come back. This is common behaviour for a high resistance connection.

Anyway, this isn't likely to be your cause of poor charging. You need to hook a voltmeter up to the bike while its running - most likely your regulator or stator is dead or on the way out. What stator tests did you perform? The only valid test is the one where you check the AC voltage with the bike running.

As always, follow the Electrosport fault finding diagram. It is THE source for finding charging issues.

http://www.electrosp...ing-diagram.pdf

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  • Member Contributer

I just posted this about an hour ago in electrical - I have an 06 and just hit 10K - had a problem that I didn't know about until I compounded it with an HID install.

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/69136-stop-with-the-worry-stop-with-the-stressjust-order-yourself-a-vfrness/

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  • 7 months later...
Guest myke_w

The '06 and newer bikes still have a weak 30-amp connector, just beefier wiring than the earlier bikes. Essentially there's a wiring connector (one potential source of resistance), followed shortly by a non weather-proof fuse holder (another potential source of resistance). This whole area can corrode, which causes resistance.

Where is this wiring section located? I have an 08 and could take some photos if that would help clarify the design in the later models.

Also - are later models subject to the common ground issue?

Edited by myke_w
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  • 1 month later...
  • Member Contributer

I have an 07 I just replaced the fuse holder and wires and I am still getting very hot wires and fuse?

voltage is running about 14.2-14.6 any ideas?

What rpm are you getting that voltage?

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now I'm getting 15.8 15.9 volts at 4500-5000 rpms and I tried to run a wire from the r/r sending to the battery with the same results

maybe I need a new r/r? the bike has 14000 miles on it

Edited by hootiehoo
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I have used these links http://www.vfrdiscus...age__hl__30 amp and http://www.vfrdiscus...nitor-wire-fix/ .

I also added the ground wire on the other side around the blue connector to the tank strap bolt just incase that would help http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/34394-6th-gen-blue-connector-ground-fix-how-to/page__hl__%2Bblue+%2Bconnector+%2Bground

I have removed every connector on each side to check for any sign of burn or corrosion, everything looked ok , I added dielectric geese while I had them apart.

My local honda shop is not the place to get it fixed because while it was under warranty one of the the front cams had started making noise I thought it need a valve adjustment when I pulled the cams out I noticed that one of them was eating in to the cam journal.

I took it to them and they told me I must of done a wheely and that caused the cam to eat in to the head because of lack of oil to that spot... I had to replace the head myself after weeks of talking to honda service and the 800 number they gave me for warranties. they wanted 5600$ to do the work so i did it myself

Edited by hootiehoo
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now I'm getting 15.8 15.9 volts at 4500-5000 rpms and I tried to run a wire from the r/r sending to the battery with the same results

maybe I need a new r/r? the bike has 14000 miles on it

That's WAY too hot of voltage there! That will cook the battery and a lot of other things running that much juice. I think the RR is the only thing that could cause that problem unless that monitor wire you mentioned earlier is not hooked up anymore! .

BR

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  • 4 months later...
  • Member Contributer

Being an ex-VFR owner (5th and 6th gen.) I think it was as shame that Honda didn't deal with and beef up the 5th gen. electricals and front forks (as they did with the 6th gen forks) then call it a great bike. It could have used 20 to 25 more HP which would have been enough for me. Even if they wouldn't have put the bike on a diet, the 5th gen. VFR's were capable of serious performance with a skilled rider while being comfortable to ride from light to dark. Did it a bunch of times multi-days in a row. What bike can do that now with a killer V4? I know a bunch of people are going to answer the 7th gen. is great but I simply can't get into that bike. A lot of people can so I respect their feelings.

A lighter weight V4 with a little more power, genuine performance suspension, and good performance ergos that could be ridden all day would be the bees knees. Honda coulda done it.

Oh well, mankind has a solid record of screwing up good things. BTW, this isn't a derail job since Honda has weak electricals on all the 5th and 6th gens.

