Battery/Regulator rectifier/Alarm Spiked

Hi All

I have just got back to riding my 1997 VFR 750 after a lay off of about 2 years.

I havn't done much with the bike apart from a coat of WD40 spray every so often.

Obviously the battery was flat so after a re-charge it fired up a treat and ran fine. Passed the mot too.... Great stuff!

However...... When I took it for its mot it wouldn't start again on the way home. So they used a booster pack to re-start it.

I thought it must be the battery so I got a good quality new battery and the shop charged it fully before I picked it up, I fitted It and it started with a lovely fast turn over.
So two days later I got all ready for going to work on it and after turning the alarm off (a datatool veto/evo) and turning the ignition on thumbed the starter and ...... Nothing! Not even that flat battery relay click noise.
I took my old battery in to work ( I work at a car garage ) tested the battery and it was ok. Not a bad cell in sight and just a tad low on charge. Hmmmmmmm

At first thought I was concidering that the RR might be goosed but I did put a new one on a couple of years back.

Any ideas?

Ta

Richard

 

Charge up a battery, either old or new, and install on the bike. Then connect a clamp-on current meter around one of the battery cables and monitor the current drain while it is just sitting. It may be that there is a parasitic load draining the battery, e.g. defective alarm system or shorted wire.

Good Luck and let us know what you find.

 

Cheers

I've decided I would try the Datatool Alarm de-spiking instructions from their website.
Here they are :-

Veto/Evo System Draining Instructions.
Use these if the alarm system has been spiked.
1. Remove lid from main alarm unit. 2. Remove internal battery from PCB. 3. Remove alarm inline fuse
4. Unplug PCB from alarm loom
Leave these parts out over a period of at least 6 hours, to allow the system to drain completely.
With the bikes battery still in place and fully charged.
1. Plug PCB onto loom and reinstall.
2. Replace In-Line fuse.
3. The alarm will sound for a period of approx. 30 seconds.
4. Allow the system to reset itself.
5. Replace internal battery onto PCB.
6. Make sure all connections are complete.
7. Re-Align the remote – Press and hold both buttons for a period of 5 seconds,
then press the circle button

Worth a go. I thought I'd start the ball rolling by doing something. I'll pick up a voltmeter from work tomorrow just in case the alarm repair doesn't work work.
I'll put it back together tomorrow after work and see how we go :-/

See how we go. I'll let you know.

Ta

Richard

 

Just as a thought.
When I bring my voltmeter home tomorrow and test th battery for charge before I try to re-install the alarm parts what is the voltage/amp reading I should be getting?
Cheers
Richard

 

I hate datatool immobilisers with a vengance.

I had one the Datatool 4 Red version on my Suzuki (In London insurance quotes mean it was pretty mandatory to have an immobiliser fitted). Suffice to say it caused more breakdowns and hassles than anything else on the bike and was the main reason I eventually sold the bike. The system seemed to have a life of its own sometimes refusing to respond to the remote leaving you stranded, despite fitting new batteries in the remote every few months. Eventually on a French service area, I found the bike just would not restart after refueling and was about to give up and call a recovery truck, after numerous attempts to disarm the system had failed. Then by luck a large van pulled up alongside and wow it worked OK - Which got me thinking what had changed? As the van pulled away the answer was revealed. On the far side of the service area was a massive cell phone communications tower - which I guess was messing with the alarm. After that I became paranoid about checking to see if there was any sort of transmitter aerial in the vicinity and if so just riding on.

However in London they are pretty much everywhere and on several occasions the bike failed to start. I learnt to steer clear of Homebase carpark in Kingsbury London as its right next door to a BT telecoms building opting to park the bike inside the entrance canopy of the store, as the only place nearby where I could be confident I would be able to disarm the alarm after I had finished shopping in the store. Thankfully the store manager was a biker and totally OK with my unusual choice of parking location.

Anyway this unpredictable hassle negated much of the advantage of having a motorbike. If the issue keeps happening in the same location, then its a fair bet there is some sort of radio mast nearby - and in future you need to find a location which is shielded from the interference.

If you have to have an aftermarket immobiliser fitted to your VFR then choose another brand as the issue seems to be very much one which affects datatool. If you search other biking forums you will find this problem is fairly common with the Datatool.

Anyway good luck - hope you get the problem sorted.


Skimad4x4

 

Thanks!

Here is today's update:-

I brought a voltmeter to check the battery voltage before re-installing the alarm bits and bobs.

It read 12+volts! So...... It's not flat then?

So........ I re-installed the alarm as per instructions and re-aligned both the remotes and hey presto! It starts )))

So I re checked the battery voltage when it was ticking over and got 14.2volts ish. Is that about right?

I didn't think about re-checking the voltmeter with the lights on and increasing the revs. :-/

So..... I'm wondering why the original battery went flat after its initial charge after the bikes lay up?

Could the R/R still be faulty?

I'm wondering if I try and go to work on it tomorrow will I have the same problem where it starts fine and then doesn't want to start again hmmmmmmmm what do you think?

Ta

Richard

 

"Paging Rubo" - Looks like another VFR with electrical issues.

Oh dear. Richard your latest findings do indeed seem to start us off down the failing wiring/RR/stator path. Search on here for posts by Rubo and you will find plenty of guidance of what to check and how to diagnose where the fault(s) may lie. The first thing to do is a visual check on the state of the wiring at the connector to Stator which seems to melt. If the wiring seems fine and all charging system connections are firm, then work through the electrical tests as per the Honda manual. However 14.4 volts at tickover seems OK as does 12plus volts on the battery - so are you certain its not the immobiliser or something in the starter circuit playing up - so you may need to check the starter relay, the kickstand switch and the engine cutout are not causing problems - you did say the bike has not been used for ages so things can get a bit cranky.

Skimad4x4

 

14.2 volts indicates the stator and RR are working okay.

i would guess the alarm is the culprit--may have drained the battery over time, then went into lock up mode after the voltage went too low, requiring the re-boot.

 

Hi again
Well, I had the 'mobile honda trained technician' out to have a look today.
He brought a new R/R and said it had gone. I found my old receipt from the last one I had fitted and it was 2005. Gosh how time does fly :-/
Anyway he said it was 3v reading drop from the old to the new :-/
Well I don't really know about that, but at least if it goes kaput in the next year I have some warranty piece of mind.
Ta
Richard

 

I hope he also checked the stator output and confirmed that was OK especially as the old RR was still putting out 14.4 volts - which sounds about on spec for idle speed. I would have thought that if the new one is continuously delivering an extra 3 volts it will be boiling your battery dry! Anyway fingers crossed its all sorted now and you have a few fine days to enjoy the bike before the weather turns.

skimad4x4

 

Thanks, yes I was a bit surprised when he said it had gone.
I was expecting him to say it was ok after the 12/14v check I did. Hmmmmmm well he did a check to the 'alternator voltage' ?
Well I suppose if the worst comes to the worst I've got a years warranty on the battery and the R/R and if it does cook the battery etc Ill be expecting him to repair the faults! That's for sure!
As you say, best just to put it behind me and enjoy what good biking days we have left.
Ta
Richard