FJRF009.2: "Intermittent Ground Wire Connection"

[chivvalry]

Well, I finally have my baby back. I visited her when she was in ICU, all the tupperware off. That was hard to see her that naked....

She is running good, but I have a lot of re-wiring to do. As expected, they had to just cut all of my wires for all of my farkles (Audiovox cruise, Jensen radio, super bright brake lights, horns, radar detector, etc...). I put most of that in over a year ago. I am going to have a tough time getting it all right again ;-(

But what REALLY pisses me off is this: I start to take some tupper ware off to start the re-wiring, and I note that many fasteners are not in the correct place or just GONE!!! The two fasteners that hold the aft part of the horizontal black insets on the dash are chrome. They used to be black! A quick look finds no black ones where chrome should be, so does that mean there are 2 chrome missing somewhere I have not yet seen? The 2 that hold the tank plastic trim piece on are just NOT THERE! Did not bother to replace them! AAAAAHHHHH!!! Then I go to undo the long bolt and nut that hold down the aft end of the gas tank and find that it is NOT EVEN TORQUED HAND TIGHT!!!! I can easily spin off the nut with my finger!!!

So what else did the monkey with the wrench leave un-torqued or not there??? I feel sick...... At least she seems to be running well...

You should be taking pictures and notes and then making a bunch of phone calls... to the dealer and to Yamaha.

 

[Brodie]

WHOOPEE!! After 2 weeks without the bike, I got her back yesterday, and she hasn't been that clean since I...

<snip>

Now, a question. . .Since I've got one of Brodie's harnesses, but "luckily" hadn't installed it, I should go ahead and do this, right? Is there any need to add Roadrunner's harness, if I do this? And, since I really don't have a place to work on my bike, anybody in the Sea-Tac area (I live in Tacoma), who has already installed Brodie's harness, up for making a new friend, going out for lunch and being staked to either a case of beer or a bottle, in exchange for a helping hand?

Beacher

What gives ?!??

I sold you that Grounding Harness early LAST YEAR.
You didn't get it on the bike way back then?


Fast forward to now, you have a replacement harness on the bike because of a failed ground joint, aka spider. This new replacement harness is supposed to have a fix that will not require the recall harness. That means it is different than the original. Does it still have the 6 ground joint connectors with the shorting bar spiders and black caps? If so, are they in the same locations? I do not know what was changed, however I suspect it was something minor that has to do only with the ground joint that typically goes out - S4 under the fuel tank. Perhaps Yamaha added a wire that helps divert some of the load from upstream. After all , it's only the connector pins that fail - not the wire.

I would venture to guess that IF the new replacement wiring harness has the grounding joints in the same locations, try installing my Grounding Harness. Just remember that there are 2 other similar connectors with spiders and black caps that service the bike's electronics. They had a black with blue stripe wire (S2 by the fuel rail hookup), and a black with white stripe wire (S5 right front engine bay across from the S4). Leave those out of the loop.

One more thing, If you have my Grounding Harness in place, you are fully covered. You should not need Art's harnesses too. Both his solution and my solution accomplish the same thing - divert some of the current away from the marginally sized grounding joints on the bike. We just go about it in different ways. His method is just as sound as mine.

Let us know how it turns out.

Brodie

 

[Millsaps2]

My bike is down. Rode it a week ago and it cut off three times and skipped numerous times. Lucky I got it home. I checked and sure enough the ground spider is cooked, the one at the front left of the engine. My dealer has ordered the harness but I doubt I can get it done for eom.

Took my '07 in for the recall and the harness was replaced. Required about 6 hours for the job. I inspected the harness and only minor damage to S4. Had the front seals replaced due to the left fork leaking and the Service Manager was able to get Yamaha to cover the cost since the YES was still active. Surprised they covered the non-leaking fork seals. Traded for a 2011 while the work was being completed. Service Manager said Yamaha was by far the best Co to work with as far as warranty work is concerned, Honda was much worse. My '07 had 65,000 miles when the harness was replaced. My concern with only adding a grounding wire to S4 is the other spiders may fail down the road and I would want the Brodie harness

 

[beacher]

:blush: Well, Brodie. . . It's like this. . .You're absolutely right! I got the harness early last year, as you stated, but my bike is parked in an open lot, 200 feet above my house; no lie! Our little community is at the base of a 2-300' cliff, all houses perched on pilings above beautiful Puget Sound, and almost underneath "Galloping Gertie" (The Tacoma Narrows Bridge). I have never worked on my own bikes because the idea of getting it apart, and then having to leave it in pieces, up there, pretty much terrifies me. Also, my luck is notoriously bad, so if I screw something up. . . And, since a lot of the guys say they are going to install or reinstall your harness, perhaps we'll have the answer soon, as to how different the new harness is.

So, I'm hoping that at TechDay at AuburnFJR's (I'm trying to wrangle an invite), that I can gain some knowledge, overcome my fears, and if I screw up, someone with a LOT of knowledge can bail me out! I'm also considering taking the Motorcycle Maintenance Course offered by Puget Sound Safety, which has 2 levels of "the zen of motorcyle maintenance". . .

