Electrical Issue

[Randy]

'04 - 36000 miles.

I installed a new WestCo battery yesterday since the previous one was about 4 years old and was giving those symptoms of a dying battery.

I put the new one on the trickle charger overnight. Reads about 14v on the multimeter. Turn on the key, dials sweep, fuel pump runs, hit the starter. tick tick tick tick tick. Battery down to about 8v.

I have a Blue Seas and a Powerlet run directly off of the battery. I disconnected all of that.

Any tips on where to begin? I don't have much experience with multimeters, so, please speak as if you're talking to a 6 year old. Thanks!

 

[BobMercer]

Randy,

Can you re-install the old battery to see if the bike will start normally? If it does, it sounds like you may have a defective cell in the new unit. If the old battery exhibits the same symptoms, you may have created a wiring problem as a result of exchanging batteries. Just a couple of guesses. Good luck.

Bob

 

[Zorlac]

Yep, if your connections are good it looks like infant mortality.

Take the new battery to an auto parts place and get them to load test it.

 

[Randy]

I will try...thanks, Bob.

The symptoms I had that led me to believe that I needed to replace the battery were typical:

- sluggish start

- won't hold charge

- volts drop at idle, gotta rev to bring back up

Will stick the old one back on the trickle charger and try to start with the old one.

 

[Warchild]

Randy, don't rule out the possibility that you have a charging issue as well.... crispy stator, corrosion on R/R connectors, etc.

In any event, this is still among the very best electrical troubleshooting guides anywhere on the internet:

Electrosport fault-finding-diagram

 

[Randy]

Randy, don't rule out the possibility that you have a charging issue as well.... crispy stator, corrosion on R/R connectors, etc.

In any event, this is still among the very best electrical troubleshooting guides anywhere on the internet:

Electrosport fault-finding-diagram

Thanks, Dale. I would like to give this a shot, however, in looking over it, one of the first steps says to start the bike and rev engine to 2500RPM. I can't get it started. If I jump it from the car (I know, don't leave the car running), is it possible for me to f*k something else up if there is something in the system failing?

 

[Fred W]

If you've already trickle charged the new battery up fully, then the bike's charging system is really not in question, or being tested, yet.

Where exactly did you put your meter leads when you were attempting to start and the voltage was dipping to 8V?

If that reading was from the lead terminals of the battery itself, then it is either a bad (new) battery or a bad starter (pulling excessive load).

If the reading was from elsewhere in the bike's wiring, then it could be a resistive contact at the battery terminals causing a large voltage drop.

 

[John d]

In any event, this is still among the very best electrical troubleshooting guides anywhere on the internet:

Electrosport fault-finding-diagram

I likey, thanks.

 

[Randy]

If you've already trickle charged the new battery up fully, then the bike's charging system is really not in question, or being tested, yet.

Where exactly did you put your meter leads when you were attempting to start and the voltage was dipping to 8V?

If that reading was from the lead terminals of the battery itself, then it is either a bad (new) battery or a bad starter (pulling excessive load).

If the reading was from elsewhere in the bike's wiring, then it could be a resistive contact at the battery terminals causing a large voltage drop.

Straight off of the battery

 

[Warchild]

If you've already trickle charged the new battery up fully, then the bike's charging system is really not in question, or being tested, yet.

Well, yes, true enough, unless... a charging issue is what cause the first battery to go wonky.... :huh:

However, if Randy's new WestCo was indeed fully charged before installation and its connections were solid, etc, and still gave the symptoms described, it would sorta suggest a potential bad cell (or some other anomaly) in the new battery.

Electrical gremlins can be a bitch sometimes.... your descriptions thus far, Randy, would have me looking hard at the new WestCo... 'cuz a brand new, well-behaved, fully-charged WestCo should have that FJR motor spinning freely during start-up....

 

[Randy]

If you've already trickle charged the new battery up fully, then the bike's charging system is really not in question, or being tested, yet.

Well, yes, true enough, unless... a charging issue is what cause the first battery to go wonky.... :huh:

However, if Randy's new WestCo was indeed fully charged before installation and its connections were solid, etc, and still gave the symptoms described, it would sorta suggest a potential bad cell (or some other anomaly) in the new battery.

