nothing will turn on HELP!!!!

Vegaslife · 06-25-2009, 8:32 PM

been a while sense I've been on, So "Hi" to all. Heres my issue
I had to leave town for work for way to long. popped and replaced the starter relay switch before I left. knowing I was going to be gone for several weeks I took the batter off the bike and all was well... get home after a month of being gone. Feeling I should ignore the "honey to do" list and take the bike out for a much needed ride. I check the charge on the batter 12.1. Put the batter in slip the seat on turn the key and NOTHING no lights no dash no noises other than my heart sinking... Any Ideas? Please help, That "honey do" list is long...

jhaggerty73 · 06-25-2009, 9:32 PM

Could still be your battery. Check the connections again, make sure they're clean and tight, then the fuses.

How old is the battery? It could have 12 volts and no amps. Unless you have a battery tester with a load, it's hard to gauge the health of the battery with just a voltmeter.

watskooo · 06-26-2009, 4:37 AM

I would say it's either the battery or something to do with the starter switch you just changed out.

zerogara · 06-26-2009, 7:25 AM

If the battery is so weak that even LEDs at the dash don't go on use the same voltage meter (if it is the only thing you have) and measure voltage once it is plugged in and the switch to ON. Pull the plug off the headlight first as it is draining all the juice as soon as you turn the key.
If you see no voltage drop at all when you turn the switch on, no LEDs go on, then something else is wrong. To check the ground put the ground terminal of the V meter to any unpainted bolt on the frame, engine etc. Check voltage again. 0 V means you have no ground, 12V means you have a good ground at least.
If by any chance you connected the battery in reverse +/- -/+ severe damage may have occured to your electronics

By the way when my bike sits for days I pull the plug of the headlight, I start the bike up and let it warm up, then flip the high beam then push the plug in with one straight quick push to minimize burning up contacts.

Bigtoe · 06-26-2009, 8:36 AM

Put a Battery Tender on it for a few hours. Do some of the Honey Do list. Come back and ride!

Vegaslife · 06-26-2009, 5:10 PM

The battery is only six months old but it does sit for weeks at a time if not a month. So I'm trickle charging it while I get some of this to do list done. I let you know how it turns out...

Bigtoe · 06-27-2009, 9:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vegaslife

The battery is only six months old but it does sit for weeks at a time if not a month. So I'm trickle charging it while I get some of this to do list done. I let you know how it turns out...

Vegaslife · 06-28-2009, 3:03 AM

Well the lawn is mowed the dishes are done. Dogs been entertained. floors are swept and mopped. trash is by the curb. counters vaccum, etc, etc Now that, thats out of the way
I had a chance to get back to the bike tonight. trickle charged the battery for 17 hours till the light popped green. took it to Autozone to have it tested. They said it looks great (volts/amps). Brought it back to the house checked the terminals and the cables, all look good. checked the wiring as far as I could trace before my mind went numb and theres no frays, cuts, broken wires everything looked good there too. turn the key and still nothing... Any Ideas? is there a kill switch, sensor I may have blown unknowingly, something that needs to be reset after removing the battery?

zerogara · 06-28-2009, 7:06 AM

Obviously you skipped all messages other than the ones dealing with a discharged battery. If you have a common multimeter it has a resistance meter on measuring Ω (ohms) which can be used for continuity testing on wires and fuses. Have you checked all fuses yet?
Since nothing goes on it sounds like a main fuse. You have two, one on the battery cover, one on the left side of the subframe next to the starter relay. If you see two of them the one is a spare 30A. The circuit fuses are in a litle box behind the left lower fairing.

Vegaslife · 06-29-2009, 3:09 PM

Alright guys sorry for he delay, here we go Zerogara. So with the headlights taken out of the equation. The bike in the off position and the battery in, we have 12.9 voltage. key on we have 12.9 voltage. with the ground of the V-meter on a unpainted bolt we still get a 12.9 voltage with the key on and off. I did Check the position of battery and its hooked up right

. ( thank god that would have sucked ) Anyway on with the show. Checked all the circuit fuses under the left fairing, all look to be in good condition. I found the Main 30A fuse on the battery box it's in good shape. The 30A fuse next to the starter relay switch was blown so we swapped it with the spare (could that of blown when I put the new starter relay in)? Turn the key to on and we have dash LEDS. WOO HOO

now we're getting some where. Putting the headlights back in this equation to verify they are working and... yes, yes they do ( high and low ). Taking them back out so they don't drain the battery. As of now all lights are working. Although the fuel pump isn't turning on. Could the Starter Relay I just put in be the issue there?

watskooo · 06-29-2009, 4:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vegaslife

Could the Starter Relay I just put in be the issue there?

After the battery the next likely culprit is anything you worked on recently. Was it actually the starter relay or was it something like a signal/fan relay? Those relays are all pretty much the same, so you could try swapping one of those out to see if the one you just replaced was already bad.

Vegaslife · 07-12-2009, 7:45 PM

Ok guys Thanks again for all the help and support in trying to get me back on the road. Also sorry for the long wait on info. Just got back home in the last few days. So I replaced the Starter Relay again and the fuel pump turned on with no issues. so it looks like the first one was indeed bad to begin with. thats sucks at 90$ a pop. Bike still won't attempt to start when I hit the ignitions though. I tried checking the Kill switch to see if I was getting anything ( power ). It's a bit hard with all that rubber coating. but when I finally did get a reading on the volt meter I'm only getting .65 when I can hit a good spot. I plan on taking six or seven more readings to make sure I am getting good readings but I'm figuring that this will also need to be replace. Any one wanna take bets on if I'll need a new starter as well? lol.. lets hope not

Bigtoe · 07-13-2009, 1:28 PM

Well, if you have the fairings off and can TAP the starter with a hammer while someone pushes the starter button and it fires, you definitely need a starter.