Jump to content

VFR800 03 many electrical issues


Gbernier

Recommended Posts

Hi,

 

I just bought a VFR800 2003 about a month ago and everything was going just fine until many electrical issues showed up. The first one that I noticed was the Clock and trip odometer would reset back to 0 almost everytime I would start the bike (but not always).

 

Also, when parked in the sun for a while, the multipanel display would be completely blank until I start moving, then with the wind cooling it down, it would just come back after like 1min of driving and everything would be fine.

 

I went for a long ride on a sunny 40 Celcius (over 100 Fahrenheit) day, driving on country roads, the oil temp would be just fine, but when I stopped at a red light, the bike started overheating and the oil temp was going up like crazy. I found the ''overheating'' very odd since the fan was on and the airflow wasn't bad so I just decided to keep riding monitoring the oil temp to see how it would react. The temperature was jumping by an increment of like 15 degrees (Celsius) passing from overheating at 128 for example, to normal at 100. I did some troubleshooting on this matter latter and found out that the thermostat was functioning just fine, opening around 80 degrees and cooling the bike off maintaining the temperature around the high 80s and low 90s. I did a complete flush of the cooling system and made sure there was no air in the system. When checking the radiator fan with a multi-meter, I created a spark and then I was getting 0 volt my eyes off of the gauge). The oil temperature was reacting just fine going up and down 1 or 2 degrees at a time, and then out of nowhere, it started ''overheating'' again going up by 15degrees and coming back to normal every now and then.

 

Lastly, my tachometer started jumping on the highway on that same ride dropping and catching up for a while and then going to 0 for sometimes. The problem was intermittent and it would work every now and then and don't some other times. Now it's mostly either working for a couple of seconds when the bike is cold or not working at all after a minute or two.

 

I absolutely hate troubleshooting intermitting electrical issues and I was wondering if all of these symptoms would be related to one common issue?

 

Thanks in advance, the bike is running just fine, it's just so frustrating driving with faulty gauges.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

Welcome to the asylum. Condolences on your problems. I'm sure the sixth gen experts will be along to offer more suggestions. Some of your symptoms I've experienced on my 2001 when the stator and R/R were dying. Erratic meter panel gauges the first indication something was going south. BTW your temp reading is of the engine/coolant temps. 

Good luck. You've come to the right place.

 

P.S. We'd love to see a pic of your new machine. Just to assure use you are not a figment of our imaginations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the advice on the Stator R/R, I'll see what I can do about it. I got the fan problem figured out. If I could at least ride with a tachometer that would be great.

Here's the bike.

20180727_134756.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like multiple issues not from a common source I would hazard to guess.

 

Firstly, 2003 model... Get in touch with a Honda dealer and have them check via the VIN if the wiring harness recall was done. If not, have it done.

 

Next, it's not the oil temp displayed on the clocks but the coolant temp. The sensor is located on the rear right hand wall of the front cylinder bank. In the V of the engine. Not known to fail but there's always a first. You did well to swap in new coolant and burp the air as that's exactly the symptomatology you would expect from air trapped in the system according to what you described. The VFR can be stubborn to bleed air from, worth reburping.

 

It is possible some of these display related issues are the result of the crappy common ground bus connector which is in the front wiring loom, whether or not it's had the recall, Honda didn't change the connector for a decent effective one, so it is highly suggested you eliminate this connector, properly solder all the incoming and outgoing wires, including a reinforcement to an alternative ground with a decent gauge wire. There's a thread on here about it, I'll post a link A.S.A.P.

 

LINK: https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=https://www.vfrdiscussion.com/index.php?/forums/topic/62525-faulty-ground-connector/&share_tid=62525&share_fid=35196&share_type=t

 

The tachometer issue may be due to the mechanism which is a nylon female spindle (pardon the contradiction) which is located on the front sprocket nut and prone to gradual wear or breakage, and thus intermittent functioning.

 

It could also be due to the 6th gen's famous stator frying tendencies, search for a thread titled "the drill", or follow the service manual's indications for checking the Stator and charging system. Manual is in the download section on this forum. You will need a multimeter.

 

Good luck, once sorted it's a nice bike!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy.