FJR Electrical woes

[FoolJustRide]

Once again I had my 07 at the dealer for and electrical/ mechanical problem. I am going to try to keep this post to a minimum and condense the problems I've had so far.

Again it is an 07 FJR1300 ABS 14,000+miles. Bought it in may of 07.

Replaced ECU- Not a problem. recall from Yamaha. Replaced by Dealer

Replaced the Speed Sensor. The Speedo wouldn't work at times. Replace under warranty by Dealer

Replaced the ignition switch. Died on me 300 miles from home in July. Got it to work by messing with the wires. Replaced by Dealer on what Yamaha called a One Time Good Will Gesture.

The latest problem I am having is now in the hands of the Tech's in Yamaha Japan.
The Oil Level Light comes on and stays on until the bike heats up to 3-4 bars on the temp gauge.

Only happens when the temp on bike display is below 70 degrees.
Only comes on after I am 1/4 mile away from the house stays on for several miles.
Dealer had the bike for the last two weeks and the Mid Atlantic Service Rep. from Yamaha worked on it for 3 days. They tried everything imaginable and every grade of oil Yamaha makes to no avail.

The Rep. claims that they have never heard of this problem in any FJR's so if anybody else is having this problem let Yamaha know.

I really love to ride this motorcycle but I hope I am done with problems and having to leave the bike at the dealership.

I have to send out a big THANK YOU to B&B Sales & Service for taking care of these issues that I've been having.

 

[Capt. Bob]

Common problem with most (FJR) Gen II bikes.

Scary the first time it happens but is not an electrical problem (it's mechanical) and I have not heard of any failures due to this.

Mine does it all the time when I leave the house and head into town.

If I pull out slowly and mind my throttle (ain't happening too often though) :glare: this "problem" will not occur.

Search +oil+level+light in the tech/mech forum and you can read about it all day long. Here's the latest installment Clicky

Good luck.

 

[FoolJustRide]

Capt. Bob

Thanks for the info. I had already searched the forum and read the couple of threads that are out there.

My post was just to inform FJR owners that " Yamaha has not heard of this problem" even though it does exist.

I realize that this problem is not going to harm the motorcycle but it is annoying and I feel Yamaha should have a solution to the problem. Also it is just compounded on top of the other issues that I have had.

It doesn't matter how fast or slow I pull out the light still comes on when it's below 70 degrees.

And it did not do this until I had the dealership change the oil to the 10W50 semi synthetic Yamahalube now it does it no matter which oil is in the crankcase.

I'll just have to see what solution Yamaha comes up with. Meanwhile I'll keep on ridin'. :yahoo:

 

[zzzzip]

My '06 has always done this. Sometimes I will ride 2 or 3 miles before the light goes off. Doesn't matter what the temp is-- only when the bike has not been warmed up.

If I let it run while I put on my gear (2 or 3 minutes) it usually does not occur. summer or winter. After 24,000 miles I've got to where I don't notice it. It's not a problem.

B)

 

[CHRIS_D]

Wow, first time I heard of this problem and I thought I frequent the forum often. My 07 thankfully doesn't do this and it has 20K miles on it. Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself. :blinksmiley:

By the way, why was the ignition fix a "One Time Good Will Gesture"? Is it because you don't have the YES warranty? Or was it because you cut the wires? I'm just curious as to why, since this has become a big issue with Gen II.

Good luck on your oil fix.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

Way back in 1982 (yes, way back then) I was on a ride with a riding buddy (Vic) who was always competitive and, since we both had new bikes, I was pretty sure it (the race) would happen that day. I was also confident that my Honda was faster than Vic's Yamaha -- and, for sure -- I could out-ride him....

See: https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?s...mp;#entry515130 (post #32)

Anyway...., it happened about 1/2 hr. into the ride on a country road when Vic accelerated hard as I attempted to pass. Then, suddenly, he slowed and pulled over to the shoulder. I went back and he said, "I think I blew the motor?" I said, "What happened?" He said, "The oil-light came on." I said, "It's only an oil level light. You just suddenly revved it more and pumped alot of oil from the sump to the upper parts of the engine -- it'll be OK. Sure made the Honda faster, tho...."

So...., oil temperature, ambient temperature, oil level (amount), oil viscosity, engine temperature, and engine revs all play a part in the 'issue' (problem).

Maybe try a new float switch.... (or, find a work-around to eliminate the warning-light and/or w/l circuit) if adjusting or moderating any/all of the preceding doesn't work.

