complete loss of power?

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I've known of the problem for quite awhile but don't know what specifically fails. I've never pulled mine apart either (as I know how brittle they can be).

Once yours is apart, can you post a picture of what actually failed (ie broken pivot tabs, dirty contacts, loose soldier joints, etc)?

 

[FinalImpact]

I've known of the problem for quite awhile but don't know what specifically fails. I've never pulled mine apart either (as I know how brittle they can be).

Once yours is apart, can you post a picture of what actually failed (ie broken pivot tabs, dirty contacts, loose soldier joints, etc)?

Someone has picture on here somewhere. . . But never had mine apart either.

OP - is your bike out int the weather often and do you use solvents / degreasers to clean it? Simple green, agent orange, 409 etc

 

[charleso47]

I dont have a garage to keep it in but i do keep it covered. its a cheep walmart cover so moisture dose build up under it, but its minimal. got it in the garage and took it apart. first thing i checked was the kill switch.
sorry for the huge pics...

it was kind of a pain to get completely apart, but there was a little corrosion.
cant really tell here.

you can see a little here

nothing to serious tho. cleaned off what little was there and was testing while i had it still out of the housing. wouldnt start. what i think is happening is the black piece that the wire contacts are connected to is wiggling loose and separating from the contacts on the actual switch. held the black piece against the switch and it started right up. let go of it and it died. so i put it all back together making sure it was securely in the housing all the way and went for a little 30 min ride. so far so good, we will see over the next week if it acts up anymore tho. while i had it apart i went ahead and checked the battery cables (good), kickstand switch (good) wires running from the controls (good), and the air box (good).

 

[FinalImpact]

I dont have a garage to keep it in but i do keep it covered. its a cheep walmart cover so moisture dose build up under it, but its minimal. got it in the garage and took it apart. first thing i checked was the kill switch.
sorry for the huge pics...

nothing to serious tho. cleaned off what little was there and was testing while i had it still out of the housing. wouldnt start. what i think is happening is the black piece that the wire contacts are connected to is wiggling loose and separating from the contacts on the actual switch. held the black piece against the switch and it started right up. let go of it and it died. so i put it all back together making sure it was securely in the housing all the way and went for a little 30 min ride. so far so good, we will see over the next week if it acts up anymore tho. while i had it apart i went ahead and checked the battery cables (good), kickstand switch (good) wires running from the controls (good), and the air box (good).

Hopefully that's it! For future reference; It might not be a bad idea to see where the wires go. If that connector could be measured for resistance (likely under the tank and airbox) then you would know for certain if it's the problem. Is there any concern there is inadequate pressure to keep the switch against the contacts??

Also - I have never done this to my bike but; does someone know if the kill switch is latched? Meaning, once tripped does the ECM keep the engine killed until a key cycle or can you just flip it on an and life as we know it is restored!!! Reminds me of stamped mechanical hardware used to ground out the spark plug on older Briggs and Stratton engines and old dirt bikes with momentary contacts if it doesn't latch!

 

[Motogiro]

Hopefully that's it! For future reference; It might not be a bad idea to see where the wires go. If that connector could be measured for resistance (likely under the tank and airbox) then you would know for certain if it's the problem. Is there any concern there is inadequate pressure to keep the switch against the contacts??

Also - I have never done this to my bike but; does someone know if the kill switch is latched? Meaning, once tripped does the ECM keep the engine killed until a key cycle or can you just flip it on an and life as we know it is restored!!! Reminds me of stamped mechanical hardware used to ground out the spark plug on older Briggs and Stratton engines and old dirt bikes with momentary contacts if it doesn't latch!

Not latched. Open or closed. If you hit your kill switch and the bike dies while you're rolling, turning it on will fire everything back on.

 

[charleso47]

Not latched. Open or closed. If you hit your kill switch and the bike dies while you're rolling, turning it on with fire everything back on.

+1 that's basically whats been happening to me.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

So that contact has to be connected to complete the ignition circuit then?

I know on some Gen II FJR's (08 maybe?) they had a re-call for a bad soldier joint inside the ignition switch itself (didn't appear to be heated fully when assembled) and would work its way loose, the harness was also plastic tie wrapped too tight which didn't help...

 

[charleso47]

So that contact has to be connected to complete the ignition circuit then?

I know on some Gen II FJR's (08 maybe?) they had a re-call for a bad soldier joint inside the ignition switch itself (didn't appear to be heated fully when assembled) and would work its way loose, the harness was also plastic tie wrapped too tight which didn't help...

correct. when circuit is complete, switch is in run position. regarding the soldier joints, they looked and felt good to me. so you could eliminate the kill switch if one wanted to. just jump the 2 wires going to it.

