Crewwolfy Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I searched a bit here and in the 5th gen section, but couldn't find anything similar enough to feel better. After three months of winter, I went to get the bike ready for the Spring. Turn the key and everything lights up, fuel pumps activate, all looks good. When I hit the starter, there's a loud click, then everything shut off, along with a brief burning smell. Turning it off, the clock would again appear (sometimes immediately, sometimes after 10+ seconds), always at 1:00am. Turn the key again, no lights, no fuel pump, and the clock disappears. After cleaning the battery terminals, checking all the fuses and the typical connections, nothing jumped out as being wrong. No blown fuses (fuse box, main fuse, the 30A in the red/green disaster box: all good), no molten connections (red/green disaster box is good, orange ground box on side looks good), no excessively corroded metal, battery reads ~14V with no load. After disconnecting and reconnecting the battery, fuses and connections a few times, the electronics did light up again with a key turn, as if everything was fine. But again, hitting that starter button killed everything (but no burning smell this time). This only happened twice over the course of an hour. My next session will involve going over all the connections again, cleaning them, looking again for anything that might have caused a burning smell. But I'm hoping someone has a idea of what would cause this problem. Again, the red/green disaster box looks good, fuses are fine, no indications of burn. I've had a Yamaha R/R on the bike for a year now with no issues, a raped/pillaged/rebuilt orange ground box, a Powerlet socket that was disconnected the second near-start, and a second pair of indicator lights spliced into the front signals; these are the only electrical mods, and they've all been on the bike for a while now with no problem. Suggestions? Any help is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daword2011 Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 disconnect at the battery cables ill bet money, or i had a similar issue when i had corrosion at the 3-pin connector from the stator to r/r Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer mello dude Posted March 9, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 9, 2013 You havent said whether you battery is fully charged up or it was on a battery tender. Pull it out of the bike, charge over nite, and take it for a load test at an autoparts store or batterys plus or the like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crewwolfy Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 Fast replies! I will look into the stator connection. Sorry, the battery was fully charged on a tender the night before. It's an older battery that spent half the winter in the cold garage, so it's on the to-do list, but this doesn't seem like a bad battery issue (from my limited experience). I'll try to have the battery tested tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 I have not had this so far with any of my sports bikes, however had this with an XT600. Turned out to be carbon arcing across the starter motor, same loud click and brief burning smell. In the cap housing of the starter motor there was a fibreglass board that the terminals connected on and this had a carbon arc track burn which was pulling the motor to ground. Initially did not blow fuses but after a few tries it did. You can test by bypassing the bike circuit with a loose heavy duty wire and just a quick dab sirect to the terminal this bypasses the relay which is what will be giving you the click. Everything will be fine until you press the starter as that is when the circuit comes into play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spud786 Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Fast replies! I will look into the stator connection. Sorry, the battery was fully charged on a tender the night before. It's an older battery that spent half the winter in the cold garage, so it's on the to-do list, but this doesn't seem like a bad battery issue (from my limited experience). I'll try to have the battery tested tomorrow. Id seriously look at that battery itself, sounds like its just getting flakey. battery tests are sometimes flakey too, I had a battery tested at firestone one time on a friday(they said it was in great condition). Monday I had to install a new battery.WTF? As far as the vfr, My last battery went out like this. charge level showed fine, but occasioanlly slow turn over on start up, after 2 weeks of debating I finally oredered a new one, problem solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer IntAceptor Posted March 10, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 10, 2013 I had the same thing happen twice before. The battery went north (I live in Tennessee). It open circuited but there was just enough power getting through the electrolyte to fire up the clock. If you have a volt meter, it will read proper voltage until you hit the starter and then it will go to zero. If that is the case, get a new battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crewwolfy Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 I'll look into the problem areas listed, but it sounds like I'll be getting a new battery.. Tried to have it tested at AdvanceAuto and AutoZone, but neither can test motorcycle batteries. Which I found odd.. I'll post up my results when I have them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Does everything else on the bike work fine without pressing the starter button? Remember the starter is connected to the 30A fuse because it takes a big draw current and therefore can easily pull the battery down. If you are pressing the starter button and getting a click is it a good clean click or is it a sluggish click with a sort of buzz. A good clean click no buzz suggests enough current to allow the draw for the starter motor and keep the solenoid energized. A sluggish click and buzz suggest not enough draw current, which would normally initially point to the battery being low. You can do a quick check on the battery by applying a load such as a lamp and your meter leave for a while and see if the light dims and the meter registers a drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 The battery went north (I live in Tennessee). Good one. LA is more south than Tennessee, but here things go south. To Mexico. I put Ballistic batteries in my bikes recently. Cost more but don't need a battery tender, last longer they say, weigh quite a bit less, and crank that starter over nice and fast. Especially nice for the Tuono which seemed to have a wimpy stock battery, and can be a reluctant starter. Don't even touch that throttle, you'll cause yourself headaches. Just key on and hit the magic button. My VFR has always been a pretty easy starter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Bassie Posted March 11, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 11, 2013 Put a voltmeter on your battery when you try to start, if the voltage drops to way below 12V and it's just a click, then you know the battery is dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crewwolfy Posted March 12, 2013 Author Share Posted March 12, 2013 The click was very clean and crisp. I did notice a very faint ticking