I must have Fried something. Bike won't start

[majicmaker]

I think my EOM trip is toast. Here's the problem. I bought a Tom Tom Rider 2nd Edition GPS. I read one guy's review and he said it was wonderful but, if you leave it on it will kill the battery. Not being an electrician, I assumed that if I just make sure I turn it off, I'll be OK. Looks like I was wrong. Even with it off and still connected it will kill the battery. 5 days or so of not riding it, the brand spanking new top of the line Battery was dead.

Skip back to me installing my new to me Smuggler not too long ago. It came with a SAE Pigtail so, it's ready to receive power. I currently have a pigtail directly to the battery for my tender. All I had to do was find a pigtail extension (which I did) and connect them up. Got power to the smuggler and all is good. Now, with a dead battery and a pigtail in the smuggler, I though, OK, I can just put the tender on the pigtail in the smuggler and I'm good to go.

I guess somewhere along the way, by the time the power got to the smuggler, the polarity got reversed. After many hours of charging, the tender stayed solid red. I decided to just go straight to the pigtail connected to the battery. After a long while. The tender didn't stop blinking red meaning the it was getting power from the wall but, it wasn't connected to anything. Having connected it to the pigtail I knew something was wrong.

I went straight to the service guys at the dealer and told then my story. They said I could have fried all sorts of **** in there, including the ECU. I had them check my brand new battery and they said it was toast. I got a new replacement battery for free being that mine wasn't a month old yet. Got it home and the brand new battery lights up all the instrument panel. The needles do their sweep. I press the starter button and it cranks forever but, doesn't even give a hint of the engine wanting to turn over.

I checked all the fuses with a meter. All are good. The 50 amp main I didn't check with the meter cause I can't figure out how to get the lid off but, I can see through the lid and it's not burnt. Did I mention that I'm NOT an electrician?! If any of you guys / gals have a suggestion that I might try, I'm all ears. I'd take to the shop but, at this stage of the game, They are closing soon and they are closed Sunday and Monday. My Plans were to head out for the EOM on Tuesday morning so, I'm thinking I'm OUT for this trip.

 

[Geezer]

Do you hear the fuel pump running when you first switch the key on?

 

[majicmaker]

Can't tell, let me check that. I really don't know what that sounds like. But, ill give it a try.

 

[majicmaker]

Other than the whine that lasts a few seconds, I don't hear anything with my ear up against the slot in the fairing.

Also, I connected the tender to the pigtail and its still blinking red saying its not connected to anything when it actually is.

Is it possible that the tender got fried too?

 

[SLK50]

Crank but no fire = low battery.

Charge battery.

 

[majicmaker]

Crank but no fire = low battery. Charge battery.

The battery is brand spanking new. They charged it all last night for me thinking that my old battery was toast from the reversed polarity when I went there to tell them what happened yesterday.

 

[majicmaker]

Ok, after looking at everything I could I found the 7.5 amp fuse in the pigtail blown. I replaced it and now have a tender connection to the battery. It's charging now. I might have run It down pretty good trying to start that bike. I'll give it a good charge and see what happens when it's topped off. Fingers crossed. I sure do hope it was a weak battery.

 

[flagstaff]

This will not help with your current situation, but for future reference: Automatic battery chargers/tenders need to read at least a small voltage from the battery to function. A completely dead battery will not be "seen" by the charger. In a situation like this you need to use a manual charger, the older style/type. You can also fool the automatic charger by connecting a good battery or jumping the battery. Once the charger has sensed some voltage it will start charging the 'dead' battery. You can then remove the jump or other battery.

A single complete discharge does not generally ruin the battery. Repeated complete discharges of starting batteries will shorten their life.

 

[ionbeam]

...if you leave it on it will kill the battery...Even with it off and still connected it will kill the battery...I currently have a pigtail directly to the battery for my tender...I can just put the tender on the pigtail in the smuggler and I'm good to go...by the time the power got to the smuggler, the polarity got reversed...

They said I could have fried all sorts of **** in there, including the ECU...I got a new replacement battery for free being that mine wasn't a month old....

Congratulations on getting a new battery out of this situation!

The fact that your FJR cranks is a good sign.