Electrical gremlins can be a bitch sometimes.... your descriptions thus far, Randy, would have me looking hard at the new WestCo... 'cuz a brand new, well-behaved, fully-charged WestCo should have that FJR motor spinning freely during start-up....

Will have to wait to get home tonight to try the other battery after I stick it on the charger. With the old battery, I had 2 additional leads on each post - 1 for the blue seas setup and 1 for the hot powerlet. I didn't hook up those additional leads because I read somewhere that someone had a problem with a farkle relay that was causing problems and I wanted to remove all of that from the equation.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

If you disconnect the negative (black) (" - ") lead at the battery and and touch it to the negative battery post (positive connected, but key "off") -- is there (can you notice or hear) a spark?

 

[Randy]

If you disconnect the negative (black) (" - ") lead at the battery and and touch it to the negative battery post (positive connected, but key "off") -- is there (can you notice or hear) a spark?

Will retry (not at home now), but, IIRC, I connected the + first then, when I connected the -, I thought I heard a click (not really a spark).

 

[wfooshee]

I may be biased here, since I've been through it, but I'm thinking starter. You'd need something that can tell you the current draw as you crank. Mine pegged my 160-amp tester while in the bike, and pulled nearly 80 amps on the bench, more than double what it should be.

I could jump the bike from a car battery, or bump start it, I had good volts (14.1-14.3, slightly lower at idle is expected) whenever it was running, but it would not crank more than two or three turns before it gave weak battery symptoms and slowed or stopped cranking altogether.

Loose or corroded connections in the starter circuit will add to current draw and may fake you out as starter symptoms. These include the battery terminals themselves, the posts on the starter relay (on the frame right behind the battery (the thing that clicks when you hit the starter button,) the ground strap on the engine block, and the positive cable on the starter (inaccessible until the airbox and throttle bodies are removed.)

 

[Fred W]

Ummm, I'd go back to the old battery first. If that starts the bike then the new battery is trash.

 

[Randy]

I may be biased here, since I've been through it, but I'm thinking starter. You'd need something that can tell you the current draw as you crank. Mine pegged my 160-amp tester while in the bike, and pulled nearly 80 amps on the bench, more than double what it should be.

I could jump the bike from a car battery, or bump start it, I had good volts (14.1-14.3, slightly lower at idle is expected) whenever it was running, but it would not crank more than two or three turns before it gave weak battery symptoms and slowed or stopped cranking altogether.

Makes sense, although, I couldn't even get 1 crank let alone 2 or 3. Won't do anything more than just click. Will try that after I put the charger on the old battery and try to crank it up from that and it doesn't work.

 

[SkooterG]

Good advice here so far.

First, do what you need to do to verify the new battery is good. If so, then next look at the starter. If neither of those, well.......have fun!

 

[Randy]

If you disconnect the negative (black) (" - ") lead at the battery and and touch it to the negative battery post (positive connected, but key "off") -- is there (can you notice or hear) a spark?

Will retry (not at home now), but, IIRC, I connected the + first then, when I connected the -, I thought I heard a click (not really a spark).

OK...went home at lunch to pull the new one off the charger and put the old one on the charger. I disconnected the " - " and reconnected. There wasn't a click, spark, etc. When I disconnected/reconnected, it did the dial sweeps.

 

[Randy]

Randy,

Can you re-install the old battery to see if the bike will start normally? If it does, it sounds like you may have a defective cell in the new unit. If the old battery exhibits the same symptoms, you may have created a wiring problem as a result of exchanging batteries. Just a couple of guesses. Good luck.

Bob

After just 11 minutes, you nailed it right on the head. Put the old tired unit on the trickle charger all day, hooked it up and heard the sweetest sound of the day (second of course to the Mrs wishing me happy valentine's day). She fired right up.

Now, beyond Bob, a big thumb's up to Jeff from bikeeffects.com - been doing business with him for quite some time and he truly knows how to take care of his customers. Westco will be drop shipping a new battery to me - sent it out today and should be here tomorrow or Wednesday.

Thanks to all who responded and offered assistance.

Forgot to mention, stuck the multimeter on the old battery while it was running and it stayed at a steady 14.0, so, hopefully, no harm, no foul.