Today I've decided to wash my R100GS (just the usual stuff, soapy water and a garden hose to wash everything away). After washing and drying it with a towel, I usually go for a short ride to finish it up. But not today, the bike wouldn't start. When I turn the key all the lights on the dash turn on, but when I press the button only a dry clac, clac, clac sound. Thinking the battery could be weak, I decided to give it jump start it with the car. Same behavior, clac, clac, clac. Here's my troubleshooting so far... 1.Battery. OK 2.Fuel is flowing. OK 3.Check for spark. FAILED. I've noticed a few cracks on both ignition wires and I'm about to order a new set, however, I doubt this is the cause because it is not the first time I wash the bike with those cracks on there wires. Besides it doens't look that deep anyway... :huh I'm dumb ass mechanically and I've run out of ideas of what to check. Any suggestions? Regards, Mane
I don't understand, are you saying the motor wont turn over, or it turns but wont start? If it just goes clack when you hit the button, your starter is bad.
define "battery ok" Then, ensure that the car isnt running when you try to jumpstart it.. i've heard thats bad for bike electrics. Probably is just water on something. Since this was yesterday, did you try it again with a dried out bike?
The common wisdom here is that it's "always the battery" Washing it makes me think cracked coil or bad plug wires. Drying it out is the first job.
Click, ckick click..after washing. How old is the battery? if fairly new, check the battery connections and the ground wire on the tranny. If you get the same "click, click" with a jump; tank off, starter cover off and check the big, fat wire to the starter..you're not getting electrons from the battery to solenoid somewhere..usually a ground wire or shorted battery. I"m leaning towards a bad ground. Also try unplugging and inserting the starter relay under the tank...the 5 pin relay.
Thank you for you help! I just came from work, and had not time yet to continue with the troubleshooting. But here's some answers anyway: 1.Hoping it was water somewhere, today in the morning before leaving for work I tried again, and the same thing happen. clac. 2.I assume the battery is ok, since the lights and horns works as expected. Not weak for sure. Besides if it was the battery is it would have started when I jump started with the car. right? (BTW. Yes, the car was running when I tried to jump start the bike..:eek1) Today I was going to check for continuity in the plug wires using my old electric multimeter but the battery is dead.. agaghg. I hope it is not the starter unit, I have just rode for it for 600 miles, since getting it a month ago, and don't want to begin pooring money at it so soon! :eek1 I'll keep you posted, thanks for your help. Regards, Mane
Follow the speedo cable into the tranny..that other wire on the nut is the ground wire..if there isn't another wire there..trace the ground wire from the negative battery terminal and see where the PO repositioned it. Wiggle both ends to see if the connection's loose...better yet,,,loosen the bolts,,,wiggle the wires and retighten.
The fact that the engine cranks fine with a jump from a car means the starter is probably okay. The fact that it isn't getting sparks after washing kinda points to bad wires, fouled plugs, cracked or otherwise bad coil, or the other few parts involved in producing sparks. If it were mine, I'd put fresh plugs in it (very cheap) and try jump starting it again, WITHOUT the car running. Then, if it starts, disconnect the jumper cables and get a voltmeter across the battery to verify the voltage climbs up to around 14 - 14.2 volts when the rpm is brought up to 3000. If it does. Shut it down and fully charge the battery with an external charger, and try it again without the jumpers. If it doesn't CRANK, go buy a battery. Just sayin'
UMM, does the engine turn over by hand? take of front cover put 6mm allen wrench in the alternator and turn clockwise. No turn? Pull out sparkplugs and try again. Turns, but water bubbles out of spark plug holes? Always check the basics first. clac clac clac will have have nothing to do with coil, wires etc. Probably still need them, but they won't fix clac clac clac
After some troubleshooting with a new "DIGITAL" multimeter this morning I've got the following readings from the battery. Could you help me interpret the results? 1.12.00 volts with the switch off 2.11.6 volts with the switch on 3. 5.4 volts with the switch on and pushing the button. :huh Is this the sign of a junk battery? I also tested the plug wires and turning the engine using the handle under the front cover, and both are working fine. As I wrote in my first post, I tried to jump start the bike using my car, and the behavior was exactly the same. Is the battery was at fault, jump starting, must have worked, right? Now do you think the battery is the culprit or is there somethings that I should check? regards, Mane regards, Mane
Similar situation happened to me last week at Eastern RDV with my R90/6. Wouldn't crank...just clak-clak-clak. Everything lit up fine. My kind neighbor in room 35 at the Stations Inn said that it may be hydrolock. Yes, gas had filled my cylinders (because I left the petcocks on the night before) and engine would not crank. Pulled bottom and top plugs (dual plugged heads) and gas came pouring out the bottom plug hole. Cranked over by hand and gas poured out the other cylinder. Let cylinders air out for a while, then cranked it up. Got a nice gunshot backfire, then ran perfectly the rest of day and back home (approx. 600+ miles). No problems since. I am going to rebuild/clean carbs (they are definitely overdue).
Verify acid level in each cell. Top up if needed with distilled water. 12.0v is too low. Fully charge the battery. Should be 12.5 min at rest, after charging and resting overnight. If less=new battery. Hook multimeter to batt terms. Hit starter button. How many volts while it makes the clackclackclack sound. 10.5 or better? Problem is starter relay or solinoid. Drops below 10.5v? (you got 5v, no wonder the clackclack) Either bad battery or foul solinoid eating excess amps. After starter test, watch batt volts. Should rise again to over 12.5 or =bad batt. New batteries tend to rise and rest at 12.7v after load testing. Less than 12.5v rebound means could have issues first cold morning in the fall. It's on it's last legs.
yup....I just had an issue with a bike that would charge to green with a bat tender...but would not start the bike. Turns out, batteries not only have voltage...but also capacity...I think it's called amps. Kind of like 10000v won't kill you.....but .005 amps will stop your heart.