Electrical Gremlins 1 me 0

[naughtyG]

All said and done the regulator quit regulating causing the battery and starter relay to get fried. After replacing those two components with known working parts everything else fell into place.

Glad to hear you got yours sorted! So the RR was bad, and that in turn fried both the starter relay and the battery? Wow.

I'm gonna need some help on mine too - I thought the bad battery ground lead was it, but now I'm thinking I could have something similar to yours. Problem is, my 2000 has a different starter relay so it doesn't swap, and neither does the flasher relay, which is also suspect! :confused2:

 

[Tex85]

Glad to hear you got yours sorted! So the RR was bad, and that in turn fried both the starter relay and the battery? Wow.

I'm gonna need some help on mine too - I thought the bad battery ground lead was it, but now I'm thinking I could have something similar to yours. Problem is, my 2000 has a different starter relay so it doesn't swap, and neither does the flasher relay, which is also suspect! :confused2:

Unfortunately I only have the one VMAX so I can't say I have experience on your bike. However based on the electrical diagram it does not seem to be all that different when it comes to the starter relay. The only difference is that you wire directly into starter and cutoff switch whereas mine only wires into the cut off that in turn runs to the starter switch.

I remember reading about your potential ground issues before, but don't remember all the details. A quick search only brought up your leaky battery issue. What is going on exactly?

 

[gamorg02]

another reason to get a eliptech shift light!

 

[naughtyG]

I remember reading about your potential ground issues before, but don't remember all the details. A quick search only brought up your leaky battery issue. What is going on exactly?

It's been mental.

When I got the '86 bike it had a dead battery, but still ran ok. I then put the battery from my 2000 in it, and it ran absolutely fine. Rode it to have it inspected and registered, all good. Then on the way home it started cutting out a couple of times, but just for a couple of seconds then ran fine again.

Then over the next few days, when I rode it it kept cutting out, as in no power whatsover, no ignition, nothing, but only intermittently and then come back and run ok again. I then realized it did it once hot, and on another ride it cut out completely and ground to a stop.
At that point I realized I had nothing, not even a neutral light on the dashboard when turning the key. No juice anywhere. Then after a while (cooling down) it would come back, and run perfectly, only to cut out again the same a couple of miles down the road. I parked it as I had no time to fix.

Since then I have spent a couple of days trying to find the fault, to no avail. I did find the main ground lead fell apart in my hand, but replaced it with the one from the 2000 and still no go.
After it was parked for a couple of weeks, it won't turn over at all anymore. All I get is the starter relay clicking, at best.
Battery says it's fully charged (charger won't charge it) and shows 12.25V across its poles.
Disconnected most of the electrics not needed for starting from the harness (taillight and blinkers, headlight, horn, vboost, etc) to eliminate those as possible causes.
I've run all the tests for the starter relay etc according to the Service Manual, and so far everything checks. Only weird things:
- measuring the resistance of the neutral switch gives about 125Ω when closed instead of 0Ω, yet the neutral light still comes on :confused2:
- I found that with the right-hand switch gear disconnected (kill switch/res switch/starter button/fr stoplight switch) the voltage across the battery was 12.25V, but as soon as I connected it, it would drop to under 7V. :ummm:
BUT, I tested every wire of this RH switch gear and could find nothing wrong. I also tried connecting it to my 2000 and it worked fine. Go figure..

Last, to convince myself the battery was still ok (it did build up gunk on the '-' pole twice but did work fine on the 2000 before going on the '86), I connected the brand new 2000 battery across the '86 with jump leads, and for the first time all day the '86 starter did spin, albeit very slowly and only a tiny bit.

I can't swap the starter relay as the '86 only has one (L/W) wire, but the 2000 has two. I'm thinking to remove the starter to take a good look at the brushes and all connections, and I have a HD ground wire / starter wire kit on the way.

Next I will also try swapping the RRs to check the '86 (old style) one is still working ok by testing it on the 2000. Btw I also checked that the crimp fix has been done on this '86, and the RR has a ground wire added to one of its mounting bolts straight to the battery '-'.

I've spent a lot of time testing and measuring wires in the harness and so far nothing conclusive. It's driving me mad! :bang head::bang head::bang head:

 

[Tex85]

It sounds like the first issue I had a few months ago. Everything ran great until the bike got warmed up then the regulator would no longer adequately charge the battery. Replacing the RR fixed that issue for me after trying countless other things first.

