A little electrical help

Have not dived too far into this one yet, however seem to be running into some type of electrical issue on my 4th gen.

This has happened twice now. First time about 2 months ago, after a 2 hour ride, had a quick 15 minute rest, get back on the bike turn the key, get all relevant lights, however bike does not start turning over when starter is pressed. Turn off key, turn on key again, this time, no dash lights, no nothing. Start pondering what my next move is going to be. I notice that the clock reads 1:00 as if it had just at the second I turned it over the first time, it reset....thus battery got disconnected.

Wait a couple of minutes, turn key again, this time getting all dash lights, and bike starts. I thought it was just a fluke.

Fast forward to today. Rode for about 3 hours, went into the post office for about 30 mintues, come back out to the bike and got the correct time off the dash clock, turn key........nothing. No dash lights, no nothing. Clock is reset back to 1:00 again. Turn key off, turn key back on...nothing. Waited about 5 minutes, turn key back on again, nothing. No dash lights or anything.

Thinking I am in a little more trouble this time and thinking I could have a lose battery connection, I remove the seat, wiggle the battery cables a little, give them the secret genie rub, and what do you know. Turn key....dash lights are on, bike starts right up. Note to self, the battery cables seemed to have a pretty snug connection.

I have had the battery tested, and even though it is a 4 year old battery, it tests perfect and provides adequate juice.

Any ideas peeps?

 

Sounds weird. I'd get some aerosol electronics cleaner and blast away at all the connections you can find. Spray down the terminals with the stuff but be sure to apply some dielectric grease. I'd also pull all your fuses, spray and take them in/out repeatedly to clean the contacts.

No idea otherwise though.

 

My friends '97 did that this summer. He had two issues at the same time, one was a corroded kill switch that made it seem as if the battery was disconnected. So follow up on what Fizz suggested. Also, the second problem was his R&R was shot. After some contact cleaner, and an aftermarket R&R, all is well.

Mac

 

clean your battery connections with a scotchbrite pad too. Can be some corrosion underneath thats causing an issue too.

BZ

 

Spoken from experience? Hmm, Hmmm????

 

You could say that:tongue:

Missed a track day as you know because of it

BZ

p.s. Did you or PA watch any of us slow B-broup guys/ gals on Nov 1st?

 

wrap your wires in slick50 dipped electral tape sends volts faster and smoother:strong:

 

Hmm, had this problem occasionally, but not since I replaced the R/R

 

You have a bad connection at your battery. Think about it. You have nothing at the key and when you wiggle the battery, BAM! Lights, sound, Action! What was the last thing you did? You f**ed with your battery! There only has to a few billion molecules making contact to allow electrons to flow through your system making a dirty connection possible to allow flow. Let it sit for a spell and it will fail again. Clean your battery cable ends and your contacts with some sandpaper. Put it back together and lube it up with some petroleum jelly. What you want to do is disallow air and acid to come in to contact with your connections and this will prevent any further complications. If this doesn't do it then you need to clean some other connections. It might be the kill switch, ignition switch, etc....
Start with the battery and good luck.

 

Thanks for all the ideas. Still have not had a chance to work on this, however the problem has become drastically worse.

When riding the bike now, it will start to run extremely rough, as if I have some bad gas in there, or as if I am running out of gas. Bike seems to want to cut out. I noticed when this was happening, the speedo and rpm guage, would drop to 0, then come back to life as the dash lights flicker in time with the engine spurting. So yes, absolutely something to do with battery not supplying power.

I was stranded for about 30 minutes, and didnt have my relevant key to take the cowl off, to take the seat off and wiggle the battery, so I just hit on the seat, right near the battery, and bingo!....got all dash lights and bike would start again.

Had to stop again, could not get bike started, even by hitting seat, so now, to get power, I would straddle the bike and with aggression rock the bike side to side, and eventually dash lights would light up.

Eventually I got home.

But yes, has to be something around the battery terminals. Will update when I get a chance to work on it.

 

I guess it was loose battery cables make sure to clean all contact points and reconnect them..everything gets loose after so much time or they are frozen. every couple of thousand miles should check all nuts and bolts in case they have vibrated loose. glad you got it running..do not forget to check and see if you have the circle or square seal in head ...add slick50 when needed..

 

Have you checked the R/R? This sounds typical of the well known R/R gremlin. Keep in mind that the R/R can work one moment and not work the next. Had that issue on my 93. Be sure to check all wiring and connectors between the R/R and the Stator (3 yellow wires) for corrosion/burning/melting. If the connector has any disfigurement, the problem is most likely the R/R and it should be replaced as well as the connector should be replaced/wires spliced as this will be a weak link in the wiring.

Note: Slick50 is not needed for this procedure and is not recommended for repair of this problem.

 

Not sure if anyone mentioned it, but be careful with this stuff. it will melt plastic. I learned that one the hard way.

 

Exact simptons of my Buddy's '97! A good beating and some cussin', and it would run. R&R, and a bad connection.

Mac

 

Same problem I had until...

... I went ahead and rewired the middle of the bike (or so it seemed).
Long story short: bought a '97 this May with 3800 miles on it. Didn't have it a week and it stranded it me twice. SO-replace R/R with a GSXR one, eliminated as many connectors as I could. Ran a ground direct from the R/R to the frame, ran a power lead direct to battery w/ 20 amp fuse, and some other stuff (there is plenty on this fix already on this site-it works). NO problems in 2000 miles. Oh, the computer fan on the R/R is a must here in Albuquerque (summer commuting temp on way home can be +105F) It's a pain to be working on it when you should be riding it BUT it's worth it to have a reliable ride.

 

Hmm, the can i have of QD electronics cleaner says its safe on plastics. I would imagine it'd have to be as most electrical connections have plastic connectors and such. Maybe it reacts with ABS?

EDIT:

http://www.amazon.com/CRC-5102-QD-Electronic-Cleaner/dp/B000BXOGNI

"Quick drying, plastic safe formula leaves no residue"

 

I have never had a problem like this either, maybe it is brand specific? If so, please name the exact product you used, so the rest of us can hopefully avoid any problems.

 

The exact product I use was linked in the post you quoted.

 

Yeah, I was more looking for the stuff Super used that he did have a problem with. Since at least two of us have used products where we didn't have a problem.