noise, coming from somewhere around the engine, but couldn't pinpoint where as the plastics were still on. I couldn't determine any regular cause or pattern (no click necessary), but would only occur while the battery was connected. The bike is on the centerstand and wasn't moved at all (aside from straightening the handlebars). No new battery until the weekend, so it's all theory until then.. If I can get the lights to fire back up, I'll leave them on and test the battery with that load. Appreciate all the thoughts, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daword2011 Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 can you bump start it? like run down the street in 3rd and let loose the clutch to start it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Bassie Posted March 12, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 12, 2013 What happens if you put a voltmeter over the battery and you turn the light on. It doesn't matter if you actually see them burning or not, because if the voltage drops to very low levels it will tell you that your battery is broken. Please do that first, as the battery voltage should sustain high if you turn the lights on, if it doesn't it's broken, that simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baileyrock Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 sounds like a bad battery Sent from my SCH-I405 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crewwolfy Posted March 12, 2013 Author Share Posted March 12, 2013 If I can get the lights to fire back up, I'll test the battery under that load. I would be tempted to bump start it, but my experience bump starting motorcycles is limited to 250cc little guys. I've tried with the VFR once before, too heavy for my liking.. :chicken: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer DaveB Posted March 12, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 12, 2013 The smell of burning suggests something probably the starter is taking too much current. If the starter can't rotate it will take too much current and burn. The bike has been stationery for a while so the starter might need to be rotated a little to free it off. Does the starter have a nut on the end of the shaft top allow you to spin it and check it turns freely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Bassie Posted March 12, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 12, 2013 You are missing the point Crewwolfy. You need to take a voltage meter, put it over the battery without ingnition or lights. Write down that voltage. then turn the ignitionkey and switch the lightswitch to on. Write down that voltage, regardless if the lights work or not. If the voltage drops rapidly to way below 12V, then you know the battery is broken. If the voltage doesn't do much but the lights don't come on, then your cabling may have a problem and not the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crewwolfy Posted March 12, 2013 Author Share Posted March 12, 2013 Ah, gotcha Bassie. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Bassie Posted March 12, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 12, 2013 Let me give you an idea of what it should be: Battery without ignition and lights should be anywhere between 12.5 ~ 13.4V Turning the ignition + lights on could drop to 11.8 ~ 12.8V If you see the battery without anything below 12V then the battery is broken, say you measure and see 11V, it's dead, means one cell is busted. If you see the battery drop to <11.8V, say it dropt to 5V when turning ignition + lights, then the battery is broken also. If you see the voltage drop on turning ignition-on from 12.5 to say 12V but the lights don't work, then cabling is the problem. Could be anything from a fuse to connectors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 The tick you hear will be from the fuel pump. Do as Bassie says thus determining if the battery is good, if bad replace, if good I would suggest looking at the starter motor as previously stated, based on your initial click, burning smell description in origininal post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crewwolfy Posted March 15, 2013 Author Share Posted March 15, 2013 Update! So I got back to the garage today and got to work. The first thing I did was hook up the multimeter to the battery. Whereas last time I held the prongs to the terminals, this time I pinched them inbetween the terminals and the connectors, so I could get a reading while starting. Low and behold the bike started right up! I killed the engine and tried again, this time with the cell phone camera running; worked again. Next I removed the prongs, simply attaching the connectors to the terminals (normal). No luck; I got the -click- and nothing again. Pinch the prongs again, fires up no problem. I'm guessing this means the connection between the battery and the connectors is bad. Would roughing up the mating surfaces with sandpaper (then cleaning with brake cleaner / towels) be a good approach? Or other suggestions? Also, since I have some electrically knowledgeable folks here, I thought I'd get some video of the multimeter readings while the bike is off, lights on, starting, running and elevated RPMs. Take a look and see if the battery is performing well? I'm seeing 14-16V throughout, with a dip to ~12V when the starter's firing. Impressions? BTW, I didn't get a chance to look at the starter. It sounded fine, and it was really cold... -_- Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Bassie Posted March 15, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 15, 2013 Your meter is abit off, but not to worry. The things that I see look good. About the bad contacts, do NOT sand then! Get an electric-cleaning-spray. Take te contacts apart, you may need to close the contact opening a bit. Then spray them and put them togther a few times so the connectors get cleaned due to the spray working. After that you should be good to go. I do suggest you get a friend that knows this to help you. As a lot of current is involved and doing it wrong can lead to fire. I say it's just a matter of bad contacts. Sent from my GT-S5570 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Sounds like you have a connector block or bullet connectors, these can become tarnished but more likely slightly seperated from the act of inserting and removing. If we say you have a prong and a socket. If you look at the socket there is normally a slit in the socket which opens out slightly. If this is the case then a gentle nip up so as to bring the gap closer together will allow a tighter connection. A quick way of doing this is to use a small flat head screwdriver. The connectors can actually be removed from the housing and then a pair of pliers can be used but normally the quick screwdriver does the job. I suppose I should add the caution about battery power being disconnected. Certainly not going to be your starter motor after all. The slight burning smell you initially got would most likely be due to the large draw current across the poor connection and may have smelt a bit like ozone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crewwolfy Posted March 15, 2013 Author Share Posted March 15, 2013 Roger, no sandpaper. :) I'm a little confused by what both of you mean when you say 'connector'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.