Jcb121 Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Hi all, 2nd day on the job and first day of planning to ride in today, I say planning. History, in the summer I had a lead acid battery fitted and one of the cells swelled up. I changed the battery to a motobatt and went away and did 6k miles and enjoyed them. When I tried to ride to the hospital the other day, the bike turned over slowly and then died. I jump started it and rode it and all seemed well. Today, just before work, I put my key in and the green key light flashed continually on the dash. There was also a continual clicking sound coming from the right seat panel. I assume a relay. The bike was having none of it! after toggling the lights and the kill switch, it was still dead. I tried connecting another battery and it still wasn't playing ball. I then had to get a taxi and was 1 minute late for work. I've put the battery on charge now and I'll see what it's like in the morning. Could it be a fried regulator? rectifier? fuel relay? hopefully not an ECU..... Cheers guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JZH Posted January 19, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted January 19, 2016 The clicking relay is a sign that the battery is too weak to fully engage the relay. So, you know your battery has not been charging. You don't (yet) know why. Could be a bad battery, but the recent replacement would cause most people to discount that option. Always start with the battery! It may only have 6,000mi on it, but it could still be damaged. Cells do not swell by themselves--your reg/rec could have been slowly cooking the MotoBatt since you installed it (though it should have killed it before this.) Anyway, there are also three other potential culprits: the reg/rec, the stator and the wiring/connectors. (Those symptoms do not point to the fuel or ignition systems.) But start by testing the battery. Do you have a voltmeter? Ciao, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve27bha Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Use this flowchart to check the full charging system:- http://www.electrosport.com/technical-resources/library/diagnosis/pdf/fault-finding-diagram.pdf You don't quote your bike model (it kinda helps!) but this stuff is relevant to the 5th gen. 800Fi:- http://www.bikersoracle.com/vfr/forum/showthread.php?t=76159 Why not use bikersoracle anyway, since you and it are UK based, and USA bikes differ subtly? See you here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 I jump started it and rode it and all seemed well. Riding with the dead battery draws a massive amount of power from the charging system. A dead battery appears to be a short circuit to the system. This massive current is subject to harming any components in its path such as the stator, the rectifier, connectors, and fuses. Understand that this ride may have changed the state of the system and created additional problems, or, finished off a component that was already dying. That flowchart that Steve27bhposted appears thorough and guides you through the process, so I will just stress that even once you identify the primary issues, continue to inspect everything. Look for burnt wiring on the stator, melted connectors, etc. A component showing a weakness will be the first thing to go, when you least expect it, so it behooves you to replace it now. The older the bike is the more thorough one should be. (I do not see what year your bike is so this may not apply.) After ten plus years, all of the switches and connections could use a good cleaning. Doing so will prevent random failures along the way and give you more years of peace of mind. Once you have done due diligence, then you can just periodically test the battery voltage after it sits for a few days, and compare it to a battery life chart, and test the charging voltage. These things can be done perhaps once a month, or depending on how much you ride. Changes in that test should catch the next problem before it leaves you stranded. The one exception is batteries that have a good voltage but have no stamina yet. Well, can't catch everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Dead batteries aren't much fun. I don't think they have a song like dead puppies do either. Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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