| Author | Message | ||
     Sslowmo |
I was riding home from a short one and noticed my instrument panel wasn't working. No speedo, tack,or clock. Bike was still running fine. Then it stated to die. pulled over and it died. Tryed to start it and it was just clicking. Battar is only two months old and I checked all the fuses. I'm wondering did my ECM just die. Any ideas??? Thanks, Aaron | ||
| Nik |
check your fuses. | ||
| Moonrunrs |
This happened to me too. (Message edited by moonrunrs on October 18, 2009) | ||
| Nillaice |
same events happened to me when my voltage regulator shit the bed. good thing i was riding with a buddy! we swapped batteries and headed back home | ||
| Sslowmo |
I've put 40,000 (s)miles on her. Maybe the Voltage regulator. All lights are nice and bright. It died like it had a lack of gas? Damn, I have a Track Day in two weeks. | ||
| Mac_inger |
Sslowmo,...look at my thread: "Firebolt sudden problems". Pretty much the same problem as you. There is a series of test to do with a multimeter on the charging system in my thread. | ||
| Moonrunrs |
Geez, it's funny this post came up. The SAME thing happened to me just tonight. I changed out the ignition fuse because the bike crapped out and I saw the fuse was blown. When I tried to start the bike the ignition fuse popped AGAIN. So, it's the voltage regulator? | ||
| Mac_inger |
Dont know Moon. I think theres not sure way to check the regulator. Go down the list of tests in the text below. Thats what i did and isolated it to the regulator. It sounds like your battery is not being charged. There are several different things that can cause this, and the only way to determine the problem is to work methodically from the battery back to the stator. Here is a very good test procedure that I have in my notes. I apologize to the author whose name was lost in the haze of time. testing stator, voltage regulator, battery A no-charge condition can be one, the other, or both. Throwing parts at it is great! Keep guessing, you're making my HD stock go up. To properly test a charging system: Step 1: CHARGE the battery. Don't do this by revving the bike, do this by charging the battery. Step 2: Set multimeter to DC volts, and connect directly to battery posts. It should read 12.8-ish to 13.2-ish. If it's lower, see step 1, or replace battery. if your battery is more than two years old, it might not hurt to throw a new one in there, unless you like riding in tow trucks more than riding on motorcycles. Step 3: Start bike. Battery should NOT drop below (ideally) 9 volts while cranking. Typically, if it'll crank the bike over at a consistant speed, for a few seconds, it's fine. This is not a true load test, but it's close enough for the homeboy mechanic. If you own a true load tester, you shouldn't be getting your electrical advice from the internet, anyways. step 4: at idle, Multimeter should read 13.5+ volts. Just off idle, to redline, should read 14.4 volts. Less than 14 is serious cause for concern, as is much OVER 14.4. If it's 14.7 or higher, go buy a regulator right now, and avoid running the bike until it's charging at 14.4 or less. Battery explosions suck. OK, less than 14 volts? Check: Battery cable tightness, regulator ground, stator connections, etc. Re-test. THEN with bike OFF, unplug stator. Connect multimeter leads to stator side of the connector. DON'T jam your multimeter leads directly into connector, unless you LOVE intermittant electrical issues. Note: now is the time to pray some previous owner didn't JAM his multimeter leads into the connector. If you've ever met one of your wife's ex-boyfriends, you know what I'm talking about. Once making contact with your multimeter, set it OHM's. It doesn't matter which stator wire you connect to, as you'll try them all. Pick one pair, measure, then swap ONE lead to the other wire. Measure, then swap the lead you DIDN'T move the first time. 3 ohms or less, you're golden. if the meter reads "open" or similar, you're buying a stator. If it reads significantly higher than 3 ohms, you're buying a stator (what's "significant"? 6 ohms or more). Now check all 3, one at a time, against ground (The engine, frame, chassis, negative battery terminal, etc). It SHOULD read open. If it reads any resistance (Ohms), at all, go buy a stator. OK. So we know the stator is not fubar'd, yet. Notice we're moving on, and we didn't ohm-check the regulator. That's because there is NO such test. Sorry. You can ohm-check it if you want, but it's not a valid test. I've measured several dozen, some new, some used, some old, some new, some bad, some good. The consistancy just isn't there. Because the regulator also rectifies, it can fail in many different ways. Undercharging, no charging, failure to rectify, etc. I've seen regulators with the backs melted off, putting out ZERO volts, smoking from the input voltage, and not having a proper ground, and they've ohm'ed out the same as the brand new unit that fixed the problem. Back to the stator. Bike OFF, switch multimeter to AC voltage. Now, this is the point where the bike can shock you, hurt you, kill you, insult your children, and knock up your wife. You're playing with AC, so no touchie on the wires, okay? Hook up, start the bike, and measure the AC output between any two wires. Got voltage? Good. Does it increase in a relatively linear fashion with RPM? Good. Honestly, at this point, I don't remember the spec, so maybe someone will chime in with it (Assuming they've read this far). If you have a service manual, it's in there. Now check the other combinations of stator wires, like we did for the ohm-check. If you have smooth, linear AC power starting at the mid-teen range, and ending up at 35 Volts or so, and the output is similar for all three legs, the stator is OK. It's the behavior more than the actual number at this point, but the number need to be reasonable enough to provide voltage for a 12 volt system. So if the stator is outputting (and if it doesn't pass the ohm-check, it won't be), and the battery isn't charging 14.4-ish, go buy, and install a regulator, and retest at the battery, looking for 14.4 (DC, you did reset your meter to DC to test the battery, right?) volts. If that doesn't fix it, let me know. Also don't forget to re-connect the stator to the regulator, before continuing on with other tests, or test rides. Don't ask how I know this. The connector between the VR and the battery, the infamous #77 is often a cause of this problem, but I think this may have been changed on your model. Normally the Voltage Regulator is the most fragile part of this system. Using Mobil One gear oil has been reported to cause premature stator failure: use HD Formula + in the primary. The secret here is buying the manual, work slowly, be patient. Just changing parts out and praying is a technique that can take months to fix this problem. Don't ask. Let us know how you fixed it, OK? | ||
| Moonrunrs |
Mac, Thanks a lot. I did find this info on your other post. This sounds like an invaluable guide. | ||
| Moonrunrs |
Just got it back from the dealer. It was teh speedo sensor wire that went bad becuase of friction that wore the wires down. Talked to Bartels' people and they promised me they would continue to service Buell and keep the parts stocked etc. Bartels sponsored Shawn Higbee's racing team and his mechanic was the guy who worked on my bike. He showed me the Higbee racing bike in the shop and said everyone was upset about what happened to buell. |
