R1200GS Recent battery discharge recall

[Clive]

Bike was in for 30,000 mile service last Wednesday - had the battery discharge recall done at the same time (Software update).
Didn't use the bike after that until Sunday when I did approx 5 miles to pop to Tesco to get a gift to take on the Reading Toy run.
Started up ok in the meeting point car-park - while waiting to get out, the Red Triangle light came up with a battery symbol.
10 minutes (and a couple of miles) later - various displays - Rear Lightbulb fault shown (hadn't blown) then all display gone, then engine died - although dash display came back no power in battery to turn over engine.
Luckily only 1/2 mile push from home - left on trickle charge all afternoon - bike started fine - multimeter showed only 12.6 volts when at steady 3,000 prm (a little low?).
Left in garage today until Cooper's can check it out.

Anyway - I hadn't experienced any problems with battery/starting before update - co-incidence; I hope so

 

[GSmonkey]

If I remember, I measured a voltage of around 14.4V with the alternator charging. Your 12.6V does sound very low.

 

[Clive]

If I remember, I measured a voltage of around 14.4V with the alternator charging. Your 12.6V does sound very low.

Not being great at auto-electrickery - does anyone know if this is a symptom of a dying battery/alternator/something else ?

 

[GSmonkey]

12.6V is the open circuit voltage of the battery, so it would appear that for whatever reason your alternator is not charging, as this should give a voltage of between 13.5V-14.4V. It does sound as though when you were riding earlier, it was on battery power alone, hence the total discharge of the system.

Obvious things to check - alternator belt slipping, bad connection to alternator, bad earth connections. It could also be a shagged regulator.

 

[birdseye]

Not being great at auto-electrickery - does anyone know if this is a symptom of a dying battery/alternator/something else ?

Could be either a symptom of a dying battery taking lots of amps to charge up (or indeed something else on the bike taking lots of amps) or an alternator problem.

The alternator should charge at approx 14.5v and float at something around 13/13.5 when the battery is fully charged and there is no great demand.. What was the voltage with the engine not running at all?

 

[Clive]

What was the voltage with the engine not running at all?

12.2 V
Ignition on dropped to 11.8 V
Dropped to 9.8 V during starting
Then at tickover is 12.3 V

 

[The Nutter]

My alternator died when the bike was two months old (December 2004). Battery died two weeks ago. My dealer fitted a replacement battery with a 19AH rating. I hope that will be the end of my starting problems of late. I was told by the dealer that I was the first one that they knew of that had an alternator go on a 1200GS. Hope you get the bike back soon.

 

[Clive]

I was told by the dealer that I was the first one that they knew of that had an alternator go on a 1200GS.

Had a message today from the dealer that the alternator is faulty - ordering a new one from Germany

Can't say I've ever had an alternator go on anything before - do they generally die overnight or die gradually

 

[GrinningGSer]

Had a message today from the dealer that the alternator is faulty - ordering a new one from Germany

Can't say I've ever had an alternator go on anything before - do they generally die overnight or die gradually [/QUOTE

Any chance of water damage ?

 

[birdseye]

12.2 V
Ignition on dropped to 11.8 V
Dropped to 9.8 V during starting
Then at tickover is 12.3 V

Thats way down. Musnt be charging.


Sorry - just read the rest of the posts.

 

[jdt367]

My alternator died when the bike was two months old (December 2004). Battery died two weeks ago. My dealer fitted a replacement battery with a 19AH rating. I hope that will be the end of my starting problems of late. I was told by the dealer that I was the first one that they knew of that had an alternator go on a 1200GS. Hope you get the bike back soon.

Shane, I asked in the other thread but maybe you missed it, but you woudn't happen to have a model or part numbe for the battery they put in, would you?

 

[robp]

Rode mine 10 miles to work yesterday. Started ok for the trip home in the evening and half way home stopped for petrol. Bike wouldn't start afterwards - just solenoid clicking, although horn and lights seemed to work. Luckily for me there was a guy at the next pump (1150GS owner) who had a set of jump leads and we jump started the bike from his car. He told me that he has done 15000 miles on his 1150 without a single problem. This is the second time in 6 months that mine hasn't started - last time was a loose gear position indicator switch! Not impressed! Bike is going in next Tuesday to Rydale Cardiff for the battery charging recall to be loaded.

 

[TheJoker]

Just did my Windows Update too... can't tell much difference apart from that the peak at about 5000rpm seem so have disappeared... maybe I'll notice more soon... but the Scooter's fixed now so I'll be torturing that through the winter rather than the cute GS...

 

[jdt367]

I called my dealer's service manager here in the States today (Atlanta, GA), and asked him about 1) a 19 AH battery in the bike and 2) any software updates that have anything to do with the electrical system.

He said 1) he would LOVE to see how a 19 AH battery would fit in the bike and 2) that there are no software updates that he knows of that have anything to do with the electrical system.

He went on to say that everyone who has bought an R1200GS from this dealership has complained about problems starting cold, and that he, at this point, does not know of anything that can be done to cure it other than keep it on a trickle charger as often as possible.

If anyone has a 19 AH batter that they say will fit an R1200GS (Nutter), I'd love to share that part number with my dealer. And if anyone has anything specific they can tell me I can relay to my dealer about a software update for the bike, I'd like to hear more about that too.