In regard to the starter relay the one from your newer bike should work, only connect the ground to your blue wire and disregard the hot that would hook to the starter switch on your newer bike. I was told to try this by Kyle while troubleshooting my problem using a relay he sent me, unfortunately that relay ended up being dead so I don't know if it will indeed work. Electrically it makes sense that it would still function.

A new starter relay can be acquired for $19 with shipping from Caltric, they list on amazon and eBay. I am using one now as of Monday and it works fine. Unfortunately I cannot speak for its longevity since it has only been a few days.

If you RR goes bad it can easily kill your battery. In my most recent case it took it and the starter relay out.

I would grab the RR and relay from your newer bike and hook them up. As for the battery Advanced Auto Parts (as well as some other shops) will test it for free. My battery showed adequate charge but it no longer had any cold cranking amps, unfortunately there is no way to figure this out on your own with a multimeter to my knowledge.

I hope this helps!

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[marsmax85]

I just read all post on thread and then check my battery and I'm at 15.90 at 2500rp's in the 14's at 1000 rp's when i turn engine off battery reads 15.67 and falling . sounds like my rr's bad too . what do you think ?

 

[Tex85]

Based on what I have learned it looks like yours is a bit high although it may not be bad. Mine was going in excess of 20v at 5-6k rpm. Check your ground from the rr and make sure it is to a known good ground or if it is to the negative pole of the battery check its ground. Need to make sure it is clean, you may just have gunk build up over time causing it not to bleed off as much as it should.

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[ninjaneer]

I just read all post on thread and then check my battery and I'm at 15.90 at 2500rp's in the 14's at 1000 rp's when i turn engine off battery reads 15.67 and falling . sounds like my rr's bad too . what do you think ?

Based on what I have learned it looks like yours is a bit high although it may not be bad. Mine was going in excess of 20v at 5-6k rpm. Check your ground from the rr and make sure it is to a known good ground or if it is to the negative pole of the battery check its ground. Need to make sure it is clean, you may just have gunk build up over time causing it not to bleed off as much as it should.

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+1. it's too high. r/r ain't doing it's job. battery's gonna fry. resolve asap.

 

[marsmax85]

That's my plan I wouldn't have check this if it wasn't for this forum !!! THANKS

 

[marsmax85]

Well I replaced rr with new and did the crimp soder while working on bike now I have more voltage then before . I haven't started bike in about a week and battery reads 15 plus volts started bike and now runs up to 19 volts . So now I'll check my grounds and see what I find out.

 

[alorio1]

Well I replaced rr with new and did the crimp soder while working on bike now I have more voltage then before . I haven't started bike in about a week and battery reads 15 plus volts started bike and now runs up to 19 volts . So now I'll check my grounds and see what I find out.

You might want to check the calibration on your volt meter also, that is some high voltage your meter is reporting.......

 

[marsmax85]

I will check that also ...Thanks Just wondering can gremlins be passed thru internet like the flu !!! HATE ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS

 

[marsmax85]

Replaced R/R this morning all system are perfect. Old volt meter was a little high so I retired it and bought new .. Now to work on carbs rough idle when warm ...

 

[Tex85]

Glad to see your electrical problems are resolved! Hopefully the carbs won't give you too much trouble and you can be back to 100% quickly.

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[marsmax85]

Had a stealership work on them last year . They kept bike way to long and really didn't the carbs to run perfect . Glad I found this forum saved me alot but also cost me alot ( THE MOD MONKEY THINGY )

 

[rollin thunder]

Your fuel pump seems to run a long time compared to mine .Guys does it sound ok compared to yours ?.

 

[Tex85]

From what I have seen with the fuel pump from a cold start it tends to run longer (as shown in the video). If the bike is warm/hot it will click 1 maybe 2 times or even not at all, it seems to depend on how much fuel is already in the system itself.

 

[rollin thunder]

From what I have seen with the fuel pump from a cold start it tends to run longer (as shown in the video). If the bike is warm/hot it will click 1 maybe 2 times or even not at all, it seems to depend on how much fuel is already in the system itself.

I ran mine yesterday and 15 min later I got 6 clicks .I let it sit overnight and today just 5 :ummm:

 

[Tex85]

I'll test it on my bike when I get back in town. Unfortunately I haven't seen her all week

Might want to consider posting something in another section to get input from more knowledgeable members. It could be nothing wrong or I could be a sign of a lingering problem, I honestly do not know.

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[rollin thunder]

My bike never clicks more than a few seconds even when it sits all winter .just so you know.