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Pair Good. Battery Bad?


Guest Dailyvacation

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Guest Dailyvacation

I did the PAIR mod today via the marble method and it smoothed things out considerably, most noticeably the VTEC kick, which I will miss. But I noticed yesterday one startup and today I had a hesitation mid start where it seemed there was no power and both times my trip odometers reset and it went to the main odometer. I checked the battery when I got home and shut it down and it was at 13.3. Is it on its way out?

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  • Member Contributer

Cell starting to fail in the battery ..

So, for my education... Why could this not be just a wiring connection, corrosion, or grounding issue?

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It might just be a loose battery connection. Start at the battery and make sure the screws are nice and snug. The tiniest bit loose and they will cause power issues.

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The power cut-out mid-start? That's most likely a loose battery connection. Is the 13.3V measured at the battery with the motorcycle off or on?

After checking the battery connections, it would be a good idea to check the following voltages at the battery:

1. with the motorcycle off

2. at idle

3. at 5000rpm

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Battery connections are solid. Next is a new battery I think. The scorpions are now claiming 230cca, the same as the yuasa, with a longer warranty at about 1/3 the price so I may try them. I commute and keep it on a trickle charger at night anyways so battery life should be good.

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The scorpion I have has about 20,000 miles on it, its been flawless and every bit as good as the yuasa ytz 14 that ive also ran. But the scorpion comes with cheap nuts, so save your nuts from the other battery. To early to tell whether scorpion matches yuasa life, I guess im in the half life area at the moment on the scorpion.

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Battery connections are solid. Next is a new battery I think. The scorpions are now claiming 230cca, the same as the yuasa, with a longer warranty at about 1/3 the price so I may try them. I commute and keep it on a trickle charger at night anyways so battery life should be good.

Sounds like a plan ....

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Update: new battery in today. Reading 14.3 off, at idle, and 5000rpm. Checked the two 30 amp fuses right beside the battery box and they're good. I haven't had it off the tender for any time since the new battery but it was dead after spending the night outside the shop waiting for a new chain and sprockets with the old battery.

The old battery did get me home and I checked it after being pulled after on the tender for 2 days and it's reading 13 so I hope it's not the charging system of the bike. We'll see.

By the way, the new battery is a ytz14s made by yuasa but branded "motocross". I was told it's the same as the yuasa but branded differently so it can be sold at a lower price and now screw the guys selling yuasa's. Again, we'll see.

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  • 1 month later...

I had a similar symptom during the time my last battery was on its way out. Key on, and dash lights and F1 would turn on as usual. But when I pressed and held the start button, there would be quick an initial turn of the starter but then an immediate hesitation, followed in turn by a normal crank and the bike starting and running just fine. The whole press-to-start process still took less than 1.5 seconds, so I didn't even notice this quirk at first, but it got more noticeable over time, and the battery soon crapped out. I replaced the battery, and everything was fine.

My thinking was that the initial load spike when the started relay closed dropped the battery just below its now-diminished ability to turn the starter properly, but as soon as the spike passed, there was again enough juice to turn over and run just fine.

When the bike eventually crapped out on me, I was slowing to go through EZ-Pass -- I pulled the clutch when about to stop, and the engine just stopped turning. Everything electrical on the dash and lights seemed normal, but the bike wouldn't crank. The bike was really hot, as I'd just come out of the Midtown Tunnel, so I sat for ten minutes and let it cool. After that, it started just fine. I made it home without issue and even rode a few other times before I noticed anything untoward. But then on a hot day, same issue. Turns out heat brings out the trouble with a battery nearing the end of its useful life. First, the bike runs fine; then bike gets hot; battery performance deteriorates; bike craps out; bike and battery cool down; and bike seems to work just fine again. This means the battery has one foot out the door and the second not far behind.

That's the difficulty with this kind of problem -- the damn thing seems to work just fine right up until the point of total failure....

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