HELP!! broke down

OK, this morning I went to leave for work and when I keyed on the bike the FI light didn't come on and it didn't make any sound. I tried to crank and nothing. I started messing with everything, flipped the kill switch on/off a few times and the FI light and pump intermittently turned on and off. I kept screwing with it and it finally lit up and primed and then I was able to start it. I chaulked it up to maybe moisture in the kill switch. I come to work (45 min ride) and about an hour later go to leave. Now the FI light and pump won't come on at all and the bike won't crank. I have screwed with the kill switch for about 20 minutes and it's not making any difference now. Any ideas guys? If I don't get it running by 5pm, I'll have to figure out how to get home and then all the way back with a trailer. :uncomfortableness:

 

Just to add.....A few times on my way to work when I was stopped at a light I kept thinking I smelled something funny. It didn't really smell like something burning, but now I'm wondering if it was??

 

Try bump starting by putting in 2nd gear and push the bike to a running pace and pop the clutch. It's not perfect but that might get you home so that you can troubleshoot further.

 

Side stand, clutch lever switch may be? Or something like that?

 

Check the terminal on the battery and try to clean the kill switch on the kick stand. Sometime the grease and lube deposite on the switch.

 

I'm guessing it's the battery.
I recently rode 300 miles on a Sunday and it ran totally fine, and when I got home, I noticed a funny smell also. I remember thinking maybe the car next to me was losing his cat converter.

The next morning the bike wouldn't start, or even turn over.
The dash lights were doing funny things, and a relay under the side panel was ticking continuously when the key was on.

Everyone here told me to charge and then load test the battery.
I put it on a trickle charger and it came up to capacity, but the bike still wouldn't start.
I tried jumper cables. No go. That proved to me it was not a battery problem... (more on that shortly)

I did NOT load test the battery.

I thought I was smarter than that and had ruled that out.
I started replacing relays and chasing the fuel pump, all kinds of other issues. The bike didn't run for several weeks.

Finally a friend heard the clicking relay and put his battery jump box on it... and it fired right up.
I ordered a $33 battery on ebay shipped out of California, and 4 days later I was riding again.

What did I learn?? Two things:
1. Go through the troubleshooting steps without skipping anything. Don't take shortcuts.
2. Jumper cables have 12v on one side of the clamp, and zero volts on the other side.

If you look at this picture, you'll see only one side of the jaws have power. There is no jumper to the other side.
If it's not getting a good connection on the 12v side of the cable, you're not going anywhere.
(I can't imagine how I have lived for 59 years without ever realizing that)

 

Battery is fine. Bike turns over great....just won't fire. No FI light or sound when you key it on.

 

It sounds like the kill switch since you said you were able to fiddle with it before and get fi, pump on before. It seems to be a common vfr issue. At least on the fifth gens for sure. The smell was probably the internals of the switch melting. Unfortunately, I'm at work and don't have the wiring schematic to tell you how to test/bypass the kill switch.

 

Check the fuse and wire right next to the battery. Not the fuse on the starter solenoid but the other one to the right of the battery when you stand on the left side of the bike. I just replaced the the short wire leading to that fuse a few weeks ago. It was red and burned black due to bad connection to that single connector. When I had this fuse out the lights and dash would light up but the FI and ignition did not come on. I also have a 2007 RWB! I am curious to see if you have the same issue.

 

Take a look at your jumper cable again. You may be surprised to see you have twelve volts on both sides of that clamp. While the the cable is only connected to one side of the clamp the inside of the clamps are usually metal. The steel spring and metal hinge pin that contacts both sides of ths clamp will usually carry the power to the other side of the clamp. If the clamps are made of plastic then you may not have power on the other side.

 

OK....just wanted to give everyone an update. Had a buddy drive to my office with tools and a meter about 4:30. I walked out and he said show me what it's doing. Keyed it on, FI light came on, pump came on and it fired right up. :confusion: After some choice words, I turned if off and back on a few times and it never missed a beat. Took my buddies tools and meter, put them in a plastic bag and strapped them to the back to be safe because I had numerous stops to make last night before I went home. Made 6 stops between leaving work at 5pm and getting home at 9pm. It cranked perfect every freaking time, as well as this morning. It got rained on a good bit the day before the problems, so maybe water got in something and was causing my problems??? At any rate, I don't fully trust it but I'm going to let it ride and see what happens. Thanks to everyone for chipping in with ideas, I thought I was going to be stranded at work yesterday. LOL

 

Glad she is back to life :thumbsup:
Might want to go over all the connectors and battery terminal just to be sure.

 

Check the main ground from the battery at the engine case and the main wiring harness ground to the frame. Without grounds nothing will work.

 

Let us know if ya find anything...Grey..love the Marty Feldman drawing...young frankinstien

 

The Honda God of Reliability is toying with you.

 

Two things that would cause this to occur (both of which have plagued my 2007 25th Anniversary VFR) are:

1. If the clutch lever gets bent (it hits something, the bike falls, or such) then it won't fully depress the safety switch even though you have pulled the clutch all the way in. As a result, the bike won't start. Either remove the clutch lever and straighten it -or- install a new clutch lever.

2. There is a switch on the side kickstand that prevents the bike from starting/running when the kickstand is down. If the switch is bad (its subjected to lots of road debris, dirt/grime, water during rain storms, etc.) or if it is not being properly activated (similar to the clutch switch) then the bike won't start.

 

I thought the kickstand switch only kept the bike from running when it is in gear?

 

it's a short between battery and key. plain and simple. are your headlights turning on? if not, you have a loose connection at the battery most likely, if you have headlights and no FI and no pump, they ignition switch isn't sending power to the bike in the "on" start at the batter and check every connection on the way up, inspect the wiring for burnt sections. no bad connections, no burnt sections, it's probably the ignition switch it self. get a FSM and a test light and find out where the power for the fuel pump comes from and start testing that circut.

 

He said the bike cranked so that would seem to rule out the connection at the battery, the starter would have the most amp draw by far. My guess ( like others) is the kill switch is getting wonky since after he diddled with it the bike started on that first incident.
John

 

not nessesarly, If the connection at the battery was weak i could have made enough contact for one start then jossled loose after that. I see it in cars all the time. I'm sure the battery has enough of a charge, but not enough of a connection.

Problems that work one minute and not the next are almost always traceble back to wiring connections.