Dampening my spirit

Just a quick quick question about damp

Last year my started killing the battery at random times during the more winter months. Everything looked fine, press starter and the dash dims and resets trip and clock

No problem over the summer then a little while ago as I rode it slightly less the problem recurs. As I’d had enough I changed the battery

Just to say my baby lives under a cover outside

So last week after a period of damp I take her out on the motorway to pick some bits up

Starts first time at home but on the way I notice the clocks dropping out momentarily a couple of times and the lights didn’t seem quite as bright as normal. Stopped the bike to pick the bits up and when I went to start it again it did it’s not even a sound from the starter solenoid and the clock and trip resets. Bump started it and got home with every once in a while the clocks dropping out but by the time I was home the lights seemed to be back up to full brightness.

Next day way dry with low humidity. Started first time no issues, checked battery voltage and charging voltage and both fine

That evening did 260 miles from Essex to Portsmouth on to Brighton then home to Essex and she was back to her reliable self and ran like an absolute peach.

I can only put this down to damp as this seems to be the only constant in when I have the issues so from other peoples experience does anyone have any pointers as to where to look first

Many thanks


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seems like an intermittent charging system fault. no Lucas parts, right ?

also, you could try cleaning sparkplug wires and coating them with silicone spray.

............ya live on an island, mate, water 360 degrees around and on all sides ---damp shouldn't be a ball-breaker in your grey weather.

 

Hi Chris.
You need to start fault finding with a known good battery first. Charge and remove the battery and have it load checked, your nearest Auto Spares shop should be able to do this for you OR if you have any doubts just replace the battery, always make sure battery terminals are clean and tight!

Check the state of the Three Yellow Wire connector that comes from the Alternator Stator output into the R/R, And the output connector from the R/R. Both of these suffer badly from overheating, burn up, and high resistance contacts potentially caused by moisture.

Also have a very close inspection of the two 30amp Main Fuses. Main Fuse A is located in the Starter Relay and Main Fuse B is located next to the Starter Relay. Again, check for any signs of heat stress of the fuses and associated wiring.

Check your charging voltage at the battery with both a cold and hot engine, at idle and 5000rpm you should see a voltage of around 13.8 to 14.5vdc.

Good Luck.

 

Don’t think it’s predominantly a charging fault (although last weeks ride seemed to have an element) engine runs fine but as the spark plug leads and caps are about 24 yrs old I’ve got new ones. Seems to be more of a damp issue allowing a short on the bike when the starter is pressed and would say the clocks dropping out was it shorting as well


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Battery and charging system checked and good in the dry (battery only a couple of weeks old and has been taken back and checked)

Will check and clean around stator connection and apply sealer also around main fuses

Do you know of any areas the looms are prone to rubbing that with water may cause a short? Especially on the starter motor circuit


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Any dead short in your wiring loom will most likely blow one of your sub fuses in the Fuse Box or one of the two Main 30amp Fuses. Fuses are there to protect your wiring NOT the devices hanging off the wiring.

The action of pressing your Starter Button is virtually putting a dead short on the battery, its the reason your starter motor cables from the Starter Relay are of very heavy gauge. The Starter Motor is a Series Motor and the initial current draw is extremely high. So if your battery is NOT healthy voltage drop will be high enough to reset your clock, and yes you might have an issue with the Starter Motor itself, however a battery with low capacity is generally the common cause of clock reset.
And as mentioned previously the state of the Main Fuses and wiring is critical. Check the red 4p plug at the Starter Relay make sure there are no signs of burning especially for the Red wire going to main fuse A on the Starter Relay

What "sealer" are you contemplating using around your main fuses??

 

How do you maintain your battery when not riding the bike? Plugged in to a Battery Tender? How long does it sit between rides? Have you checked the battery resting voltage just prior to starting it?

 

Generally put in a good ride every couple of weeks so don’t tend to put a maintenance charger on it. Current battery is sweet, has been tested and only a couple of weeks old


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Is this a standard lead-acid battery you're doing this with? If so, letting a bike sit for a "couple weeks" and the battery not tendered is a good way for battery voltage to drop and sulfation to set in. Contrary to lead-acid, a Lithium Ion battery can handle the voltage drop and be brought back fine. The local outfit I get powersports batteries from will not honor warranties on lead-acid batteries if they detect voltage was allowed to fall. They will honor the warranty on lithium-ion batteries even if brought in flat.

As others have mentioned, I would check main fuse holders and other connectors for signs of corrosion and heat damage.

 

What he said above...... Check the resting voltage after your two weeks. 12.5V is 50% discharged according to Yuasa, and sulphation will begin. Go buy a battery tender tomorrow.

 

Where did you get the new plug leads and caps? the caps have to be the Honda oem right?

 

both of those are still ok on my '86750 @ 36 years, not things that are likely to fail or need to be replaced

 

Yeah, SM is right. They are pretty damn resilient. Usually just trimming back a couple mms of lead (if a little discolored) and a new cap.

 

once i had to replace a plug wire that a squirrel nibbled the insulation off of.

 

Plug caps were second hand of a CB650R, only a couple of years old, v low mileage but most importantly same part number. Even came with coils and leads although coils were different


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I'll keep a lookout for a CB650R that's for breaking. Thanks

 

Further on from before, haven’t really done much investigation as lack of time Xmas etc
But
Went out on it a couple of nights ago and noticed the lights on the esp the lcd were a little dim and when I put the indicators on the dash dimmed more in time, shortly after the Fi light comes on. Tried turning off and checking the fault codes but clear. Now guaranteed to put up the light with no codes so today have checked charging voltage
Book says 14-14.8v @5000rpm with main beam on, I’m getting 13.5v so def got a charging issue which I’m guessing is putting the Fi light on. Am I right in thinking it’s likely to be the stator rather than reg/rec. it’s done 67500 miles and to the best of my knowledge it’s def had a reg/rec but not a stator


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test the AC output from the stator, and do the simple resistance tests--all in the manual-- before jumping to conclusions. testing the r/r is best done by substitution.

 

Went to do a couple more tests, took rear cowl off and could see overheating of the connector between the stator an reg/rec Managed to get it apart and it’s cooked so both on order


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Just because the connector is cooked doesn't necessarily mean the stator itself is finished. Clip out the connector and get the stator wiring back to clean wiring and do the AC output test again. I've direct connected a stator after disposing of a burnt connector and put thousands of miles on since then.