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instruments dying temporarily while riding - hot weather related?


bud

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In need of some advice on an electrical problem with my 5th gen … Last summer after riding for a few hours I stopped for a break, left my bike in the hot sun for about 30 minutes. Shortly after I started riding again, the speedo, tach, and LCD all died, I was going downhill at the time, so I didn’t even really notice if the engine was still running – I had assumed it shut down too. I pulled in the clutch, hit the starter, a few seconds later it all sprung back to life and was fine for the next 100+ miles to get back home.
I had assumed it was the R/R, so I replaced it with a better aftermarket one, also put in a fresh battery, and I installed a voltmeter so I could keep track of the electrical system while riding.
No problems until today…another long hot ride, several breaks but again shortly after leaving the bike in the hot sun for a while, the speedo and LCD blank out…this time the tach is still running and I’m going uphill, so I can clearly tell the engine hasn’t died. Voltmeter still showing that electrical system still charging properly. After about ten minutes of riding, the LCD and speedo start working again – trip meter and clock have of course reset.
So… I think the charging system is working okay – but maybe it’s a bad ground connection for the front instruments (if that’s even a thing)? Anyone had something similar happen before where hot weather seems to bring out a problem? Maybe that’s just coincidence.
I assume there’s not much to do but start a lengthy troubleshooting process with all the wiring up in the front end of the bike.
Any advice would be appreciated.
 
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Hi Bud.

If you have the circuit diagram, a main instrument panel Ground is via the G/Bl (Green/Black) wire to your frame common grounds. A loss of this ground will effect your Speedo, Tacho and LCD. Make sure this wire is properly grounded, be sure you have continuity from your battery Negative terminal all the way to the G/Bl wires at the instrument panel.

Failing that you might have an issue with the Instrument Panel connector or a crack on the Instrument Panel PCB itself, as these issues can be heat sensitive. 

Good Luck.

Cheers.

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I finally had time to take the plastic off the bike and go hunting for this electrical problem, and unfortunately I didn't see anything glaringly wrong.

 

From the circuit diagram, it looks like the LCD panel and the speedo share a negative path, the tach has a separate negative wire, which might explain why the speedo and LCD were failing but the tach was still running when this problem showed up.

 

Anyways..guess I need to school myself on how to use a multimeter and check wiring - haven't had to do that before.   I did check the plug on the back of the instrument console for the speedo and LCD - totally clean, nothing strange there, and I checked the orange ground block where all the negatives come together just left of the battery- that looked fine too.  

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36 minutes ago, bud said:

I finally had time to take the plastic off the bike and go hunting for this electrical problem, and unfortunately I didn't see anything glaringly wrong.

 

From the circuit diagram, it looks like the LCD panel and the speedo share a negative path, the tach has a separate negative wire, which might explain why the speedo and LCD were failing but the tach was still running when this problem showed up.

 

Anyways..guess I need to school myself on how to use a multimeter and check wiring - haven't had to do that before.   I did check the plug on the back of the instrument console for the speedo and LCD - totally clean, nothing strange there, and I checked the orange ground block where all the negatives come together just left of the battery- that looked fine too.  

Hi Bud.

According to my drawing the G/Bl earth wire does feed the Tacho as it loops through both main instrument connectors. Have a good look at the wiring of these connectors for bad crimping loose wires, poor connections etc. Perhaps you might be loosing a power feed 12v to the instrument panel, needs checking as well.

Good luck

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thanks again for advice!    Just curious if I'm reading the wiring diagram correctly.    The image below, I highlighted the negative wires from the Tach, Speedo, and LCD (highlighted in blue) .  It looks like the LCD display and Speedometer join together on the circuit board (I assume when there's a junction, the wire junction is shown as a circle on the diagram) into a single line that feeds to the Grey 10P plug.  The Tachometer (highlighted in red) runs direct to a different 10P plug on the back of the console.  They all pass one another on the diagram but the tach stays separate.  

Maybe I'm totally wrong... thats entirely possible - wanted to confirm though that I'm reading this right.   

 

Anyways.... I doubt i'm going to be able to find the fix for this on my own - electrical troubleshooting is a little beyond my capabilities.  and the thought of ripping apart the entire wiring harness sounds kinda awful.   

I did give the 10P plugs a coating of contact enhancer while I had the plugs disconnected - I doubt that'll make any difference though. 

 

1771681837_wiringdiagram.thumb.jpg.5164c4fcb2450134a7d224865df1acd8.jpg

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On my Son's 5th Gen the LCD went AWOL and we cured it by taking out the circuit board and putting a link wire across a break in one of the the tracks!

It was quite clear where the problem was, bit of a pain getting to it though. Strange that there is not a lot of protection for the board?

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thanks for the info!    In order to see the break on the circuit board, did you have to take off the front instrument cluster (did you have to remove the tach, speedo, LCD from the circuit board)?   I didn't do that... and I didn't pull all the plugs off  back face of the circuitboard.  I think I was a little intimidated when I saw the all the various plugs and wires coming off the back of it - didn't want to just start disconnecting everything, but maybe I need to have a clearer view of the circuitboard.

 

I just keep thinking that since this problem has only shown up when the bike has been baking in the hot sun while I'm taking a break that its likely a circuitboard issue - its getting too hot and this problem shows up, then once i'm riding again and there's air flowing around it the temp drops and the problem goes away.  

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8 hours ago, bud said:

 

thanks again for advice!    Just curious if I'm reading the wiring diagram correctly.    The image below, I highlighted the negative wires from the Tach, Speedo, and LCD (highlighted in blue) .  It looks like the LCD display and Speedometer join together on the circuit board (I assume when there's a junction, the wire junction is shown as a circle on the diagram) into a single line that feeds to the Grey 10P plug.  The Tachometer (highlighted in red) runs direct to a different 10P plug on the back of the console.  They all pass one another on the diagram but the tach stays separate.  

Maybe I'm totally wrong... thats entirely possible - wanted to confirm though that I'm reading this right.   

 

Anyways.... I doubt i'm going to be able to find the fix for this on my own - electrical troubleshooting is a little beyond my capabilities.  and the thought of ripping apart the entire wiring harness sounds kinda awful.   

I did give the 10P plugs a coating of contact enhancer while I had the plugs disconnected - I doubt that'll make any difference though. 

 

1771681837_wiringdiagram.thumb.jpg.5164c4fcb2450134a7d224865df1acd8.jpg

You almost have it. If you follow your arrows further down you will see they join together. So as mentioned a loss of ground on the G/Bl wire will cause your issues. Also have never had the Instrument Panel apart but cracks on the joints where the pins meet the board are common issues or cracks on the board itself.

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There's only another couple months of good riding weather here in Seattle anyways, so I'm going to put the fairings back on and ride the rest of the summer...figure if the instruments conk out again, I can just use a smartphone GPS speedometer on my ram mount to get home.   

 

From what I've read, it sounds like if there's a problem on the circuit board, I should be able to see a hairline crack or something on it without needing to remove the actual instruments....so I'll pop the plugs off it and take a good look at the circuitboard this fall - and I'll post again if I've had any luck finding and fixing the problem.    thanks again all!      

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opted to pop off the console last night...curiosity got the best of me...  didn't seen anything obviously wrong - minor scratch going partially across a couple of the copper traces but no actual breaks anywhere.  Pulled all the bulbs and screws, cleaned the whole thing off.    I'm stumped...  guess the problem must be elsewhere.  

IMG-9769.JPG

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