Electrical System Failure

[outasight20]

I was riding my bike on the state highway today as normal. Everything functioning just fine. Suddenly no power. Pull over and everything except tailight, brake light, signals, and horn is dead. No fuel pump whine, no starter motor, and nothing on dash illuminated.

It must have been my lucky day, because not 100 feet from where I pulled over, a very nice guy with a trailer offered to drive my bike the 20 miles back home. I couldn't thank him enough and didn't have any cash on me, so I will be paying this man a visit with a nice bottle of champagne in the near future.

Anyway, anyone have any idea what could be the problem? I'm going to check the fuses but won't have a chance to look at the bike until Tuesday or Wednesday. The guy said it could be the TPS, which I know has been a recall on this year bike and AFAIK hasn't been done on this one.


Any help greatly appreciated.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Red, kill switch failure on the right handle bar, not un-common for it to fail.

To by pass it (it won't kill the engine anymore), follow the two wires inside the throttle housing(3 screws of different lenths). You can just jump them together for now if you'd like, for testing purposes (don't ground them out, just connect/jump them together).

Bike should crank up and run normally.

For a permanent by pass, cut the wires off the switch, put them together, soldier, and heat shrink.. Re-assemble, done...

Here's a thread, specifically post #22: http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-electrical/48311-run-switch-faulty.html

Yamaha only sells the entire right handle bar switch for about $70.00 if you want it back to stock...

Please post how you make out..

BTW, A faulty TPS wouldn't do what your is doing but I would have it replaced under warranty if its due. The TPS failing is generally at idle: http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-...ou-experiencing-poor-idle-mileage-stalls.html

 

[FinalImpact]

^^ +1 one on the Kill Switch! I bet that's it and it was the First thing that comes to mind doing all the evil posted by Outasight....


Good luck and report back. tks

 

[outasight20]

Red, kill switch failure on the right handle bar, not un-common for it to fail.

To by pass it (it won't kill the engine anymore), follow the two wires inside the throttle housing(3 screws of different lenths). You can just jump them together for now if you'd like, for testing purposes (don't ground them out, just connect/jump them together).

Bike should crank up and run normally.

For a permanent by pass, cut the wires off the switch, put them together, soldier, and heat shrink.. Re-assemble, done...

Here's a thread, specifically post #22: http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-electrical/48311-run-switch-faulty.html

Yamaha only sells the entire right handle bar switch for about $70.00 if you want it back to stock...

Please post how you make out..

BTW, A faulty TPS wouldn't do what your is doing but I would have it replaced under warranty if its due. The TPS failing is generally at idle: http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-...ou-experiencing-poor-idle-mileage-stalls.html

Thanks for the reply Townsend. But I don't think it's the kill switch, as I'm not getting any illumination on the dash whatsoever. If the kill switch was faulty I would expect to still see my dash illuminate and gauges to function.

 

[elus1ve]

If it was the kill switch, wouldn't the dash stay on?

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Yes, the dash should still work. You may have two separate issues but just dying, no crank, no fuel pump, etc is typical kill switch failure.

IMHO, I would at least jump (two alligator clips with a short wire) FIRST and bypass the switch. Obviously, check the fuses...

 

[outasight20]

Got a chance to look at the fuses today. The 10A ignition fuse had blown. Replaced it and all is well and healthy again. Very happy right now

 

[FinalImpact]

So you were just humming along down the motorway and it blew a fuse???

No turning, bouncing, diving, steering sharp, and BAM blows a fuse? As a safety concern; that is alarming as you could be at a critical junction in life and have it repeat. I'd be up for inspecting everything on in the ignition circuit and try to find the root cause. Just sayin that's what I would do if it were mine.

Do you have the OEM FSM with the schematic. If not, you should grab it, About 14mb IIRC. If nothing else, bare minimum - spare fuses....

 

[FinalImpact]

FWIW:

The following items are powered by that 10A Ignition Fuse. And maybe something else but that's what I see. IMO the most likely candidate to take the fuse out is the fuel pump. If you have a current meter and could measure it, its likely the highest drain on that branch. But any wire compromised in manor so as to short to ground could take the fuse out.

10.Starting circuit cut-off relay

13.Fuel pump

21.ECU (engine control unit)
22.Injector #1
23.Injector #2
24.Injector #3
25.Injector #4

 

[Motogiro]

Got a chance to look at the fuses today. The 10A ignition fuse had blown. Replaced it and all is well and healthy again. Very happy right now

You'll want to inspect carefully because it's very rare that a fuse blows for no reason.

