:mad: HELP!! It's broke!

[Burfcontrol]

Had a major scare last night. Outside lane M-20, just outside Maidstone, heavy traffic, pi55in rain suddenly no power, no lights, nuffink! Complete powere failure, mechanical and electrical.
Engine turning under power from back wheel but not firing, nothing working on instrument panel, no indicators, hazards, temp or fuel gauge.
Managed to negotiate traffic and cruised onto hard shoulder (I was grateful for the dayglo green bib) where after a couple of minutes the electrics came back on. Still wouldn't start though.
Turned off lights and heated grips and radar detector, plenty of juice in battery, engine spinning freely but wouldn't start. Seemed as though as soon as it fired the electrics died for a split second, cos the fuel/temp gauge went blank.

My suspicion is water in the electrics. Never had this before and ridden all year round in far worse than experienced last night.

Any suggestions where to start, what to look for and how to cure? I'm a complete numpty when it comes to electrics (though I do have a nice multi meter ) so keep it simple please.

Bikes a 2000 1150GS, no ABS or servo. Didn't try it this morning, had an early start and didn't want to strain battery too much as it was bloody cold.

All suggestions and advice greatly appreciated.


Cheers Jim

 

[moo]

Had the exact same thing happen to a buddy of mine on a 991100gs.will give him a shout and get back to ya

 

[richie]

This sounds the same as mine. Took me a while to get to the bottom of the problem and it cut out three times before I got there. It sounds like the wiring from the ignition barrel to underneath the petrol tank. The wires start going after a while. 57Euros from the local shop and a fifteen minute job. Get yourself some zip ties and figure out a good way of fixing it so they don't break again.

Of course you'll have to check out to make sure I'm right and you can do this simply by fiddling around with the wires beneath the ignition. Let us know please.
Good luck

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

water in the electrics would onLy cause 1 or 2 circuits to go down.

What you've had is complete failure which points to the dreaded ignition switch loom failure or part of it.

this controls the main power in and out from the battery to the fusebox so could be the problem.

turn the bike on on the centrestand and pull the bars side to side and wiggle the loom about and hope something happens

Phil

 

[moo]

I just spoke to the buddy and he told me its a ongoing problem with gs,s its corrosion of the earth wire and gets worse as the corrosion travels
the earth wire runs frrom under the tank to the regulator
its a single black wire that runs into a sheath where its joined by a few other wires there is a section exposed and this is where he found the corrosion he cut back the sheath cleaned the wire and re sealed it
it solved the problem, the problem gets worse as the moisture travels down the sheath and causes more damage
the bmw guy said if the unit is damaged the cost for repair is 1300 euro (dont mean to scare you)
hope this is of some help if you have a manual it should be easy enough to find

 

[Madmountainman]

Bro-in-law had this on his 1150 a couple of years back. T'was the wiring into the ignition barrel had worked loose.

 

[Vern]

I agree, you're a complete numpty

 

[Burfcontrol]

I agree, you're a complete numpty

Thanks Vern, cheered me up no end.

And thanks to all others who've posted, I won't be able to do anything 'till the weekend but will start with the cheapest/easiest and work my way up from there.

Is there a reason why, with the electrics back on, the bugger still won't start? Does something need to be 'reset' after a complete electric failure?

Any more ideas, thoughts, general pi55 takes very welcome.

Cheers Jim

 

[The Mechanic]

I won't take the p*ss...

Theres always someone ready to take the pi and 2 ss's when a member has a problem, try these checks as a possible lead to a cure for your loss of electrical power.

Ensure that the bikes battery leads are secure and tight with no corrosion between the terminal and lead.

Check the wiring to the ignition/barrel/lock turn the key to the on position and gently wiggle the harness watching for any signs of power to the ignition lights etc.

Pull the plug lead off from one spark plug, fit another plug into the HT cap and place/position the plug so that the threaded portion is making a good earth, now try and spin the engine over (if it will) and see if a spark is visible across the plug gap (centre electrode to the earth electrode).

Remove the fuse box cover and inspect for any untoward signs, check all fuses to ensure that they actually make continuity (pass current) Ensure that the power laed into the fuse box is secure and tight to the fuse board.

By taking a heavy duty wire from the top battery feed on the starter motor and shorting to the lower power feed from the solenoid to the starter should produce a spinning of the starter motor. By careful operation it is possible to by-pass tha ignition and prove the fault is in the ignition barrel assembly. To do this you will need to run a wire from the battery to the small solenoid wire (ignition/start wire by-pass).... Incidently this wire can be used as an isolator to prevent 'pond life' from riding off on your trusty stead.....this additional feed wire should operats the starter with the pinion now engaged by the soleoid. If this works the fault is most probably in the ignition barrel.

Hope this is of use to you.

 

[Jeff H]

If I try to start my bike with the side stand down the fuel and temp gauges go out, and you mention the same symptoms, could it be the side stand switch has an intermitten fault - it seems the cheapest option in the process of elimination
Jeff

 

[moo]

NO THIS IS NORMAL

 

[Burfcontrol]

And the winner is...

First prize (provisionally) goes to Richie, Motomartin and Madmountain


Numpty of the Month goes to....little old me....for not remembering he was covered under BWM warranty...ho hum. (Vern was right all along!)

Had a BWM engineer come out this morning, chased all the wires and identified fault as ignition related, not certain if in loom from ignition switch or switch itself.
Bike is now at South London m/c for repair under warranty. I'll keep you posted on final outcome.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Jim

 

[richie]

Good news then as it won't cost much. But you don't care anyway as your still under warranty.

 

[Burfcontrol]

All better now.

Final verdict. The loom/ignition barrel connection.

This had failed, South London M'c replaced the loom section from ignition barrel and everything's good as new. Bike delivered back home Monday evening, all under warranty, excellent service.

Thanks again to all who contributed. Yes.....even Vern.



Cheers Jim

 

[Burfcontrol]

Mechanic

Sorry mate, forgot to add this bit.
When the BM* engineer did his thing he pretty much followed your suggestions step by step, in the same order. It wasn't you was it?

I've read your threads with interest in the past, this is the first time I've needed to act on your advice. Re assuring to know that although I had the work done under warranty you were spot on with your comments. Nice approach of troubleshooting rather than one shot diagnosis.

Good to know there's such a great pool of knowledge and experience to draw on on this site - those who've had the same problem and can tell you exactly what to do, those who know how to fault find, those who just plain want to help, and those who keep you sane by looking at things from a 'different angle'.

There now...group hug....aaaahhhhhh.

Jim