Speaking of screwing things up....how many miles do you have without a valve adjustment on your poor abused black bike, Mr. Bailerrock-star? Hope you and the entire gang of "old buddies" are doing well. :smile:

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  • 1 month later...
Guest Slumpbuster

The problem still exists on 07's. On the freeway around 80 and the whole dash went out. No tach, speedo, gas gauge. It was daylight so I later learned that I had no taillight or headlight. Bike ran fine but I went straight home as a precaution. First time bothering to read this thread but I'm glad it's here. My 30 amp fuse is not blown and the red wire looks fine but the 30 amp connector is starting to discolor. Sounds like I need to look thru all my fuses. Do I need to run thru all of my wires to look for chaffing?

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The problem still exists on 07's. On the freeway around 80 and the whole dash went out. No tach, speedo, gas gauge. It was daylight so I later learned that I had no taillight or headlight. Bike ran fine but I went straight home as a precaution. First time bothering to read this thread but I'm glad it's here. My 30 amp fuse is not blown and the red wire looks fine but the 30 amp connector is starting to discolor. Sounds like I need to look thru all my fuses. Do I need to run thru all of my wires to look for chaffing?

Check your stator outputs on all three phases... check resistance as well as see if any of the 3 are "communicating" that is, short circuiting beetween them... the specs are in the workshop manual (download it from the corresponding section)

Also I highly recommend you do this: http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/62525-byc/?hl=%2Bkentucky+%2Bfried+%2Bconnector

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The problem still exists on 07's. On the freeway around 80 and the whole dash went out. No tach, speedo, gas gauge. It was daylight so I later learned that I had no taillight or headlight. Bike ran fine but I went straight home as a precaution. First time bothering to read this thread but I'm glad it's here. My 30 amp fuse is not blown and the red wire looks fine but the 30 amp connector is starting to discolor. Sounds like I need to look thru all my fuses. Do I need to run thru all of my wires to look for chaffing?

If your 30 amp connector is discoloring, its probably resistance in the connection, causing heat build up, its good to prep them with wd40 and do a resistance check on both sides of the connection(less than 1 ohm). The 06 + models have electrical connector improvements , they've even added some waterproof connectors on the 09's, But you still need to prep your wiring for the long haul with some wd and a continuity check, and occasionally recheck.

Edited by spud786
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  • 7 months later...
Guest iyad202

We lost all the great and important info related to the Vtec's wiring harness problems and I wanted to try and rebuild all the great info that was in the old post that included problems, cures, dealing with your Dealer's and Honda related to repairs. Contact numbers to file complaints with American Honda, customer service contacts and all the results members had with fighting to get these repairs done by Honda even when their bike was out of warranty.

Please post your past problems and stories here related to our 6th Gens wiring harness issues. All this old info was used many times with service repair numbers provided by other members that help them convince both Honda and their Dealer that this is a common problem and should be repaired. Even pushing for a Recall through the NHSTA(?) or whatever.

The only purpose here is to help anyone with future problems and repairs related to Vtec wiring harness issues. Please help! :thumbsup:

Thanks.

We lost the post "My first electrical problem" and " something's burning" among other's. i f you posted in any of these please re-post.

PS Vtec bashing not welcome from non-Vtec owners! Thanks <_<

I know this thread is a bit old but am having the same problem with me 2008 VFR800 Interceptor which is an American model I bought in Jordan from Honda Dealer. All details are at this link: http://vfrworld.com/forums/6th-generation-2002-2009/43143-help-fed-up-honda-maintenance.html#post409543

I was told the problem was fixed but the only thing done was one fuse and one major wire replacement. I am just waiting for that stator to fry or fuse to fry or both :unsure:

I really wish Honda could see our frustration and DIY mods to solve problems we are stuck with because of their poor manufacturing! to be honest I am starting to doubt Honda's reputation of having reliable bikes!

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  • 1 month later...

First verify the battery is good, charge it up and have it load tested at dealer. Replace if fails.

With a good charged battery test the stator per the Honda shop manual. Replace if fails.

If stator connector is fried replace with Stator Hardwire Kit from Wiremybike.com http://www.wiremybike.com/vfr-specific-parts-2000-2001-vfr-parts-stator-hardwire-kit-p-693.html

Check the 30 amp fuse holder near the battery, replace if heat damaged with automotive type holder.

If after checking and/or replacing these parts the voltage is not correct then check and repair all wiring between stator and battery. If wiring is OK then replace the rectifier.

Stators typically last 50k miles

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