She won't start

mongol777

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She won't start

Came to office today, shut off bike using kill switch so fan can cool it.
While cooling - dash went blank. I saw it happened before - turn blinkers, fan, etc is fine but dash is blank. First time it happened it was ignition fuse.
So I went to my office, dropped of my gear and went back to replace the fuse.
All fuses checked out fine and I decided to try it again - dash is now on, I hear fuel pump, no warning indicators but bike won't start - see video:
fz6 won't start - YouTube
Battery is fresh - installed about a month ago, bike is ridden daily rain or shine. First time ignition fuse was blown about 2 months ago - I actually dropped it off at Yamaha shop and they told me that it is likely because grip warmers were wired to ignition. So I removed them completely, bought new ones and wired them properly to the headlight.
I think I'll be able to bump start to get home but would like to know what is going on.
 

greg

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if the fuse has blown before then it probably indicates some underlying problem (maybe something drawing too much power, or a short circuit)
 

mongol777

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if the fuse has blown before then it probably indicates some underlying problem (maybe something drawing too much power, or a short circuit)

Fuse looked OK this time and as couple of my friends pointed out - it is likely battery. Dash likely went blank because fan is big power drawer. What else can be drawing power?
 

ChevyFazer

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That clicking sounds like the same noise thy make when the battery is dead or low. But if you are %100 sure the battery is good then it has to be in the starter circuit, maybe the solenoid.
 

Motogiro

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Your battery is dead.....Why it's dead is going to be what you want to find out. :D Or you have a very very poor connection at the battery.

Check your connections at the battery.

Notice how the voltage dumps when you activate the starter. As soon as there is a load the instrument cluster readout goes until there is not enough current to run the starter relay.
If you jump start the bike from a car make sure the motor on the car is turned off and not running.
 
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dpaul007

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Looks like it's not getting enough juice from the battery. Are your accessories turned off? Or do they come on with the key? Also, double check the connections to the battery to see if they are loose. The guy I bought my bike from installed the battery when I bought it, about a month later the bolts/nuts rattled loose, causing some issues similar to this.
 

Maverick

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I would suspect the battery... you will need to find out why it went down if it's only a month old- short, loose connection at the starter, or bad alternator.
 

mongol777

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OK, now I need to find out why my battery died so soon :)
I will not jump start from the car - I'll just put it in second and do fast duck walking :D
Connections should be solid - I check them every month or so but will double check again.
 

mongol777

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Looks like it's not getting enough juice from the battery. Are your accessories turned off? Or do they come on with the key? Also, double check the connections to the battery to see if they are loose. The guy I bought my bike from installed the battery when I bought it, about a month later the bolts/nuts rattled loose, causing some issues similar to this.

Yep, all accessories are off with the key. I don't have many - R&G grip warmers and PCIII
 

04fizzer

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For starters, there's no advantage to leaving the bike turned on after shutting it off. All you're doing is killing your battery, so stop doing that. You may notice your battery lasts longer.
 

mongol777

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For starters, there's no advantage to leaving the bike turned on after shutting it off. All you're doing is killing your battery, so stop doing that. You may notice your battery lasts longer.
Well, I used to do just that but doesn't manual state to leave key in "ON" position while fan completes the cooling? My buddy's VFR had same feature and it was fine for years and years.
 

ste

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if you are hearing a clicking sound
it may be regulator based problems that you are having
i had a yamaha majesty 125 a long time ago
and the electrical system was useless
id been around most garages in my area to be told its the battery, then told its the alternator.

but i think it sounds like the regulator
check around the image below with a testing kit and make sure it has good connections
 

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04fizzer

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Well, I used to do just that but doesn't manual state to leave key in "ON" position while fan completes the cooling? My buddy's VFR had same feature and it was fine for years and years.

All that would do is cool what's in the radiator. There's really no point to it.
 

mongol777

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All that would do is cool what's in the radiator. There's really no point to it.

Got it - makes sense. But why would Yamaha put such feature in the bike? If rad is too hot when u start the bike - it would just turn on the fan, right? So why it needs to be cooled down after bike is shut off?
 

mongol777

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if you are hearing a clicking sound
it may be regulator based problems that you are having
i had a yamaha majesty 125 a long time ago
and the electrical system was useless
id been around most garages in my area to be told its the battery, then told its the alternator.

but i think it sounds like the regulator
check around the image below with a testing kit and make sure it has good connections

Will do - thanks!
 

04fizzer

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Got it - makes sense. But why would Yamaha put such feature in the bike? If rad is too hot when u start the bike - it would just turn on the fan, right? So why it needs to be cooled down after bike is shut off?

Nowhere in the manual (at least for the 2004) does it say it's necessary to leave the bike on to let the fan run.

The fan runs because the key is on and the coolant is hot. It's just the way it works. It's not doing anything for you other than running your battery down.
 

ste

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also 1 last thing check that you are not leaving the parking lights on, if you are using the steering lock
 

mongol777

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Nowhere in the manual (at least for the 2004) does it say it's necessary to leave the bike on to let the fan run.

The fan runs because the key is on and the coolant is hot. It's just the way it works. It's not doing anything for you other than running your battery down.

You are correct - just checked my owners and service manual. Will not do it anymore!
 
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