Stranded bike, need some advice
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Battery might be an issue now. After it was showing full charge I hooked it up and only got a click (just one). Grounds and connections feel pretty solid. I don't have a multimeter at the moment so not completely sure if its the solenoid or battery. I did take the battery out and put it back on the tender, it seems really strange that it is full charge then after trying to fire for a few seconds it shows as less than 80% charged.
Why would it drain so fast? Do I need to get a multimeter to check other options or just replace the battery? Its fairly new so that would kinda suck.
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That's one of the way batteries fail, they'll charge up and have the volts but no amps, no capacity.
Auto parts store can load test the battery for free, best that it's charged up. It should hold at least 200 amps for a few seconds.
A voltmeter is helpful to have for checking volts, ohms, and continuity, but it can't load test.
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Got the load test done a bit ago and the battery failed. (any reasons for this/how would I avoid it in the future, as its a relativley new battery) Anyway, a new one got hooked up and the sound changed from a single click to a rapid clicking. I figured it might be the solenoid, so I ordered a replacement. Got here today, installed it and the same rapid clicking. Guess that wasnt it, but now I have a spare...
got no clue what I'm looking at, where are problem areas to look? I've been trying to find some examples of this clicking.
got no clue what I'm looking at, where are problem areas to look? I've been trying to find some examples of this clicking.
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Rapid clicking is most likely a loose connection or the new battery is junk.
I would check the battery and starter connections. Have the battery load tested if the connections are good.
What voltage is the battery showing?
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DieHard, getting them at advance auto.
I'll check all that, get it load tested and if its done I can use the warranty
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Oops, I think I asked you that before, I've got the same battery from the same place on my ATV. It's still good though.
Looking like you got into a bad run from the factory. If this new one is sitting at 12.5v, take it back. My 10 year old AGM is still resting at 13.1v.
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I also recently put in a diehard from advanced auto and I’m starting to raise an eyebrow. I’ve said before that my meter I installed on the dash always read low with the bike off. The last battery I had lasted 4 yrs until it died a couple months back after a cold snap. The new battery read the same as the last, but the other day it didn’t start as I’d normally expect. I’m going to try it again tomorrow but I want to put a voltmeter directly on the battery first for sanity.
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Could be the starter motor drawing too many amps and needs rebuilt.
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So just a follow up on the Diehard, I pulled the seat and put the meter on it. Not thrilled with the reading, Last time I rode it was Thursday, so it hasn’t been sitting too long but it did get down into the 20’s the other night. Oddly it fired right up stone cold on the first try. So I’m debating on whether or not to return it yet. Of course the 2nd pic is the reading at idle
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Bring the engine up to 4k RPM and monitor the voltage. What does the meter read? Stay steady? Go up or down in voltage? 14.4v at idle seems high to me.
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When I ride it’s normally between 13.5 to 14.5 unless the fan kicks on. Ever since I had the new OEM stator put in my idle voltage readings have been stronger. It’s about 3 1/2 yrs since it was installed so I’m not too worried there. I’m just trying to decide if it’s worth taking this battery back. Like I said the bike started right up, I’ve read that AGM standing voltage can be a tick lower that LA batteries so I never thought about it much with the last battery, but this one has read even a little bit lower
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I read that AGMs carry a higher voltage. Last month mine still had 13.1 and my tender died a few years ago.
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I brought the battery back to Advanced today, so the guy threw it on the tester and it showed “good battery needs charging”, so he looked at me with the “whattya want me to do look”. I said it’s only been sitting a couple days. It should be holding a higher charge voltage etc etc, so he agreed to give it a full charge, monitor it, and call me back tomorrow.
I guess we’ll see at this point.
I guess we’ll see at this point.
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So just a quick follow up on this. They called and said “it looks good” so I took the battery home and I first hooked up my smart charger. The indicator light went to steady green(100%) in less than 5 min. The voltage was 12.49, I let it sit until yesterday untouched and it was still reading 12.46. The bike started right up and I rode for about an hour. I want to see how it reads in a few days sitting in the bike to see if I have some kind of drain.
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glad to hear it mmart, everything still ok?
I took mine to advanced too, had a similar situation except mine didn't have enough juice to power the load test machine, thought this was odd since it showed full charge on the tender then I tried one start (just a click) before going to the store.
They charged it up for me and said it passed a load test. Took it home, same click, so decided to try something Jerry suggested in another thread. Hooked up some jumper cables to a car battery (kept the car off) and tried the jump start, no dice. Then did his suggestion, grounded on the engine and tapped the red to the starter. According to him it should turn over if the battery is bad. It didn't, just some sparks and pops. So that makes me think somethings up with the starter.
I guess I'll try to clean the connection there, theres a lot of oil around it from draining the filter a while ago, but does my logic make sense? Could it be the starter?
I took mine to advanced too, had a similar situation except mine didn't have enough juice to power the load test machine, thought this was odd since it showed full charge on the tender then I tried one start (just a click) before going to the store.
They charged it up for me and said it passed a load test. Took it home, same click, so decided to try something Jerry suggested in another thread. Hooked up some jumper cables to a car battery (kept the car off) and tried the jump start, no dice. Then did his suggestion, grounded on the engine and tapped the red to the starter. According to him it should turn over if the battery is bad. It didn't, just some sparks and pops. So that makes me think somethings up with the starter.
I guess I'll try to clean the connection there, theres a lot of oil around it from draining the filter a while ago, but does my logic make sense? Could it be the starter?
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If you supplied power from the car battery to the starter it should have cranked. So I would be thinking the starter is probably bad.
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Yes, if the ground on the car battery is connected to the bike and you touch the positive cable to the starter terminal, it should crank.
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