[StickyLizard]

Hello, I am new to the board, and the world of the RC51.
I just bought a 2001 with 4,900 miles and love it. I have put about 300 miles on it so far, and the tach has started act strange.

It will work fine for a day or two, then not work at all. Then out of the blue it start to work again.

The odd thing is, EVERY time when I turn the key on, it will sweep just fine? So, I think the panel is OK, but I am not sure what else could be bad?

Has anyone every seen this problem? Does anyone know where the RPM sensor is located? Or know what I can do to troubleshoot it?

Thanks,
Craig

[dB]

The needle sweep when you first power-on does indicate that the gauge is fine. A chip in the gauge cluster controls the sweep, but is sometimes not getting rpm info during normal running. My guess is that you've got a bad connection somewhere between the ECU and the gauge cluster. A wiring diagram would help identify the connectors/wires you should check first. I don't have any RC-specific experience.

BTW,

[sheepofblue]

The tach is driven by the ECM it looks like. The wires of interest are on the black plug under the seat on the ECM. green/black (-) and yellow/green (+). Looks like the green/black is pin 3 inthe top row and yellow/green pin 6 in the bottom row (not counting the empty slot) the empty slot and latch are on the bottom.

NOTE: The plug is different on '02 but the info is the same.

[StickyLizard]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the help. I will test those wires. I also, ordered a service manual last night. Again, Thanks for all the help.

I will let you know if I get it working.

Craig

[LDH]

There is a little rubber pad with electrical connectors running through it inside the dash board. It is not uncommon for this to get dirty & cause erratic motion or sometimes a block of LCD's to quit working. In this case you can take the dash apart, carefully bend the metal tabs holding the board in place & clean the area that the rubber pad seats to. Obviously this may or may not be your problem, but I have seen this before.

[StickyLizard]

Thanks for the info. I am waiting for my manual to show up, before I tear into the bike. After I check the wires, then I will goto the dash. Thanks for the info, I am somewhat glad to hear that someone else has seen this happen.

[dB]

Originally Posted by LDH

There is a little rubber pad with electrical connectors running through it inside the dash board. It is not uncommon for this to get dirty & cause erratic motion or sometimes a block of LCD's to quit working. In this case you can take the dash apart, carefully bend the metal tabs holding the board in place & clean the area that the rubber pad seats to. Obviously this may or may not be your problem, but I have seen this before.

Good stuff, LDH. I have experience with those types of "connectors" but didn't know there was one in the 929 cluster.

For anyone trying to clean this connector, I recommend a cotton swab wetted with isopropyl alcohol, then blow dry with air to make sure there are no fibers or particles left behind.

Edit: After thinking about it, I'm betting this connector is for the LCD only and isn't the actual cause of StickyLizard's missing RPM signal. Still good info, though.

[StickyLizard]

Hey Everyone....Thanks for the help. I checked all the wires, and they looked good, I then took the dash apart and used alcohol to clean the connector. The tach now works again!! :-)

Thanks for the posts.

[StickyLizard]

UPDATE:
Oh man...on the way work this morning the Tach stopped working again. I guess tongiht I am going to re-check all the wires, as well as the dash unit. Any other ideas?

[StickyLizard]

OK this is the last post I will make on this topic.....I fixed it. It has been 3 days and all is working great. I cleaned the connector again and the tach is good to go.

Thanks again for the information.