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All Electrical - POOF

Hoople said:
Entry point #36 question. Did you get around to load testing battery.
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Going to take it down in the morning. Right now it is over 100 degrees and humid. I'm sitting in front of the air conditioner. Running to the garage occasionally to check something, but not staying there for long, the garage door faces the afternoon sun. :bigsmiley15:
 
10/4 on battery.

By chance do you have access to the 2 or 3 grounding posts located under the seat.
Under my seat I have a couple of studs mounted in the frame that are use for grounding various devices. Is your bike the same and do you have access to those studs?
 
Your chart may work but it is risky. It is much better to measure Voltage Drop across a live circuit. This is a more reliable way to do it.

When the bike goes into failure mode this is what you need to do. If at ANY time the bike goes "back to normal", stop the testing procedure because this method will only work if the bike is in failure mode. Don't shake any cables looking to find the problem., we want it to stay in failure mode.

Bike is in failure mode. Turn Ignition switch ON. Headlight High beam switch to Hi beam. At this time switches are ON but instrument panel is DEAD and HI BEAM headlight is DEAD. Push Horn button once to assure "Deadness". Is bike Dead? If yes, proceed.

Step #1.. Take your voltmeter and measure the voltage from: The Positive Battery POST (not cable, The Post) to the MAXI fuse TEST point. Do Not remove the fuse. Just measure to the test point of the Maxi fuse. You should measure Zero to near zero volts. If you read voltage, you found your problem. If you read near Zero volts proceed to step #2

Step #2 Take your meter and measure the voltage from the Negative Battery POST (not cable but Post) to the Body of your Starter. Then from the Negative Battery post to the WIRES (crimp terminals) on the grounding Studs under the seat. Then from the Negative post of the battery to the STUDS under the seat. Then from Negative of battery to the Bars. Then from the Negative battery post to the engine Block. In ALL cases you should read Zero to Near Zero volts. If you read voltage, you found your problem. If you read Zero volts proceed to step #3

Step #3
The smaller fuses (15amp) also have test points on them. Do Not remove any fuses. There are two 15 amp fuses that we must test. These are the "Keep Alive" Fuses. One is called "BATTERY" and the other is called "ECM". Locate them. Take your volt meter and measure between the Positive Post of the Battery (The POST) and a Test point on each of those two smaller fuses.
You MUST read Zero to Near Zero volts on each fuse.

When I say Zero to "Near Zero" volts what I mean is this. The closer to Zero you are,,the better. Anything more than 1/4 volt is suspect. A 1/2 volt reading is poor. Greater than 1 volt and you found your problem.

If your battery is good, I just can not imagine you reading Zero to Near zero volts in all three steps and still have a DOA bike. If you do, you have more than 1 problem.

Report your results.
 
Hoople said:
10/4 on battery.

By chance do you have access to the 2 or 3 grounding posts located under the seat.
Under my seat I have a couple of studs mounted in the frame that are use for grounding various devices. Is your bike the same and do you have access to those studs?
Click to expand...

Yes, there are 2 ground studs under the seat, and I have access. They have been disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled with dielectric grease along with all of the other connections in the starter circuit.

I've been thinking (I know that's a dangerous thing) and I'm starting to wonder about the electrical caddy. The first time I lost the instrumentation was the summer of 08, about a week after the ThunderMax was installed. I hit a big bump and they went away. I figured there was a loose connection somewhere and I would be able to find it eventually. Didn't happen again for over a year. I'm wondering now if the installation of the ThunderMax could have left a questionable connection in the back of the electrical caddy. They do take it off to replace the ECM and add a couple of wires to the back. Does this sound like a possibility? Won't be able to prove anything unless I can test it in the dead state.

Thanks,
Jake
 
Jake


There's been a few problems with the connectivity of the individual pins in some of the plugs on the ECM both in stock configurations and aftermarket units as well. You may want to check the pins in the plug on the ECM.
 
Thanks O-Great One, you just gave me a bunch more things to look at. :D

Didn't find anything in self help section about this, could be the search terms I used. Any guidance on how to go about this? I have never been that far into the electrics.

Thanks,
Jake
 
RetiredJake said:
I hit a big bump and they went away. I figured there was a loose connection somewhere and I would be able to find it eventually. Didn't happen again for over a year. I'm wondering now if the installation of the ThunderMax could have left a questionable connection in the back of the electrical caddy.
Click to expand...

But I bet when that happened, your headlight did Not go out. Yes the bike died and came to a stop, but I bet the headlight was still on when it happened. The lighting system is independent of the ECM. (no longer the case on 2011 models) You can remove the ECM from the bike and you will still have a working headlight.

What you now have is something totally different. When it now dies, you loose your headlight.

As long as you perform steps 1,2,&3 with the ignition switch in the IGN position (NOT ACC) the headlight is your friend.
 
Jake

It's just a basic disconnect and inspect. You are looking for any pins in the plug that may look out of line or bent differently than the others on both halves of the plug. If not, apply some dialectic grease and reassemble the plug.
 
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