Bad324 Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 (edited) I don't know what the hell is wrong with this thing and I want to say its the battery but I've been known to be wrongBattery is 1.5 years old, the R/R and Stator are 1 year old.About a month ago I went to go for a ride and the battery was dead and I assumed it was a combo of sitting untouched for 2-3 weeks and me leaving my GPS plugged in accidentally. Put it on the tender and it charged up no problem and went for a couple rides over the course of a weekSat again untouched for 2-3 weeks but this time I had it plugged into the tender and went to start it and nothing. The lights come on, the dash comes on, I can hear the fuel pump prime and when I press the button it doesn't do a damn thing or even try to turn over. In the past when the battery has been dead it makes a clicking noise like its trying to startSo am I right thinking its the battery? Edited October 19, 2012 by Bad324 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbot Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 you probably killed the battery. go get it tested at autozone to verify Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brownsfan1 Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 Start with the battery, then check to see if your getting power down to the starter at the exciter wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohiomike Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 1 1/2 yrs old and the battery needs replacement? Kind of odd iyam. My last battery kept on keeping on for 7 years. But if it has been discharged far enough, and has happened enough times it could be bad. But you are right, its always the first place to start troubleshooting. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conn-e-rot Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 Have you checked the safety switches and kill switch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester3681 Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 Depending on the type of battery, the complete drain might have done it in, or it may need a more powerful charge than can be given by your tender. Take it to a Sears Auto Center - they have deep cycle chargers there, plan to leave it overnight. Make sure they don't just throw it on the quick charger (30-60 minutes). If it comes back bad, you know it's the battery. Sometimes if you drain a battery completely, it'll take more than a tender can manage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinjaDoc Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 The lights came on, dash light on, it turns over..if thats the case shouldnt the battery be okay? or starting needs way more power from it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imprez55 Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 Look at the voltage on the battery as well as the voltage while it is hooked up. If it is the battery, you could hook up jumper leads to a car (with the car off) or just keep the tender on it while you try and start it. If its the battery then it should fire up. Do you hear a click when you push the starter button? I always reccomend taking a look at the starter relay because it is so easy to overlook. If you do not hear a click when you push the starter button then try to just bridge the starter solenoid with a screw driver. If it turns over its that and not the charging circuit for once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad324 Posted October 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 Look at the voltage on the battery as well as the voltage while it is hooked up. If it is the battery, you could hook up jumper leads to a car (with the car off) or just keep the tender on it while you try and start it. If its the battery then it should fire up. Do you hear a click when you push the starter button? I always reccomend taking a look at the starter relay because it is so easy to overlook. If you do not hear a click when you push the starter button then try to just bridge the starter solenoid with a screw driver. If it turns over its that and not the charging circuit for once.it doesnt click and it wont start with the tender still plugged in. I'll have to check the starter relay as that is something I didn't even think of. Naturally I've waited until the day I really got the itch to ride, the weather is nice AND I can get out of work early to try and fix it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Z. Heimer Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 Brian, Go to YouTube and do a search for "Starter Voltage Drop Test". Don't know how to put in link from phone sorry. Please do this before jamming screwdrivers and using jumper cables. You need to do this with fully charged battery. After you sort this. You may want to do a voltage drain test. Your battery could very well be bad. If it is an agm battery it may need more than a tender to fully charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohiomike Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 The lights came on, dash light on, it turns over..if thats the case shouldnt the battery be okay? or starting needs way more power from it?Not necessarily. Starter draw is pretty heavy and will make a bad battery die real fast. Have you checked the safety switches and kill switch?Good idea! Also check to make sure a wire in the starter circuit has not come unplugged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Z. Heimer Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 http://www.yuasabatteries.com/pdfs/TechManual_2009.pdf. Read page 33. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDBGoalie Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 If the starter won't even bump, I'd say it is a fried battery. It might take a charge, but it won't hold it.Put meter leads on battery terminals to check voltage. Less than 12V and you're going to have issues.Get rid of parasitic draws or disconnect battery when not in use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad324 Posted October 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 ^^the whole bike is a parasitic draw! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imprez55 Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Get this fixed or at least figured out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad324 Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Every fuse was fine. Tried to pick up a new battery and neither place had what I need in stock so gonna try again tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad324 Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 I've got a tender and it was on it which caused me much confusion. I was out riding a couple hours with the gf, pulled in the garage and immediately plugged it in. 2-3 weeks later I went to start it and no go. Dash comes on, headlights on but hit the button and it does nothing. Gonna get the battery tested tomorrow to see if that's it or not. I'm hoping that's all the problem is but last time the battery died it would at least make the clicking sound that it was trying to turn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad324 Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Yea I remember you doing it too when the stock battery was dying on me. Didn't think to even try since its in the garage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mello dude Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 I've learned my lesson on not to buy a cheap mc battery. The last one I got was a autozone replacement and it lasted 19 months. At the end of it the thing decided to shit battery acid all over my swingarm. -- Spend the bucks for a quality part. Some electric stuff from a viffer forum junkie......- Your bike has a wiring harness recall. Has it been done? - Viffer's are prone to charging system failure. A lot of the problem is honda cheaped out and wiring and connectors are undersized for the duty required. - Spend the bucks on a multimeter and check system as part of routine maitenance. Every oil change is a good interval. (I added a digital meter up front to watch mine.)- The connectors are prone to corrosion - check and clean anually. - There is a high fallout of the stock OEM shunt style R/Rs. Its worth it to go to a MOSFET type or Series type. - OEM stators are good for about 50k, not bad. But the 16 gauge wire to the R/R is a bit wimpy. - There's miles of threads on fixes and upgrades if interested. If you want me to post a quick check list on checking the charge system, let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadyone Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 I bet your tender any put a deep charge in it. I've had that happen before where I left my key on. Find somewhere that will deep charge it over night and then see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnG Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 On my bike, both the left AND right controls need rebuilt and cleaned. My headlight hi/lo sometimes kills the headlights altogether when switching between the two (real exciting on dark country roads) and the kill switch can cut my motor without fully operating the switch. I'll be doing that maintenance this winter. My 83 GS550 Suzuki had a bad starter button. Poor contacts and a slight drop in battery voltage made for unpredictable starting.You need to take apart the right hand control and clean it before jumping to any other conclusions about charging, etc. Start with the easy basic stuff first! True, there is a history on viffers with charging systems and you can always do the VFRness upgrade if you haven't already.Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustinsn3485 Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 I've seen more than one of the battery tender brand tenders smoke a battery. New batteries even. I've switched to the yuasa smart charger or something. It's worked well for over a year on multiple different bikes. Sent via mobile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limenine9r Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 My 47,000 mile ZX9r had similar issues this summer, that you have stated.......turned out to be my "junction box" the fuse panel that all the good fuses are plugged into called the junction box, diode or whatever inside of junction box had fried...but I'd also check kickstand safety switch. Mine corroded and a quick $12 eBay salvage kickstand assembly replacement solve initial problem that eventually lead to junction box replacement. ...one week after junction box replaced my voltage regulator fried. .....so I have a fairly new kickstand safety switch, new junction box and new voltage regulator and we're aiming for another 40k miles.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gixxus Christ! Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Trade you for a wrecked but running tl. I'll even spend the cash to get her road-worthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad324 Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 I've learned my lesson on not to buy a cheap mc battery. The last one I got was a autozone replacement and it lasted 19 months. At the end of it the thing decided to shit battery acid all over my swingarm. -- Spend the bucks for a quality part. Some electric stuff from a viffer forum junkie......- Your bike has a wiring harness recall. Has it been done? - Viffer's are prone to charging system failure. A lot of the problem is honda cheaped out and wiring and connectors are undersized for the duty required. - Spend the bucks on a multimeter and check system as part of routine maitenance. Every oil change is a good interval. (I added a digital meter up front to watch mine.)- The connectors are prone to corrosion - check and clean anually. - There is a high fallout of the stock OEM shunt style R/Rs. Its worth it to go to a MOSFET type or Series type. - OEM stators are good for about 50k, not bad. But the 16 gauge wire to the R/R is a bit wimpy. - There's miles of threads on fixes and upgrades if interested. If you want me to post a quick check list on checking the charge system, let me know.-I was under the assumption the recall only covered up to the 05 models-some were replaced by p/o I was told-thats something I've wanted to do and just keep forgetting to do so-my stator and r/r took a shit last summer and all were replaced by PaulyI had the current battery in the bike in for about 3-4 months before the stator and r/r died so I'm wondering if that had a heavy hand in shortening the life of itI've seen more than one of the battery tender brand tenders smoke a battery. New batteries even. I've switched to the yuasa smart charger or something. It's worked well for over a year on multiple different bikes. I had heard/read this several times which is why I didn't keep it on the tender during riding season but only over winter. This year I should have kept it plugged in as there were often times I didn't touch the bike for 2-3 weeks. I have the ever popular deltran tender jrTrade you for a wrecked but running tl. I'll even spend the cash to get her road-worthy.for as big as a pain in the ass this bike has been, I wouldn't get rid of it unless someone offered me $10k or a real nice t-top car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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