If your key was OFF when you hooked up the tender the odds of having fried things is pretty low. Things to check: ABS light goes off shortly after the key is turned on. If the meter assembly sweeps the gauges and displays correctly the meter assembly is good. If you can access the diAG mode and display the codes the ECU is most likely OK. The whirring you hear when you first turn on the key and then stops is the fuel pump working. Now that you are in the diAG mode, use it to turn on coil 1 and coil 2 and listen for the faint popping of the spark plugs.

If all of this is good then you probably haven't hurt anything. If your FJR still doesn't start after charging the battery I would suspect a very common flooded condition. Hold the throttle wide open and crank in short bursts. It may take > 5 tries but it should start. The only thing you should check after it starts is the voltage at the B+ wire to do a wellness check on the voltage regulator.

Good luck, and try not to miss EOM, it's a blast.

Hopefully the magic will be strong with this one...

 

[majicmaker]

Thanks flagstaff, I found the fuse in the pigtail blown and its charging now. Lets see how this looks like after it tops off. I'll go from there. It's times like these that I with I would have become an electrician. Thank God they are very few and far between.

 

[majicmaker]

...if you leave it on it will kill the battery...Even with it off and still connected it will kill the battery...I currently have a pigtail directly to the battery for my tender...I can just put the tender on the pigtail in the smuggler and I'm good to go...by the time the power got to the smuggler, the polarity got reversed...

They said I could have fried all sorts of **** in there, including the ECU...I got a new replacement battery for free being that mine wasn't a month old....

Congratulations on getting a new battery out of this situation! The fact that your FJR cranks is a good sign. If your key was OFF when you hooked up the tender the odds of having fried things is pretty low. Things to check: ABS light goes off shortly after the key is turned on. If the meter assembly sweeps the gauges and displays correctly the meter assembly is good. If you can access the diAG mode and display the codes the ECU is most likely OK. The whirring you hear when you first turn on the key and then stops is the fuel pump working. Now that you are in the diAG mode, use it to turn on coil 1 and coil 2 and listen for the faint popping of the spark plugs. If all of this is good then you probably haven't hurt anything. If your FJR still doesn't start after charging the battery I would suspect a very common flooded condition. Hold the throttle wide open and crank in short bursts. It may take > 5 tries but it should start. The only thing you should check after it starts is the voltage at the B+ wire to do a wellness check on the voltage regulator. Good luck, and try not to miss EOM, it's a blast. Hopefully the magic will be strong with this one...

* ABS light goes off in seconds* Meters sweep as they should

* Whirring of the fuel pump is good

Been frantically looking through the FSM on how to access the diAG mode and can't find it. Still looking.

 

[ionbeam]

I wrote a diAG tutor here. In my Gen II FSM, the diAG procedure is in the Fuel Injection section, starting at page 8-45.

 

[majicmaker]

I wrote a diAG tutor here. In my Gen II FSM, the diAG procedure is in the Fuel Injection section, starting at page 8-45.

Thanks, I'll print this out and go for it.

 

[FLFJRS]

majicmaker,

You gotta get it running. I can't be the only Floridian at EOM. Best of luck tracking down this issue. See you in MV next Friday.

 

[majicmaker]

It's still charging. I disconnected the tender for a second and tried to start it and it at least sparked and fired a few cylinders before showing the battery still "NEEDS MORE POWER, SCOTTY!!" That's a very good sign. I'll let it charge overnight and check in the morning. Sad thing is: The bike is all packed up! It's killing Me!! Lmao

 

[FLFJRS]

If I give her more poweer Cap'tn, she gonna blow. I canna do any more.

Best of luck.

She will run in the morning, I have confidence.

MV here you come.

 

[majicmaker]

IT STARTED!!!!! The wide open throttle technique did the trick. My blood pressure is back to normal now. I'll leave it on trickle charge all night and she should be her old happy self again. Thank you all for helping this electrically challenged moron! Time for an adult beverage.. )

 

[wfooshee]

I can't believe a powered off GPS will kill the battery, though........

VERY glad you got it running. I forgot you were Gen-II when you texted me earlier or I would have suggested the WOT cranking. I apologize for that.

How could I have forgotten, when you're such an AE missionary!!!!

 

[nankoweap]

Time for an adult beverage.. )

Giddyup. Glad you got your bike sorted out.