 

[outasight20]

FWIW:

The following items are powered by that 10A Ignition Fuse. And maybe something else but that's what I see. IMO the most likely candidate to take the fuse out is the fuel pump. If you have a current meter and could measure it, its likely the highest drain on that branch. But any wire compromised in manor so as to short to ground could take the fuse out.

10.Starting circuit cut-off relay

13.Fuel pump

21.ECU (engine control unit)
22.Injector #1
23.Injector #2
24.Injector #3
25.Injector #4

Interesting. Yeah I was cruising at a constant speed in 6th gear when the fuse blew. No sudden turning or acceleration. Now I'm worried the problem will repeat itself. If I check the current draw on the fuel pump, what sort of current am I looking for?

Also any recommendation as to how to go about checking all of these other components?

 

[FinalImpact]

Just curious, any rust in the fuel tank?
The pump and injectors are the primary load so I'd expect through fuse junction to be 5 amps. I'm not sure if the pump itself lists a current spec. In short im changing my mind and I'd start at the fuse so you have a baseline amp draw value before moving or tearing anything apart.
Example is if its drawing 9A at idle the pump, ecm or injectors are drawing too much. Why would be the next question.

 

[outasight20]

There was never any rust in the fuel tank. The fuse blew again several hundred miles after the last time. I luckily had the spare fuse and tools on me this time to keep chugging along. I have parked the bike until Friday when I will bring it in for service. I've never been one to pay someone else to fix my bike, but this type of electrical problem is just too much of a headache for me to handle myself. So mark this day, 30,000 miles into the life of my FZ6, and the first time it will be in the shop. I will report back what the culprit is. Dealer says it is most likely a short, but may also be fuel pump or injector failure.

 

[FIZZER6]

I'm curious, is there a fuel filter on this bike? I'm sure there is at least a fuel pump inlet screen. If it is the pump that is causing the blown fuses, did you happen to notice if you are low on fuel when the fuse blew? If the pump is not submerged in fuel it will run much hotter than it would with a full tank which will contribute to pulling more amps.

 

[outasight20]

I'm not sure if there is a fuel filter. I may try pulling the pump off and checking for one/inspecting it before I bring it in to the shop. Both times the fuse blew, I had plenty of fuel left.

 

[Motogiro]

I'm not sure if there is a fuel filter. I may try pulling the pump off and checking for one/inspecting it before I bring it in to the shop. Both times the fuse blew, I had plenty of fuel left.

If you had that severe a problem with the fuel pump because of the filter being jammed up I would think there would also be a fuel delivery problem and the engine would starve for fuel. Not saying it's not the fuel pump but not the first thing that come to my mind.

If it were my bike, and you know I like to track down gremlins, I would look for a chaffed wire at the frame or motor. Look at your harness going down from the steering. Check your harness moving the front from lock to lock. Is there any pinched area? Look at the sharpest kink on that harness and if you suspect shorted wires in that are open the sheath at those sharpest kinks and inspect the wires inside.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I'm curious, is there a fuel filter on this bike? I'm sure there is at least a fuel pump inlet screen. If it is the pump that is causing the blown fuses, did you happen to notice if you are low on fuel when the fuse blew? If the pump is not submerged in fuel it will run much hotter than it would with a full tank which will contribute to pulling more amps.

Yepper, inside the fuel pump:

 

[outasight20]

So I got the bike back from the shop. It turns out that a relay that I had installed for my heated grips was shorting out the ignition circuit. I probably would have found it if I looked harder but I really didn't want to bother. $200 lesson learned :banghead:

Thanks for all the advice and help in finding the culprit. It's good to know that this wasn't actually an electrical failure but more user error.

 

[FinalImpact]

Thanks for the follow up. Nice to know the system as a whole wasn't really at fault as it didn't add up.

 

[Nelly]

Thanks for the reply Townsend. But I don't think it's the kill switch, as I'm not getting any illumination on the dash whatsoever. If the kill switch was faulty I would expect to still see my dash illuminate and gauges to function.

When my kill switch went it also caused a few complete temporary shorts before failing altogether. I think it is likely to be the switch.
Nelly

[edit] Glad you got it fixed, teach me not to read the whole thread before posting lol,