Good luck.

 

[FoolJustRide]

Wow, first time I heard of this problem and I thought I frequent the forum often. My 07 thankfully doesn't do this and it has 20K miles on it. Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself. :blinksmiley:
By the way, why was the ignition fix a "One Time Good Will Gesture"? Is it because you don't have the YES warranty? Or was it because you cut the wires? I'm just curious as to why, since this has become a big issue with Gen II.

Good luck on your oil fix.

I don't have the YES warranty and the bike was 2 months out of warranty so Yamaha gave me the new ignition switch replacement as a Good Will Gesture. I have to give alot of credit to my dealer for helping me out on this and the people at Yamaha Customer Service.

I didn't have to cut the wires on the old switch just the wire ties that hold the switch wires in place at the bottom of the switch.. I had to wiggle the wires to get the bike to start on the 300 mile trip back home and pray it didn't cut out on the interstate.

The Yamaha Rep thinks the oil light problem has something to do with the float switch. They replaced two of them on my bike but the problem persisted. That is why he reported the problem to Japan

 

[Warchild]

The Oil Level Light comes on and stays on until the bike heats up to 3-4 bars on the temp gauge.
Only happens when the temp on bike display is below 70 degrees.

Only comes on after I am 1/4 mile away from the house stays on for several miles.

Dealer had the bike for the last two weeks and the Mid Atlantic Service Rep. from Yamaha worked on it for 3 days. They tried everything imaginable

The Yamaha Rep thinks the oil light problem has something to do with the float switch. They replaced two of them on my bike but the problem persisted. That is why he reported the problem to Japan

They've replaced TWO float switches, with no change?! :blink:

The original problem is not unheard of at all, but replacing the float switch on chronic oil light problem bikes will almost always solve it. This is a big mystery here, and your tech was right to get Yamaha Japan involved.

You know, a possible explanation scenario would be: you some how, some way have a small blockage somewhere in the oil galleries/lines/what-have-you. When the temps are warm, the oil flows okay enough to not cause the light to come on. When the temps are cool, it takes a while for the oil to get thin enough to flow around the blockage fast enough to keep the oil float switch happy. Until then, the float level senses a low reading.

Now, how to actually *prove* that, well... that's a toughie... this is a total drag; please keep us posted!

and every grade of oil Yamaha makes to no avail.

Really? Like... what, specifically?

I have a certain oil cocktail I run between Oct and March, and it's is a bit thinner than what most folks - certainly Gen I folks - typically run:

2 quarts Mobil One 10-40W full synthetic, 2 quart Yamalube 5w-40 Semi-synthetic, top off the sight glass using Mobil One 10-30W Synthetic. B)

Yamalube 5W-40 semi-synthetic:

 

[twistedcricket]

This is news to me as well. My 07 has 18K miles. I've had the oil light come on twice. Both after the motor was well warmed-up. It goes away within 10 seconds and I can't remember the last time I saw it.

I'll be following this thread a bit too.

I like WC's theory. Wonder if the dealer would entertain the thought of replacing or inspecting (i.e. disconnecting, running fluids through, etc). I don't right off know how feasible this is.

 

[Greg E.]

I've had this problem a couple of times after I've changed the oil filter. Typically, I get a mile from home and the light comes on. I keep riding because I KNOW that I have filled the bike w/ oil. About 2 miles later, the light goes out and doesn't come back on. I've quit worrying about it.

-Greg-

 

[CHRIS_D]

You know it would be nice if they just make it a oil pressure sensor.

 

[dean]

Common problem with most (FJR) Gen II bikes. Scary the first time it happens but is not an electrical problem (it's mechanical) and I have not heard of any failures due to this.

Mine does it all the time when I leave the house and head into town.

If I pull out slowly and mind my throttle (ain't happening too often though) :glare: this "problem" will not occur.

Search +oil+level+light in the tech/mech forum and you can read about it all day long. Here's the latest installment Clicky

Good luck.

mine does it (false low oil level reading) occasionally, too. if you're not anal, and don't check your oil every time you get on the bike, it's just a lovely feeling riding on the highway in rush hour, and that light comes on, and you get the two voices, one on each shoulder: "you better check that! your drain bolt could be spinning off!"; "don't worry about it, it's that damn oil level light misreading again"; "yeah, but when did you last check the oil?" "yeah, but when was the oil level light actually right?"; "yeah, but do you wanna risk it?"; followed by pulling off interstate, seeing oil is fine. ugh...

