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Strange rapid on/off starter issue


vuzzi

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I changed batteries today and now my bike has a strange starter issue: when i press the start button, the starter solenoid klicks very rapidly on, off, aboud 10 times per second, giving a machine gun like sound. Seems like when engaged the current goes off again through parhaps the starter relay, and when off, the current goes on again.

I already cheched the starter, which seems fine.

Anyone familiar with this issue, or has any ideas?

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Make sure you have reconnected all the earth leads to the battery and that none of the terminals on the end of the wires are damaged.

 

 

.

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The battery is an odessey pc545, coming steaght from an optimate 5 charger. After trying to start a few times, swapping relays, trying, taking out the starter, testing, puting it back, trying to start again, the voltage is now 12.5 V. I have experienced a low battery before and it usually couldnt get the starter going or giving just the solenoid klick.

 

I will at least swap batteries again tomorrow and see what happens...

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12.5 is certainly low, especially for a new PC545 (should be 12.84), but not so low as to fail to crank.

 

Check the voltage with the starter circuit engaged.

 

Otherwise, how did you "check the starter?"

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12.5 was after some atempts to start.

 

I tested the starter by connecting the ground to the starter housing, connecting the battery pos terminal to the starter engine pos, and then connecting the battery pos to the sollenoid connection on the starter

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Check the main ground cable from the battery to the right back of the gearbox behind the seat lock. Loosen it, clean and retighten to be certain your starter ground does not travel back through the loom.

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Rapid clicking is low voltage at the solenoid. 12.5 should be enough to crank it. Test for a voltage drop from battery positive to starter positive and battery negative to starter ground.

Do it while attempting to crank the engine. Rule out a faulty connection before you condemn the battery.

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It appears to be the battery. After checking all the wires, relays, starter end fuses, i switching batteries, and the problem was gone. Ofcourse switching batteries should have been the first thing to do, but i just didnt expect that from a new battery. I had the old one with low power,, but that gave totally different simptoms, like very slow cranking. Never experienced this before.

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Could be that you ruined your new battery by overtorquing the connectors. They're sensitive. That would explain why you get a rather high voltage but no current.

Or you bought an old shelf warmer. As good as they are, after 3 or 4 years on the shelf they definitely need a good charge before using them. But in that case the voltage wouldn't be 12.5

 

Hubert

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To produce over 12 volts a battery only needs the smallest surface area in all of its 6 cells, battery voltage is the sum of the cells which are in series. The ability to produce adequate amperage is based on the area of active material in each cell.  At initial key on our bike only requires about 10amps (that is a guess....) but when the starter is activated it will jump to 150amps (also a guess...). A damaged battery (not enough surface area) will quickly deplete the active areas, as the battery voltage drops the starter solenoid or will de-power, and the battery will quickly recover its active areas and the process repeats. Sulfation is the most common cause both in old and "new" batteries. The term new is always used relative to when we buy the battery, but should be relative to when it was produced.      

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Check the main ground cable from the battery to the right back of the gearbox behind the seat lock. Loosen it, clean and retighten to be certain your starter ground does not travel back through the loom.

 

This is very important, when you switched batteries you may have just pulled on the wire to give it a fresh ground connection.

Slow cranking is one symptom of a bad ground, soon followed by magic smoke.

The best way of testing a battery is measure the Voltage while cranking, you can also measure the voltage from Negative to the chassis while cranking to check the ground connection but it's just as easy to unscrew the seat lock and look.

 

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18366

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  • 2 months later...

I still owe you an update: as the voltage of the battery kept dropping even when not installed (down to 11,5 V), which is uncommon, and the lack of power, I returned the battery. It turned out to be bad indeed, and I got a new one send back in a few days. Problem solved, bike crankes as normal now

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