battery problem ?

[FJRGLASman]

Yesterday, after returning from an awesome ride to Wawa Ontario, I was stopped at customs. After idling for 10 mins.,

fan running, I was asked to shut the bike off and show I.D When restarting, bike did not want to turn over, but did so...barely.

Both trip meters reset to zero, and clock also reset to different time. Westco battery is only 2 yrs. old, and gets plugged into an optimate 3

whenever parked. Datel normaly shows 14.1 immediately after starting, but this time only went to 13.9 (for about 3 miles) then did go to 14.1

Any thoughts ?

 

[kaitsdad]

When you shut it off, did you leave the ignition on to keep the fans running?

 

[FJRGLASman]

When you shut it off, did you leave the ignition on to keep the fans running?

No

 

[kaitsdad]

When you shut it off, did you leave the ignition on to keep the fans running?

No

The fans are a high draw item, and depend upon the battery to operate when the engine is at idle speed as the stator is not producing enough amperage to run the fans.

I suspect that the duration of time spent at idle with the fans running depleted the reserve of the battery, resulting in a low voltage situation upon restart. That's all I can think of.

You could test this theory by letting the bike idle until the fans kick on, then letting it idle for 10 minutes. Turn the bike off, then test the restart. You might also monitor the battery voltage with a meter while doing this, you'll actually be able to see the voltage slowly drop as the fans draw power.

 

[r1byker]

Well, my shot in the dark guess is that the bike is draining the battery at idle just to provide spark, lights, AND run the fan. I had an FJ1200 that, at idle, had dim headlights; when I got the rpms up over 2,000, the headlights would get noticeably brighter. Can any of you electrical gurus out there confirm this about the FJR?

 

[Ignacio]

Well, my shot in the dark guess is that the bike is draining the battery at idle just to provide spark, lights, AND run the fan. I had an FJ1200 that, at idle, had dim headlights; when I got the rpms up over 2,000, the headlights would get noticeably brighter. Can any of you electrical gurus out there confirm this about the FJR?

Sometimes older bikes run lights off a separate circuit from the charging system not through the battery and are more sensitive to alternator RPM. Don't know if the FJ was that way, but the FJR light isn't going to dim unless the battery voltage drops.

The only other thing I can think of is...it's that time of year that it's been warm and the first cold snap sulfates many batteries. When batteries go bad...it's more often this time of year. Doesn't explain the battery only being two years old though....unless it's been discharged before.

I'd go with Kaitsdad idea first though and monitor before considering a drop test.

 

[ionbeam]

Yesterday, after returning from an awesome ride to Wawa Ontario, I was stopped at customs. After idling for 10 mins.,fan running, I was asked to shut the bike off and show I.D When restarting, bike did not want to turn over, but did so...barely.

Both trip meters reset to zero, and clock also reset to different time. Westco battery is only 2 yrs. old, and gets plugged into an optimate 3

whenever parked. Datel normaly shows 14.1 immediately after starting, but this time only went to 13.9 (for about 3 miles) then did go to 14.1

Any thoughts ?

Yes FJRGLASman, what was the Datel reading when you were stopped and the fans were running?

Is your Datel reading battery voltage directly? If yes, and the reading is always above 12.6 volts, your charging system is doing its job and the problem is your battery. Just before EOM I burned up my Electorsport stator and one of the early symptoms was when the fan would kick on whle RPMs were below 2.0k and the battery voltage would drop below 12.2 volts. It was easy to see the charging system was not working with low voltages like that.

If your Datel (battery connected) always shows above 12.6 volts your problem is either a bad battery or a wire connection problem. Well, there is the outside .01% chance that you have a starter that fails when wicked hot. Bank on the battery first, wires second and charging system last. That is unless your charging system is aftermarket or you have made ‘changes’ to the charging system.

 

[C&C]

Heat soaked starting and charging system (all resistances goes up) and the rings are hot and at maximum compression leading to a heavy load for the starter to overcome. Check cable connections for clean/tight. I also believe that the battery, even new, is just barely adequate in size for the FJR. I think the combination of events led to your occurrence.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

Heat soaked starting and charging system (all resistances goes up) and the rings are hot and at maximum compression leading to a heavy load for the starter to overcome. Check cable connections for clean/tight. I also believe that the battery, even new, is just barely adequate in size for the FJR. I think the combination of events led to your occurrence.

I tend to agree with the above diagnosis. For no other reason than it just seems to fit. (not very technical, I know...)

I will say that when my FJR was new the battery was a lot "hotter" than it is now -- seems like it spun the motor way faster and the bike just fired-up instantly. Not quite so "hot" anymore.

 

[FJRGLASman]

Datel is wired direct to the battery. Didn't check voltage with fan running until today, and it read 13.8 Thanks to all for the help. BTW, I have the ESG130 installed Mark