 

[FoolJustRide]

I want to thank you all for your responses to my post.

I will keep you informed on what is happening as things progess.

Again, Yes I know that according to Yamaha this problem will not "Harm" my engine I still have reservations that it is in fact in the float switch. My fear is that an oil passage somewhere is blocked and not allowing the oil to flow correctly. As I stated before this problem only stared to occur after I had the oil changed at the dealership with over 13,000 miles on the bike.

I wanted to get Yamaha involved in case something does happen internally in the future to my engine then I have documentation to back up my claims.

I also wanted to let other FJR owner know what is going on so if they have this problem and want it taken care of Yamaha can not say they "NEVER" heard of the problem it is documented.

The Mid-Atlantic Rep. for Yamaha rides a 2008 FJR so maybe that will help the process along. He also visits this Forum so he will be able to see what the responses to this post are.

 

[FoolJustRide]

Well,

This is an update on what is going on with my Oil Light Level Sensor problem.

The bike is back at the dealership and they did some more testing with the Yamaha engineers involved. They determined that the problem is electrical and not due to engine problems. I have to wait until they figure out how to fix the problem before the actual repair takes place. I have to hand it to Yamaha though, they were ready to replace the motor if they determined it was not electrical. The District Rep. for Yamaha is really helping this process along and I DIDN"T HAVE TO GET MEAN & NASTY or ANYTHING....................... :yahoo:

Yamaha is also going to replace my ignition switch for the 2nd time at no charge because of the recall. :clapping:

So........ it looks like the bike will be ready for riding soon.

Yamaha beats the h@#^ out of BMW when it comes to standing behind their product in my book. 3 year 36,000 mile warranty my a*!.............

 

[FoolJustRide]

Well,

This is an update on what is going on with my Oil Light Level Sensor problem.

Yamaha is also going to replace my ignition switch for the 2nd time at no charge because of the recall.

This is an update on my update.

My Oil Level Light problem seems to be repaired"Finally"

I took the bike to my dealer on Saturday and they replaced the Oil Level Float Switch with a modified version from Yamaha. I rode the bike to work the last 3 days with the temperature at between 52 degrees Monday to 34 degrees this morning. The Oil Level Light did not come on once. :yahoo:

I have to hand it to the Yamaha Mid Atlantic Service Rep.(RIDES AN FJR) he stuck with this problem from start to finish and always kept me in the loop to what was going on behind the scenes to fix this problem.

Also B&B Yamaha Sales and Service did a great job of getting me in and out of their service dept. even when it was on short notice.

Time will tell if this is a permanent fix to the problem but so far so GOOD.

Ignition Switch was replace under the recall. This is #3.

Again Yamaha beats BMW with their customer service.

 

[Zorlac]

I hope the modification hasn't desensitized the level sensing to the point of not working at all.

 

[Brodie]

Good to hear that your bike is ready for the riding season.

I have to hand it to the Yamaha Mid Atlantic Service Rep.(RIDES AN FJR) he stuck with this problem from start to finish and always kept me in the loop to what was going on behind the scenes to fix this problem. Also B&B Yamaha Sales and Service did a great job of getting me in and out of their service dept. even when it was on short notice.

It's always good to hear of a outstanding dealer service department. When you find them, support them - tell your friends about them. Spread the word so they make it through these hard times.

I hope the modification hasn't desensitized the level sensing to the point of not working at all.

The failsafe to that argument is to check the sight glass (and coolant reservoir) every gas stop - without fail.

Get into this habit and the oil level sensor circuit becomes redundant. You also can spot it right away if something changes suddenly.

Just a thought.

Brodie

 

[FoolJustRide]

I hope the modification hasn't desensitized the level sensing to the point of not working at all.

According to the Yamaha Rep. they modified the holes in a OEM level float switch to allow more oil to flow through the switch. I would think that the switch would still operate the same if the oil level flow through the switch was not enough to make the float rise hence the light would come on.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will be a permanent fix.

 

[FoolJustRide]

[The failsafe to that argument is to check the sight glass (and coolant reservoir) every gas stop - without fail.

Brodie,

Very good advice.

I am programmed to constantly check the oil site glass as I used to own a 2005 BMW 1150RT before I bought the FJR. For the first 10,000 miles I needed to add 1/2 quart of oil every 600-700 miles so I was always checking the oil level.