2005 'S' died while riding - no voltage - what to check ?

[K5Rider]

Hey Folks

Yesterday while riding, the bike just died on me.

I managed to get it home (pushed it a mile !!!) and found out the main fuse had blown.
I still need to get a few replacements (for testing purposes) but wondered what people think may have caused it.

I checked battery voltage and it was 13.16V, so battery is fine and being charged.

The rev counter however, has the needle stuck at just below 6000rpm....about the revs I was doing when the bike died.

I know I can't really fault find until I replace the main fuse, but want to know where to start.

I have a worry that the ECU and dash binnacle may have blown if the r/r has decided to fail suddenly.

What's your thoughts ?

Cheers

[shiftin_gear98]

do you have an alarm?


Mine did this a couple of times, involving a long push.
I looked at the usual places - green connector - wiring around the head stock - etc.
Couldn't see any chaffing, no dirty burnt connectors etc.


Decided I was ****ed off with my alarm, as it had gone off all the time whilst pushing it, so decided to remove it.


It's never blown again. Still have the spare 100 x 30 amp fuses in my "boot".


Good luck sorting it, there's a lot of wires in there.

[Redmist]

I would disconnect the battery and then replace the main fuse.

Then using a meter to measure resistance (Ohms) check the reading between the main fuse output and ground.
It might be 0 if there is still a direct short somewhere OR a low enough value to blow the fuse.

So then one by one, start pulling the other fuses until you see a higher resistance reading. That might show you the section of wiring causing the short.

I've never done this so cannot suggest what a normal resistance reading would be seen from the main fuse output to ground.

Hopefully some cleverer chaps will be along too to offer thoughts

[K5Rider]

Thanks for replies.

No alarm.

I should have said that it was raining heavily at the time, but then I used the bike all through winter and it's Scotland, so it's always raining !!

I've ordered a million 30A fuses so I can start fault finding.

I might just make up a test lamp and use that in place of the fuse for now so I can get power.
I'm gonna whip the rear off the bike tonight and disconnect/inspect/shout at the R/R.

No other fuses have blown.

My main worry now is that the ECU and/or the instrument cluster have been cooked.
The fact the tacho needle is now sitting at 6000rpm worries me more than a little.

I've searched and there doesn't appear to be a history of the ECU being fried when the R/R fails on these.
(My mates Sprint 1050 was a different story though).

I did read one post on another site that the tacho needle will move to some raised position if there is no power to the cluster, which would be the case if the main fuse or signal fuse blows, but that doesn't make sense to me unless the tacho uses a trickle to keep it the needle down when off.....which again sounds daft.

Had this bike nearly a year and put over 10,000 trouble free miles on it. Now I just want to set fire to it !!

[Bibio]

where in Scotland are you based?

[K5Rider]

Chryston....just outside Glasgow...about 10 minutes past Cumbernauld.
Used to live in Inverkeithing (when I 1st moved from Dundee), then Dalgety Bay and Dunfermline, so know Fife a bit.

I quite often meet up with my mate in Burntisland and do the Fife route up to Dundee or St Andrews

[theenglishman]

Testing with a bag of fuses will just start a fire. You want a multimeter to find out where the short circuit is.

This kind of thing happened to me in Nice once long ago. It turned out to be one of the coils that had gone short circuit.

But for you it could be anything.

Removing the other fuses won't prove anything as they're all smaller than the main fuse so would have blown first.

Have you got the wiring diagram? You will need it.

[Bibio]

just a wee bit out my way.

[atassiedevil]

Get a multimeter or borrow one.
Get a SV wiring diagram too, there are plenty to be found online.


With Ignition on and battery disconnected and a fresh 30a fuse, check for a short between live and ground from the main fuse, then check it again with ignition off. If you get a short with the ignition on, but not with it off, your short is on the return side from the ignition switch. This will help eliminate about 1/3 to 1/2 the positive circuit on the loom.

Check also with the main fuse out that you're getting positive volts at one of the fuse terminals with the ignition on and battery connected.

If you see no sign of a short, start checking the other items, do you get a short with the headlights, indicator, or horn on? Each of these goes to ground and it's easy to eliminate each in turn by unplugging relevant items.
If you're okay here, go to the main fuse box and remove all fuses, with the ignition on, check for short to ground as you insert each fuse. This will help eliminate each subsystem.

Note also, the starter relay if it's old and corroded can come apart, which might explain your problem...
I had one fall completely apart, giving similar symptoms including the blown fuse.

[atassiedevil]

Get a multimeter or borrow one.
Get a SV wiring diagram too, there are plenty to be found online.


With Ignition on and battery disconnected and a fresh 30a fuse, check for a short between live and ground from the main fuse, then check it again with ignition off. If you get a short with the ignition on, but not with it off, your short is on the return side from the ignition switch. This will help eliminate about 1/3 to 1/2 the positive circuit on the loom.

Check also with the main fuse out that you're getting positive volts at one of the fuse terminals with the ignition on and battery connected.

If you see no sign of a short, start checking the other items, do you get a short with the headlights, indicator, or horn on? Each of these goes to ground and it's easy to eliminate each in turn by unplugging relevant items.
If you're okay here, go to the main fuse box and remove all fuses, with the ignition on, check for short to ground as you insert each fuse. This will help eliminate each subsystem.

Note also, the starter relay if it's old and corroded can come apart, which might explain your problem...
I had one fall completely apart, giving similar symptoms including the blown fuse.

[K5Rider]

Ok....sorted...well sort of.

I found the culprit, but why a smaller fuse didn't blow 1st I have no idea.

It was the left parking light. Fitted with shonky cheapo LED bulbs. I had replaced one the morning I broke down.
When examined, the bulb had kinda pulled itself apart and was obviously causing a short internally or something.

Anyway.......the earth wire had turned itself into a bar heater and melted through into the +ve causing a short.
So last night I had to strip out about 10 inches of wiring for replacement. You can see in the photo that the burning of the earth wire goes way past the plug and into the loom. Thankfully it didn't melt through any other wires before the plug, only the end bit is really gubbed.

I cut the wires out, isolated the ends, plopped a 30amp fuse in and the thing fired up. I let it sit for 10 minutes to see if anything else went wonky.

As for the tacho being at 6000rpm.......when I turned on the ignition, the needle swept way round, did a funky chicken dance and wound back round to 0. Looks like the ECU did a reset or something.

I took the rear fairing off to get to the R/R to examine/test that.
Yes......on my bike it wasn't there. It's attached to the frame on the right side near the front...about inline with the front throttle body.
It tested out fine, with all 6 non zero readings being almost identical give or take a difference of 2 or 3 between them.

The bike now looks like a Transformer halfway through transforming !!

Oh....and I'm going back to normal yellow looking T10 bulbs, which is a shame as I have 5400K super white HID's fitted which means I can actually see stuff when it's dark !!

http://www.cloverleaf4.co.uk/images/uploads/33561.jpg
http://www.cloverleaf4.co.uk/images/uploads/33562.jpg
http://www.cloverleaf4.co.uk/images/uploads/33563.jpeg

[shiftin_gear98]

Glad you found it.