The Cause of Ignition Failures

I have been using the same auto mechanics for about 15 years. They are a family run operation, build and run drag racers and are bike riders. When I mentioned the problem with loose wires in the ignitions the first words out of one of their mouths was how many electric add ons have been put on the bikes. They said the added output especially if there are several could cause an overheating of the ignition switch and cause the solder failure.

I have reviewed the threads on the failures and although some of the owners have mentioned the add on electronic farkles I could not find any indication that this potential has been addressed as a possible cause. Today while at the local Yamaha dealer I was disussing the issue the the parts guy. He recalled that he had a customer with an 05 that installed Yamaha heated hand grips and that caused a failure of the ignition because there was no fuse in the line. He said during that time another customer with an 05 FJR bought heated grips and then brought them back and said he was told by another FJR owner not to install them as it could cause an ignition failure.

I should have prefaced this thread with the disclaimer that I am not a mechanic like many on this forum. Therefore I am lacking in the knowledge to assess the value of the above information. I thought it might be interesting to survey those who have had failures as to what electronic farkles they had added if any. I know many of you have cruise, intercom/radios, radar detectors, GPS systems, added lights and more.

By my calculations there have been approximately 55-60 reports of failures on this forum although a few were related to dirty contacts rather than wire solder failures. I think there are about 1800 active members who post on this forum, at least I think I read that somewhere on the forum recently. That equals about 3% of those posting. I have talked to my Service Manager about his topic but I will address that in another thread to avoid confusion.

Interesting.

Some of the logic would seem fly in the face of many of the Iron Butt riders who have electronic/electric accessories that make their FJR's look like a rolling Circuit City kiosk, yet have never had an ignition switch issue.

Yet I know of a tiny handful that have, so.... who knows, in the final analysis.

I am fairly confident that even for those riders who have a large number of significant electrical add-ons, if the circuits are truly independent, fused and relayed appropriately, utilizing correct gauge wire and proper, sound electrical engineering practices, that any ignition failures they may still suffer are probably coincidental in nature. Maybe.

That having been said.... I do see how high-draw electrical items accessories that are poorly installed and constantly used would provide the basis for a myriad of problems.

My two failures were before adding extra lights & heated gear. Haven't had a failure since adding those items last year. . . The cool ignition bypass with relay that was developed by a member here (Brodie) adresses that issue quite nicely by running the main power thru a relay rather than thru the switch, but I haven't installed one yet.

It has been mentioned may a time to not exceed the charging system capacity of the bike, and since most of us follow that advice, sticking to the within the manufacturer limits than you'd expect that Yamaha would have designed any electrical circuits on the bike to comfortably cope with the factory rated max loads :huh:

JamesK said:

It has been mentioned may a time to not exceed the charging system capacity of the bike, and since most of us follow that advice, sticking to the within the manufacturer limits than you'd expect that Yamaha would have designed any electrical circuits on the bike to comfortably cope with the factory rated max loads :huh:

Click to expand...

Very true ! Otherwise you won't get very far ! (26k + miles this year & counting)

I think most people with elec add ons are going thru a relay and bypassing the key switch. I am anyway.

I found on my bike the wires coming out of switch were wire tied to tight. So when you turn (I think) hard right, the wires were being pulled on. <_<

Just a thought, but maybe the wire is being pulled hard enough to create a poor connection in the switch , and then higher resistance, and then heat, and so on.

I loosened mine so I can turn lock to lock without pulling the ignition wires tight. Hopefully I won't have the ignition switch fail now. Time will tell.

A.C.

I for one have several add-ons, but they are wired independently of the ignition switch. No failure yet. I loosened the tie wrap and ordered one of the Brody fixes. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Hmmmmm.....

Let's consider......

11,000 miles on the '04 (that was murdered by the "Cruiser Dude)

and

48,000+ miles on the '05....

Driving lights (in 3 different combinations: PIAA 1100XX, Hella 550 and currently Solteks), Autocomm, GPS, Radar Detector, Gerbing vest and gloves....most run through an auxiliary fuse panel that is relay activated.

I dunno? Think I should worry? :dribble:

Warchild said:

Interesting.
Some of the logic would seem fly in the face of many of the Iron Butt riders who have electronic/electric accessories that make their FJR's look like a rolling Circuit City kiosk, yet have never had an ignition switch issue.

Yet I know of a tiny handful that have, so.... who knows, in the final analysis.

I am fairly confident that even for those riders who have a large number of significant electrical add-ons, if the circuits are truly independent, fused and relayed appropriately, utilizing correct gauge wire and proper, sound electrical engineering practices, that any ignition failures they may still suffer are probably coincidental in nature. Maybe.

That having been said.... I do see how high-draw electrical items accessories that are poorly installed and constantly used would provide the basis for a myriad of problems.

Click to expand...

WC - another thought for consideration is the number of key switch cycles. I ride daily, the ignition switch is cycled at least 3x /day, most days more like 5 or 6 cycles. Multiply by days, months, and mechanical fatigue must enter into the picture somewhere. Unlike IBA doodes who start the bike and don't shut it down for a month, us CBA types ride to the restaurant, have dinner, key the switch, ride to the football game, key the switch, ride to the bar (GASP) key the switch, have a diet coke (wink wink) key the switch, and you get the idea....

Mechanical stress over time leads to accelerated failures would be my uneducated guess. At least a contributing factor.