Hi all - Last Monday I replaced the shitty Xtreme battery with an Odyssey battery and on Friday, I re-routed both a new starter wire and the fuel lines on my '05 S4R. The bike ran fine on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday (ca. 150 miles for the three days).
Today, while on the freeway, it sputtered (momentarily shut off and on). Luckily, I managed to get off the freeway before the bike died. When I turned the key, the gauge needles swept, but when I pushed the starter, nothing; that, is the engine did not turn over. In addition, the small, yellow LED in the center of the gauge cluster (the one that blinks after the bike is shut off) went on.
After about a mile of pushing, it started and I rode it the last two blocks home.
It appears to be an electrical problem. I checked my starter wire and battery connections, but all are fine. I did have the ECU ground moved to the battery tray, so I moved this back to the aluminum holder for the ECU. Could this have been the problem?
What does the yellow light indicate?
Any ideas?
TIA,
Dave
The yellow light is the immobilizer light. It will blink when the bike is shut off and the key is removed, and continue to blink for the next 24 hours. If there is fault detected in the system, the immobilizer light and check engine light will illuminate on attempted start up. I'm not sure what the light will do on a stall. A bad computer ground could be the problem.
Does it run now, with the ground reattached to the normal spot?
Quote from: Speeddog on October 06, 2008, 04:36:24 PM
Does it run now, with the ground reattached to the normal spot?
Yup!! I just returned from a really nice evening ride. All is well. On the upside, I made the fascinating discovery that grounding to plastic is ineffective!! [roll] ;D
After lowering the rear of the battery tray to fit the (wider) Odyssey battery, I rotated the rear of the metal ECU holder upward by removing the bolt to the battery tray. (I did this to route the negative battery wire over the belt cover and under the ECU holder.) Without thinking, I secured the ECU ground to the battery tray and not back onto the ECU holder. So, the ground was effective as long as the ECU holder was resting on top of the bolt with which I had the ground secured. Normal engine vibrations broke the connection, and the bike shut down. Sure enough, the shop manual states that the yellow light indicates an ECU fault.
I knew it was something that I did, but I didn't remember right away repositioning the ECU ground. I remembered only after typing my original post, and then edited it. ;D
Anyhoo, thanks Speeddog and Howie!! [beer] [moto]
Dave, do you have any pics of the Odyssey battery? which model did you use?
Quote from: Capo on October 06, 2008, 08:46:40 PM
Dave, do you have any pics of the Odyssey battery? which model did you use?
I bought the Odyssey PC310 from Motowheels...here it is installed. Because the Odyssey is wider than the OEM or its replacements, I needed to lower the rear of the battery tray by replacing the two spacers with a few 1/4" washers (some spacers are needed to keep the battery tray from resting on the head). Oh, and it requires two 4mm bolts/screws for the connections.
(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d147/pompino/DSCN2122.jpg)
(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d147/pompino/DSCN2123.jpg)
You can definitely tell the Odyssey has greater cranking power...it turns the engine much faster than the last (POFS) battery I had.
Quote from: pompetta on October 07, 2008, 04:23:23 AM
...it turns the engine much faster than the last (POFS) battery I had.
[laugh] [laugh]
You're the only person I know that would stick that "F" in there.
Glad you got the problem solved. [thumbsup]