Electrical Problem that went away (lurking no doubt)

[JimLor]

Original post here: https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=120631

To recap: 2 miles from home engine died while sitting at a light -- gauges remained on -- engine started right up.

Later that day, engine died a few minutes after starting -- gauges remained on -- engine started right up.

Few minutes later I pulled over to answer the phone, turned the bike off -- turned the key and no electrical, nothing. Bike trucked home. Went on vacation 2 days later - repeatedly tried the bike and electrical never came on.

Nice vacation, bike sat for 8 days in the garage. Got home, unpacked, turned the key on the bike and all worked just fine. Repeated 50 times in 8 days and it was fine every time.

I have cleaned and greased (dielectric grease) the battery terminals, battery ground to the engine block, every connection under the tank, and a few others hanging around the sides. Didn't do any under the dash (those I could eyeball looked fine). Everything I looked at looked just fine. Kickstand switch works fine. Cutoff and windscreen switches work just fine. I just went for a 4.2 mile ride around the neighborhood (keeping the house always downhill!) and all worked just fine. I have two connections into bike power -1. BlueSea into the rear tailight for the relay (looked fine); and 2. Hella power from the headlights (looked fine).

Questions - If it throws a code does it come up or do you have to run the procedure to get it?

For you 12 pound brains, what the hell is wrong!?

I did talk with John at Blalocks in Warrenton - he suggested the cutoff switch but not much else. He said if it did it again, bring it in and they'd fix it -- frankly not helpful.

Thanks.

 

[user 213]

ignition switch.

The two halves aren't mating up at the contacts, or separating during the vibration of riding. Sometimes you cycle the switch and they mate correctly, sometimes they don't.

Try wiggling the angle of the key as you rotate the switch and see if you can duplicate the condition.

 

[Patriot]

I might suspect a bum ignition switch as they are problematic and recalled but mostly failed on Gen II's - '06 -> '08.

But some Gen I's with some miles on them can get dirty contacts and be a problem sometime during their life.

I know mine needed to be cycled twice to work once in a blue moon and some have had to click it on/off many, many times to bring it back to life because of dirt and corrosion. It can be sprayed liberally with contact cleaner to make it better, I believe.

You might first check all the battery connections & ground connections and plugs under the tank as some have found corrosion there that requires servicing - cleaning them up and using dialectric (silicone) grease to protect the metal contacts from the elements.

do some google searches like "electrical corossion site:fjrforum.com" ??????? site:fjrforum.com

there's the ignition switch recall, etc. https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=26098

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=7433

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=117660

Hope this helps,

Mike in Nawlins'