Battery Is weak

[harpo]

I have had battery related trouble sents I got this great 03.When it is cold and I don't keep her on the tender the battery is to weak to turn her over. I replaced the battery with a jell type and I still have the same trouble. Now this is the one that really gets me, some times when I stop for gas, or a break and go to crank back up she will give a false start, like just enough to make you release the starter then when you hit the starter again it strains to turn the motor, it then wipes out the LED clock and trip info. She will start, it’s like I’m pushing through a compression stroke and it is straining, other times she fires right back up.

Is there a better battery to use?

 

[charon76]

Based on what you are describing I would check the power and ground connections at the battery and the starter. It is possible that the battery is bad and is causing the issue; it is also possible that a bad connection is causing an intermittent issue. Quick way to find out is to attach a volt meter to the battery itself and then try to start the bike. If the battery voltage drops to low voltage (under 9 volts) then you have a weak battery. If it does not then the issue is one of a poor cable connection somewhere.

 

[Zorlac]

Hopefully not, but read em & weep.

 

[JR'SFJR]

Another reason the volts pull below 9v's during cranking is the starter is drawing too many amps, which happened to my FJR. The battery load tested fine, but the starter draw was very high when testing with a "clamp on dc ammeter"(use a screwdriver across the starter solenoid, which is next to the battery, to make the starter crank for a few seconds). Mine would pull down in 2-3 seconds to a growl and was done. I had to pull the starter, which took about 2 hours and had the inside of the starter cleaned. Its worked fine since.

 

[fudgejerkin1188]

Another reason the volts pull below 9v's during cranking is the starter is drawing too many amps, which happened to my FJR. The battery load tested fine, but the starter draw was very high when testing with a "clamp on dc ammeter"(use a screwdriver across the starter solenoid, which is next to the battery, to make the starter crank for a few seconds). Mine would pull down in 2-3 seconds to a growl and was done. I had to pull the starter, which took about 2 hours and had the inside of the starter cleaned. Its worked fine since.

Exactly the same thing happened to my 03 bike, it would also wipe the clocks at the same time. Stripping and cleaning the starter motor fixed it.

 

[wfooshee]

Zorlac beat me to my starter issues, but that's what it sounds like. Mine wasn't fixed by just cleaning it, I replaced it. 3 times the draw it should have had, and the battery just said, "Yeah, I don't think so..."

Starter is fairly inaccessible..... Entire intake system has to come out, because it's under the throttle bodies. You can't even get to its electrical connection without removing the throttle bodies.

 

[RiderX]

Those Gen I bikes and their electrical issues.

Geesh

 

[harpo]

Thanks for all the info, I had no idea the starter could cause this starting problem. I plan to put the bike in the shop for a tune up before leaving for Denver, and I will have them pull and clean the starter brushes. Thank to all again

 

[ionbeam]

(Given the age of your FJR and the history of the FJR I will skip over mentioning load testing the battery, but I would suggest that it is an inexpensive test and *may* help you avoid pulling the starter. A battery that fails a load test could be the battery, but it could also be a charging system problem. Do you know if your FJR has an aftermarket stator?)

1. accessing the starter motor is not trivial and will be expensive

2. don't tell the dealer what to do, have them diagnose the system and advise you what needs to be done

3. new starters are expensive

4. brushes will not cause high current

5. a bad commutator (worn & dirty) and bad armature windings will cause high current

6. since the starter has to come out either way, have the existing starter rebuilt, buy a refurb, buy used, or go big bucks and get a new starter that will outlast your bike

 

[wfooshee]

Illustrating:

1. accessing the starter motor is not trivial and will be expensive

ALL of this was done to access the starter:

 

[Fred W]

+1 to what has been said thus far. You should definitely checkout the easy/inexpensive stuff first before spending lots of time and labor money at the shop cleaning and/or replacing the starter motor. While yes, it could be a bad starter motor, it could definitely also just be a wimpy battery. The symptoms would be nearly identical.

One thing that concerns me is that you said that you replaced the battery with a "jell" type. If you really did install a Gell battery, I would seriously consider getting a new AGM type battery, like the original one was. AGM batteries will deliver more starting power for a given physical size compared to gel cells. The stock AGM battery is barely adequate for the job of starting the FJR. A gell cell of the same size probably wouldn't be. The designers made the battery as small as possible due to its location up high in the frame.

 

[harpo]

Well, no real answer to the starting problem. I picked the bike up this morning and was told that they {the Yamaha shop} called the Tec line and was told that they knew of no starting troubles like mine. The recommendation was to check the starter cables and even though they did that and tried to make it act up, it cranked up fine every time.

So she is tuned up with a valve adjustment and clean bill of health, now we will half to play it by ear and hope the cables being cleaned and reinstalled fixed the problem.

 

[ionbeam]

Well, no real answer to the starting problem...was told that they {the Yamaha shop} called the Tec line and was told that they knew of no starting troubles like mine....

The dealer could have charged, then load tested your battery and verify your battery is good/bad. The dealer could have checked the starter current to see if there were issues. Even if the starter is in the early stages of failure and intermittent it would exhibit higher than normal current. If the current was lower than normal they should have known to check cables or the starter relay. I sure hope that there was a communication problem about Yamaha saying that they knew of no starting troubles like yours. Given that your FJR is one of the superior Gen 1s from the bestest year '03 there is a high probability that your problem will turn out to be the starter.