Dunk, dunk, dunk!

[Stu-13]

Went to start the bike up this morning to go to work and all I get is a dunk, dunk ,dunk sound from the engine and the yellow triangle and the engine with a “!” in the middle symbol on the dash. So I take the normal approach and turn it off wait a bit turn it ignition back on. It goes through the normal cycle, looks fine, press the starter and sure enough dunk, dunk, dunk and nothing fires up.

Well I’m now down to a 60min estimated wait for the assistance wagon to rock up but in the mean time, are they likely to fix it or am I going to wave it good bye on the way to the dealer.

 

[Shep]

Sounds like you are suffering from the dead battery problem, you may be lucky and service tech may have spare with him, but its more likely that it will be a dealer job, bad luck.


Shep

 

[Stu-13]

Just as well I never made it to work as the original 90min wait has just been extended to 165min one. But at least there are sending a bike tech, although I can’t believe they weren’t going to in the beginning!

 

[Magwych]

But at least there are sending a bike tech..

Not wanting to pee on your fire, as it were, but believe that when (if) you see it !

On the 3 occasions I have had to rely on the Assist service I was told a bike techie was coming, but instead got a car technician.
On one occasion he did the sense to carry one spare part - the fuel pump relay...

What exactly is happening ? Does Dunk-dunk-dunk describe a bnike runnign but very badly i.e. on one cyclinder; or failing to even turn over and just clicking loudly ?

Your man shoud be there by now , so let us know what the prob was.

 

[Stu-13]

Well the nice chap from bmw, turned the key and it started first time! Which gave mixed emotions as I would have to wait for a low loader as the guy turned up in a estate car, but still wondering why it wouldn't start earlier.

The tech checked the battery, it's recharge and power drawn after switch off. It takes a while before the Cambus finally shuts and stops pulling power, so it sounds like I should have waited another ten mins before calling up! He finally put it down to the engine management getting confused, but did wait till I got changed and to see me off which was a nice touch.

 

[Stu-13]

Update

Update: this morning it happened again, at least it tried to turn over unlike Monday which just made the dunking noise. On the second attempt we are back to the dunk, dunk, yellow triangle and motor symbol.

Back on the phone to assist, this time quoted 45min, well they weren’t late at least. This time the tech didn’t witness an instant recovery, the battery seemed to be the culprit. This passed the last techs check over, and after a jump start as it did again! But as the fault was witness this time the tech seemed it want to investigate again, as after a few mins it fail to start the bike.

This test on the battery is only at 160A but a test at 180A (cold crank start) proved too much as it is higher than the test to check if you get a fresh battery. The test meter now deems the battery to need charging and will not be tested again until it’s topped up. Around we go again, the tech is pretty sure it’s the battery but isn’t allowed to change it without a printed fail ticket. The original battery just will not fail the test, but it will not start the bike either. After a chat he phoned his boss to cover his tail and switched the battery out for a new one, (yes he had one with him, which added to his frustration earlier).

Just to make sure it was correct solution he gave me his mobile number encase it turned out to be more than just the battery.

Job done, good tech, it’s just a shame it had to fail twice, using the bike a lot just hid the problem on Monday, yesterday’s day off gave it just enough time to fail again.