I DO want you to know that I ate the Tootsie Roll, though!

 

[rfespinosa]

Well, I finally have my baby back. I visited her when she was in ICU, all the tupperware off. That was hard to see her that naked....

She is running good, but I have a lot of re-wiring to do. As expected, they had to just cut all of my wires for all of my farkles (Audiovox cruise, Jensen radio, super bright brake lights, horns, radar detector, etc...). I put most of that in over a year ago. I am going to have a tough time getting it all right again ;-(

But what REALLY pisses me off is this: I start to take some tupper ware off to start the re-wiring, and I note that many fasteners are not in the correct place or just GONE!!! The two fasteners that hold the aft part of the horizontal black insets on the dash are chrome. They used to be black! A quick look finds no black ones where chrome should be, so does that mean there are 2 chrome missing somewhere I have not yet seen? The 2 that hold the tank plastic trim piece on are just NOT THERE! Did not bother to replace them! AAAAAHHHHH!!! Then I go to undo the long bolt and nut that hold down the aft end of the gas tank and find that it is NOT EVEN TORQUED HAND TIGHT!!!! I can easily spin off the nut with my finger!!!

So what else did the monkey with the wrench leave un-torqued or not there??? I feel sick...... At least she seems to be running well...

My local dealer suffers from the same lack of attention to detail. When they did the ignition switch recall, they left the nut off the aft tank bolt, not just loose, they left the nut off! And they cross threaded one of the bolts that holds the plastic piece at the rear of the tank. When they did this spyder recall, they left off a couple of plastic snap fasteners. At least they seem to do the main work correctly, they are just lousy about fasteners, that's why I do all my own work and check what they do on these recalls.

 

[rideon67]

Called the dealer re: 09 model bought new 10 months ago. Service mgr acknowledged the recall, said mine was on the list and that this would be their first. Oh Joy. But since the wrench is very good I'm not too excited. Trick is, they have to inspect in order to know which harness to order. Extra 80 mile trip I don't need. Talked him into ordering the sub harness before inspection. Took her in and sure enough, no new harness needed. (favorite wrench has moved out of state so "other guy" does the install). Seemed like an ok guy. Couple hours and done. Wheeled her out a couple miles and rolled on the throttle only to get chug-a chug missing and no acceleration.

WTF izzat. Rolled back into shop 10 minutes B4 closing time & mgr and wrench stayed extra hour to re-install the subharness. Test ride showed no problem. 300 miles later still running good.

Question is: How could improper connection of the sub harness fix cause bad missing during throttle roll on? Pretty tall coincidence to think it was anything else. Should I be concerned?

Please don't tell me to do my own work. Did that for 33 years on the XS11. Now too old, blind and shaky to tie my shoes so wear loafers all the time.......

 

[superfuzz]

So I decide to move from a VFR over to an FJR. I'm on a tight budget and find what I feel like is a good deal on a high-mileage 2006. I put a deposit down on the bike because the seller is leaving the next day for a week long trip and we agree to finish the deal after she returns/when I have the cash in hand.

I'm stoked with the excitement of getting a different bike, I plan a high-miles overnight trip with some buddies for mid-Sept thinking it'll be the perfect chance to check out my new ICBM......

She gets back, we talk, agree to meet up on Monday (yesterday) and she gives me the good news (or so I thought) that she was able to get an appointment to get the wiring recall done before we meet so I don't have to worry about it. Apparently she had been in contact with the dealer about the recall when she was preparing to sell the bike and they told her they had pre-ordered the parts to do the recall (later found to be false.)

So she takes the bike in on this past Saturday and they find a scorched connector. They tell her they need the bike for longer than they expected because they need to replace the whole harness but no worries becuase they have one in the shop that they had pre-ordered just in case. They start working on the bike and realize "oopsy," they mistakenly ordered the harness they would need to fix her '09 and not her '06 she's trying to sell to me.

She tells them, "it's never given me a problem, button it back and we'll bring it back when you get the parts." They say fine, put it back together and.....now it won't start; the connector/wiring has now apparently failed. So, in the shop it sits awaiting parts.

She calls me to give me the back news and figure out what we're going to do. I ask her if they gave her an ETA for the replacement wiring harness. She says no and promises to call me with the answer.

Today, she calls and tells me the dealer doesn't expect the harness to arrive for 3-4weeks because it "being shipped from Japan."

So now, rather then getting the bike yesterday, I'm looking at about month maybe more; missing the mid-Sept trip and missing the three weeks of decent weather left before the rains return. Grrrrr!!

I know she's being straight forward with me and there's nothing either of us can do to expedite the process.

I'm really aggravated and just needed to vent to some people who would understand. I tried venting to my wife and her reply was, "Uh, when are you going to get your other bike sold? Don't you think you should get that done before you buy another?" I hate it when she uses common sense on me.

 

[FJRay]

Common sense is always a pain to deal with. I found out how to say Yes Dear just so I get the last word.

Sorry your plans got screwed but you either have to wait or go find another one. :angry:

 

[SkooterG]

Dude, I feel your pain. And never, ever, EVER ask the SO for any kind of sympathy when it comes to a motorcycle purchase. They DON'T feel your pain.

