Dead GS

[Jon T]

As I mentioned in another thread, my GS has pegged it. My 3yr old Motobatt was down to about 3V on Wednesday morning, after last being used about a week before. I charged the battery overnight with an old-fashioned Halfords charger & it was up to 14V, but connecting it up again, wierdly, the lights came on with the bike switched off. I switched it off then on again, the warning lights went thru' their usual check but the yellow triangle stayed on, along with the engine warning light. The bike won't even try to start, although the battery is giving about 12.5V with the lights on, 12.7V without. I checked the battery yesterday, it seems to have held up reasonably at about 12.5V, so I'm thinking some black box somewhere has gone south. Is this as far as the average bloke can go before wheeling it off to the dealer? I reckon my bike has already had the fuel pump controller issue sorted (which had different symptoms to this when it pegged it), and I'm pretty sure the immobiliser ring ariel issue is not applicable to my bike (an '06 R1200GS), mine either having had the fix already or being slightly too new to have had the issue.

Great bikes though these undoubtedly are, it's a shame the electronics aren't a bit more robust. When it packed up on Wednesday it was a 40 year-old, single carb, kickstart-only Triumph that got me to work. Maybe I should be dusting off the old air-head...

 

[DrFarkoff]

It is worth remembering that you may have Volts BUT you may NOT have Amps

I don;t know what your bike is doing but with the susceptibility of the 1200 Electronics to voltage and current surges I would most definitely take the battery to a Motor factors or a Battery specialist and get it tested!

£30 ~40 for a battery Much cheaper than a blown ECU and all the hassle that goes with it

 

[Jon T]

Ah, I see. Though the lights light brightly, pressing the starter button has no effect - no clicking like on an older BMW with an iffy battery. Does the ECU do some kind of check to see if the battery has enough amps to do the job? If it's the battery, wouldn't the battery warning light be on instead? As it is, it's the yellow triangle & engine management light that are on...

I have a battery booster - if there's a chance that it's the battery at fault, could I use that to simulate a jump-start?

Thanks for your help.

 

[autogs]

ignition switch electrical contact at bottom of ignition barrel?

 

[DrFarkoff]

First Check that the terminals are nice and tight before you do anything else

I really Dislike Battery boosters as the current surge is VERY harmful to electronic components

What you are better off doing is to use a pair of jump leads to a car that is running

N.B. Battery Positive to Battery Positive BUT for the negative connection use a metal part of the engine, chassis or gearbox in the car and on the bike to protect them from surge or a possible short circuited battery

Let the car sit and run whilst connected for about 5 mins and then switch on the ignition and try the starter

As long as you have half decent jump leads it should work fine

If it doesn't then disconnect the negative and get the starter motor checked

 

[autogs]

lights came on with ignition off,ignition switch

 

[birdseye]

suggest you try starting the bike with a decent car battery connected in parallel to the bikes battery. if it is still dead after that then the issue isnt the battery but something in the electronics. that said make sure all connections are good clean and tight.

 

[flatdog]

First Check that the terminals are nice and tight before you do anything else

I really Dislike Battery boosters as the current surge is VERY harmful to electronic components

What you are better off doing is to use a pair of jump leads to a car that is running

N.B. Battery Positive to Battery Positive BUT for the negative connection use a metal part of the engine, chassis or gearbox in the car and on the bike to protect them from surge or a possible short circuited battery

Let the car sit and run whilst connected for about ......d

I don't think it's recommended to jump off a running car. Apparently it's worse than using boosters ??

 

[Jon T]

autogs has a good point... as the lights were on with the ignition switched off, maybe the switch is flakey? Can a good blast of contact cleaner down the key 'ole followed by some vigorous on-off action do any harm (battery disconnected, I guess)?

 

[Roymondo]

I don't think there's any direct route from keyhole to contacts (which live in a separate switch body under the lock mechanism).

 

[DrFarkoff]

I don't think it's recommended to jump off a running car. Apparently it's worse than using boosters ??

Sorry to Disagree about that

If you use the battery to battery positive but ONLY connect the negative by using the frame / chassis engine earth (negative) and not battery negatives on both vehicles it significantly reduces current surge

Also running the system for a few minutes with the bike ignition off accumulates charge in your bike battery (if its at all capable of holding it? ) and reduces the amount of current/voltage surge when you switch on the ignition

You will find many modern vehicles have earth points in the engine bay

Well lets say I am happy to start my 1200GS like this for test purposes or if I left the parking lights on BUT I will definitely not run it with a duff battery

the whole charging a duff battery thing is really detrimental to the electronics

 

[autogs]

electical switch is seperate from barrel,new one should see you right

 

[Bendy toy]

I would never jump lead off a running engine because the vehicles are not fully protected from the electrical noise created by a starter motor. Sensitive stuff is normally switched out when the starter is running, but that wont happen when jump leads to a dead car/bike are used.

If the bike wont start with a car battery attached there is something very wrong either with the bike battery (solid internal short) or the starter motor. Running the donor engine wont make a significant difference to the available starter current so why risk damage to it's electrics.

I've also read that running the donor engine can damage a bike's generator regulator but I have no idea why that should be. Its designed to cope with its own starter surges etc.