problems with battery !

[jasper]

Hi All
Over the last couple of weeks I have had numerous occasions when the battery has been flat in the morning. Will push start and charges on the run.
A visit to Cannons who suggested that the only other instance they had come across like this was due to a permanently wired Garmin 550 cradle.
I was wondering if anybody else has come across this, or can you think of anything else to look at.
Thank you for your indulgence, cheers.
Jasper

 

[jacro]

Have you any extras wired to the bike.

 

[jasper]

hi
Sorry should have said, its a 2010 gs, so no nothing else plugged in.

 

[jacro]

If its 2010, even if its outside 24 month warranty your local bm dealer should anaylise this and fix it for free.

 

[cookie]

the battery could be knackered

 

[Mad Mac]

Ask them to take a close look at the starter.....I had mine replaced under warranty due to a sticking solenoid that was draining the battery...

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

If its 2010, even if its outside 24 month warranty your local bm dealer should anaylise this and fix it for free.

Why would a dealer do anything for free if it's outside the manufacturers warranty period?

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

the battery could be knackered

Indeed it could ............. my GSA is just over 6 years old so I'm expecting the battery to fail any day now

 

[Beemerman59]

Indeed it could ............. my GSA is just over 6 years old so I'm expecting the battery to fail any day now

Mine's 4 1/2 years old ....I keep wondering whether I should change it because they do just suddenly go but its still showing 12.8v so going to keep going with it for a while yet.

 

[duckspeed]

the battery could be knackered

That was my first thought, and sometimes will show 12volts when tested, needs to be tested with modern equipment which will ping each cell. Quite common to develop internal mechanical faults early in their lives, often a result of vibration. Lots of Harley D's destroy batteries.

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Hi All
Over the last couple of weeks I have had numerous occasions when the battery has been flat in the morning. Will push start and charges on the run.
A visit to Cannons who suggested that the only other instance they had come across like this was due to a permanently wired Garmin 550 cradle.
I was wondering if anybody else has come across this, or can you think of anything else to look at.
Thank you for your indulgence, cheers.
Jasper

Is the Garmin wired straight to your battery or through the plug at the headstock If it's powered through the plug, the canbus will shut it down after a few seconds of turning the ignition off and there should be no problem.

I have heard of battery drain from 550's wired directly to the battery.

 

[jasper]

Thank you for your replies, sorry not to have answered sooner but have had to work !
Yes, is just out of warranty. When I checked the state of the battery when it was charged after a run it was showing well over 12 v. When I put a volt meter on it and switched on it dropped rapidly.
Cannons looked it over foc and it didn't happen with them. Battery seems to be holding a charge so will persevere with it for time being. Have unplugged the zumo cradle which seems to be wired into the loom, as for as I can tell and not directly off battery.
All assistance gratefully received, will keep an eye on it, especially the starter motor suggestion.
Many thanks
Jasper

 

[jacro]

Why would a dealer do anything for free if it's outside the manufacturers warranty period?

Its called good will. Ive had a couple of things fixed outside of warranty.

 

[AberdeenAngus]

Why would a dealer do anything for free if it's outside the manufacturers warranty period?

Because your manufacturers warranty does not affect your statutory rights.

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

Its called good will. Ive had a couple of things fixed outside of warranty.

I'm fully aware of what 'goodwill' is and it cuts both ways

Your comment of "If its 2010, even if its outside 24 month warranty your local bm dealer should anaylise this and fix it for free" is simply incorrect

If it's within the manufacturers 24 month warranty period then yes his local dealer should look at it 'subject to warranty' If it's outside the manufacturers 24month warranty period and doesn't have an extended warranty in place then by all means ask the dealer to look at it and if they find a problem then request that they submit a good will claim to BMW. But even then the diagnosis time may well be chargable and he will almost certainly be asked to sign a job card indicating that the diagnosis time may be chargable

The dealer has goodwill parameters in place that they can work to. Goodwill isn't an automatic right. The OP may not have bought the bike from his local dealer or ever had it serviced there. So as I said earlier. Why should 'they' do anything for free?

 

[Bedz]

I had a similar problem. I put a mutimeter on the battery which showed 12.6v when idle and it only dropped to 11.4 volts when hitting the starter. However there were not enough amps to turn the engine, just the clicking from the solenoid. With the bike started the mutimeter showed 14v as expected.

After being caught out at a petrol station more then once with the clicking solenoid, I decided enough was enough and bought an Odyssey PC535 battery (modified) from Motorworks.

No starting problems since.

 

[cookie]

you can't check a battery properly with just a multimeter.

 

[Bedz]

I have an optimate battery tester/charger which also showed the old battery to be ok. What is the best way to know if the battery is ready for changing apart from getting stuck with a bike that wont start?

 

[cookie]

i guess the optimate is just checking the voltage too. you need to use a proper battery tester that checks it under load.

models suitable for car batteries are available cheaply from places like machine mart. although not ideal for bike batteries (the scale is wrong), they work fine IME.