 

[Motogiro]

If you look at a few of the circuits on the bike you'll find the kill switch provides the power for that circuit. For instance one circuit is the ignition coils. Positive voltage is provided from the kill switch to the positive lead on each coil primary. The negative side of the coil primary winding goes to the ECU which provides ground path for the coil.

I'm beginning to think every kill switch on the FZs should have an emergency bypass added to the wires so that if there is a failure you could flip the bypass and be on your way till you get your OEM kill switch repaired. Hmmmm

 

[FinalImpact]

Not latched. Open or closed. If you hit your kill switch and the bike dies while you're rolling, turning it on will fire everything back on.

Thanks Cliff! Good to know!

 

[ChevyFazer]

Hopefully that's it! For future reference; It might not be a bad idea to see where the wires go. If that connector could be measured for resistance (likely under the tank and airbox) then you would know for certain if it's the problem. Is there any concern there is inadequate pressure to keep the switch against the contacts??

Also - I have never done this to my bike but; does someone know if the kill switch is latched? Meaning, once tripped does the ECM keep the engine killed until a key cycle or can you just flip it on an and life as we know it is restored!!! Reminds me of stamped mechanical hardware used to ground out the spark plug on older Briggs and Stratton engines and old dirt bikes with momentary contacts if it doesn't latch!

I've done it before by accident and yup it will kill it in its tracks. We use to have "battles" on the 4 wheelers seeing who could hit the others kill switch 1st, not the brightest idea but very fun.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

If you look at a few of the circuits on the bike you'll find the kill switch provides the power for that circuit. For instance one circuit is the ignition coils. Positive voltage is provided from the kill switch to the positive lead on each coil primary. The negative side of the coil primary winding goes to the ECU which provides ground path for the coil.

I'm beginning to think every kill switch on the FZs should have an emergency bypass added to the wires so that if there is a failure you could flip the bypass and be on your way till you get your OEM kill switch repaired. Hmmmm

A guy on the FJR site made an emergency add on by pass switch for the bikes with the faulty ignition switches...

Re the FZ, the harness (and all the wires from the RS switch) go altogether down the RS of the frame and into the area below the battery box so it'd be a PIA on the road to un-plug and replug the hot wire assembly..

From everything I've read, when the switch fails, its a slow process, just as posted above, intermediate, giving you a heads up somethings wrong..

Now, if you wanted to tie in two leads into that harness and cap them off in an easily accesable area, it could be uncapped and tied together if need be... I think its more trouble than its worth, especially being total failure of the switch takes some time.

The FJR problem would kill the bike with no warning...

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

That right side switch assembly is available as an entire unit only at about $100.00.

Should mine fail and I can't fix it, it'll be hot wired...

 

[charleso47]

That right side switch assembly is available as an entire unit only at about $100.00.

Should mine fail and I can't fix it, it'll be hot wired...

wow... yep if this doesnt fix it, itll be hot wired or ill be junk yard diving.

 

[charleso47]

Logged ~400 miles and no signs of any problems. Thanks everyone for all the input.

 

[04fizzer]

Your bike should be covered under the recall, all 04's and 05's iirc. Call a Yamaha dealer to make sure.

Haven't gone through all the responses yet, but the TSB was for ALL 04's, but only about half of the 05's.

 

[Nelly]

I dont have a garage to keep it in but i do keep it covered. its a cheep walmart cover so moisture dose build up under it, but its minimal. got it in the garage and took it apart. first thing i checked was the kill switch.
sorry for the huge pics...

it was kind of a pain to get completely apart, but there was a little corrosion.
cant really tell here.

you can see a little here

nothing to serious tho. cleaned off what little was there and was testing while i had it still out of the housing. wouldnt start. what i think is happening is the black piece that the wire contacts are connected to is wiggling loose and separating from the contacts on the actual switch. held the black piece against the switch and it started right up. let go of it and it died. so i put it all back together making sure it was securely in the housing all the way and went for a little 30 min ride. so far so good, we will see over the next week if it acts up anymore tho. while i had it apart i went ahead and checked the battery cables (good), kickstand switch (good) wires running from the controls (good), and the air box (good).

Brilliant news, glad it's fixed and thanks for posting the resolution.

Nelly

 

[FinalImpact]

Can we put a final blurb in all closed cases???

\\Problem Solved\End Thread

 

[pookamatic]

Logged ~400 miles and no signs of any problems. Thanks everyone for all the input.

Here's a thanks to you from me, and a preemptive thanks from everyone your post will help in the future. I love the Internet.

 

[pookamatic]

Can we put a final blurb in all closed cases???

\\Problem Solved\End Thread

+1... Please edit the original thread so the subject says "Complete loss of power [SOLVED]".

And in the body, add a summary about the kill switch and a direct link to your answering post with the pictures.

Thanks!