Hang in there.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Looks like I will be bringing mine in after EOM. I ain't getting stuck with this fiasco and not be without my beloved Feejer. I was thinking today about making an appointment but got to busy and didn't. It will have to wait. I stopped in at the local stealer and the head mechanic said he has done 5 so far. No full harnesses as of yet for them. All have been the quick fix.

I didn't think the 09 needed the recall? Which makes me wonder why he had a harness for an 09. I would wait on the sale until a few more 100 miles were put on the bike just to make sure it's all buttoned up correctly.

Dave

 

[creekstone]

I'm sorry to hear it isn't working out to plan. Such is life.

So, just load up the VFR and go! The FJR will be waiting for you.

It sounds like the seller will work with you anyway possible. That's worth something these days.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Ken45]

Look at the positive side: it failed at the dealer, not in the middle of your long distance ride! Count your blessings.

Ken

 

[bramfrank]

Tell her to have the dealer chop off the connector and to tie the wires together with an extra one that will go to the battery negative terminal as a stopgap until the harness arrives.

That is the logical equivalent of what the recall does anyway (and I ought to know) and it gets the bike out of the dealer's shop where it is just taking up space. If he won;t do it, get the machine back if you can and do it yourself.

You can take it back to have the harness replaced after your trip.

 

[Patriot]

yeah, when something fails on my bike, I'm mostly at fault, and think it sucks, but glad its in my garage to fix it...venting is good...now go with your gut upon reflection and make your next move...

ya gonna have whatever feej you buy a long long time

 

[Fingerflicker]

I went and demanded my bike back after 5 weeks with no due date for the complete harness. Dealership owner agreed to give me the bike back and will contact me when the harness arrives. He called Yamaha to inform them that he was returning the bike and they called back 30 min later to tell him that they "located" a wire harness in SoCal and that they were shipping it over night express. The harness never arrived the next day and I still haven't heard from the dealership that it is in. It's nice to have my ride back while I wait for the harness.

 

[DailyCommuter]

Looks like I will be bringing mine in after EOM. I ain't getting stuck with this fiasco and not be without my beloved Feejer. I was thinking today about making an appointment but got to busy and didn't. It will have to wait. I stopped in at the local stealer and the head mechanic said he has done 5 so far. No full harnesses as of yet for them. All have been the quick fix.

I didn't think the 09 needed the recall? Which makes me wonder why he had a harness for an 09. I would wait on the sale until a few more 100 miles were put on the bike just to make sure it's all buttoned up correctly.

Dave

Dave, just curious since we are in the same area; are you taking it to C&E, or Brockton? I've never had anyone besides myself work on mine, and I'm not sure I am going to change that now- I've looked at all my spider blocks already and they look ship shape as of last check- I'd like to find a dealer that'll give me the harness to do it myself.... But I doubt any of them will do that- sorry I just don't trust anyone's hands or wrenches on my feej. Too many horror stories about dealer experiences for me.

BTW- have a great time at EOM, doesn't look like I can make it this year, but that could change too, maybe another last minute trip will happen again

 

[Harald]

they replaced all the wiring (except to the headlights, is what they told me).

Yup, the recall only replaces the main harness and not the sub-harness for the nose. I must be an anomoly, but my spider failure was in that headlight area sub-harness as I reported IN THIS POST . Time will tell whether others start having failures of those spiders.

But glad to hear you're back on the road. I'll be at the tech day (unless it's during deer hunting season) and would be glad to help you install the Brodie harness. Just for fun, we could pull the whole nose off the bike also :dribble: (just kidding but I've done it to repair my failed S7 spider).

 

[flynfjr]

Took my Ca 2006 in to the dealer about 30 days ago to get the ground fix installed. Upon completion they told me the that the main wire harnes was fine and did not need to be replaced. I took it home and on the second day home failed to start blinking turn signal lights on dash and blue high beam light on. I tried to start a couple of times and fired up no problem. Took it back to the dealer they said wait until it happens again then tow it in there is nothing for it to go wrong, and to charge the battery. So I did and no issues for about 28 days. Then I go up to Tahoe Ebbits pass and all, and get there and won't start play with it then it starts and this time the the turn signal lights are on and solid and the blue high beam on solid and no headlight or horn or windshield motor. I was able to make it back in this condition 240 miles. Take it back to the dealer and this time he goes on the computer and finds out more from Mama Yama and he says that the original instructions were to only replace if the wire harnes was visably burned he said if conditions like mine occured now they will be replacing the entire harness and they are even going to replace the jumper wire fix again as he said it may be comprimised. I will tell you how it all turns out when it is completed. Iam still riding it as I have no other car right now hopefully I do not get stranded.

 

[Woketman]

But what was your "conditions like mine occured" before they worked on it??? Burned, melted? Something else?

 

[bramfrank]

@flynfjr: Q: was the fuel gauge flashing? If not then your problem is the friont harness - no different than our friend Harald. No matter, having had this happen AFTER the recall was performed you should go to the safercars site and post a problem report detailing that this happened after the recall was completed.

Looking forward to seeing how this ploays out, since the recall is supposed to fix problems, not cause them.