Member Contributer ZCD76 Posted June 29, 2018 Member Contributer Share Posted June 29, 2018 2003 bike with 2,900 miles. Yes 2,900 miles. When I purchased it last fall w/approximately 1,800 miles on it, I don't recall any tach issues. However, the bike did not run so well. Had the injectors cleaned and flowed, new spark plugs (brisk silver plugs), changed the oil, and have run some fuel system cleaner through a few tanks. Beyond that, I have a sebspeed windowed the clutch cover and installed a VFRNess. The issue is the bike runs fine (to the best of my estimation) and the dash works as it should but as soon as the tach gets to 7k/VTEC kicks in, the tach will suddenly swing past 13k and bounce around from ~10k to well past 13k and the fuel injection light will illuminate - sometimes dimly and briefly and sometimes it will fully light and stay lit until I let off the throttle. The bike seems to run fine. I have a digital voltage display and I never see more than 14.3-14.5 volts while the bike is running. I have read about the grounding issues and attempted to chase down everything. It does have a vfrness installed and all of the connectors have been taken apart, cleaned, and reconnected using dielectric grease. Anybody have any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbanengineer Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 If the FI light is blinking, there is a stored code. On the starboard (right when sitting) side of the motorcycle, by the front right headlight (H4) there is an unused 2 pin plug. Use a jumper wire to jump the connection and read the stored code. It’ll give you somewhere to start. Usually surging is caused by an air leak afaik! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreginDenver Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 I know from experience (albeit on 2 bikes from other manufacturers, one a Kawasaki and the other a Suzuki) that wild tachometer swings can be an indication of a battery problem, even if the rest of the electrical system is good (i.e. good voltage readings while the engine is running, just like you listed). Do you know if the factory defect (a weak or intermittent path-to-ground wire) through the Blue multi-pin connector (on the left side of the bike, under a clear(ish) plastic cover) has been properly fixed? (Edit) I'm told by a 6th Gen rider about how you can tell if the "Blue connector plug" factory recall work was done on your bike. The Blue connector plug is the connection for the front electrical sub-harness, and in the original factory wiring at the Blue connector there's a green wire that's slightly larger than most of the others. This green wire is the ground wire for the front sub-harness, it comes into the Blue connector and then goes out into the bikes main electrical wiring harness, same color. If the factory recall fix has been done that means they replaced the whole front sub-harness (whether replacing the whole sub-harness was completely necessary to fix this design problem or not is debatable, but that's what Honda chose to do to fix the problem). The recall fix replacement version of the front sub-harness uses a different color of wire to connect through the Blue connector onto the other side of the green wire (into the bikes main electrical wiring harness). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer ZCD76 Posted August 6, 2018 Author Member Contributer Share Posted August 6, 2018 Sorry for the delay (if anyone was "watching" this thread). I believe it turned out to be a loose connection on the right side (if you're sitting on the bike) low beam headlight. I mean the plug, itself, did not seem especially secure on the bulb. I took everything (all of the harness disconnects) apart, cleaned them, and applied noalox to all of them. Didn't seem to make a difference. Again, I had previously installed the vfrness when I noticed this issue. I took the front fairing off to install LED headlights and send the gauge cluster to bluegauges.com and realized the clip/connector was not particularly tight on the bulb. Gauge cluster was checked, the color of the LCD displays and tach were changed, and I put it back together with LED headlight bulbs installed and it operates as it should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbanengineer Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 Monitor your voltage something isn’t right. If you put LED drop in bulbs I’d recommend not doing so because LED drop in bulbs are usually a downgrade. Too much foreground and not enough distance vision, and lots of glare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer ZCD76 Posted August 7, 2018 Author Member Contributer Share Posted August 7, 2018 I have a digital meter/display that indicates voltage. When running the meter indicates a maximum of 14.5 volts. I am not suggesting the LED bulbs rectified the problem. And they aren't cheap units, either...well, depending on one's version of cheap. I have ridden at night with them installed and they are a vast improvement over the halogen bulbs that were in it. They are JDMAstar H4 (low beams) and H7 (high beams). The low beams being shrouded or shielded so they don't throw light everywhere and blind oncoming traffic. Regardless... I believe my grounding/wild tach needle problem was the poor/loose connection on the headlight. I never had a problem (albeit in my limited time on it last fall when I got it) with the tach and the only thing that changed (since then) was I installed a vfrness and had removed the front fairing to respray part of it (and the right side fairing) due to the bike having fallen over on its right side before I bought it. Apparently I did not get the right side low beam connector installed securely. ??? I took the blue plug and all the harness disconnects apart on the right side (near the rectifier), cleaned them, and applied/utilized noalox when connecting everything back together. That made no difference in the tach...it would still swing wildly once it got up to ~7k rpm. I had bluegauges.com check the cluster and they found nothing abnormal in it and sent me a video of the them checking the tach. When pulling the front fairing off I realized that right low beam connection wasn't exactly secure. Perhaps I am wrong but by deduction, the only thing I can think of is either that poor connection (at the right low beam pigtail/harness) is where the voltage/grounding problem occurred or the harness into the gauge cluster could have been a poor connection. ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbanengineer Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 Possibly the bulb ya had before was shorting out somehow and causing your issues. VFR’s with electrical issues... what is new? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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