No Start, no Lights

[rbennett2082]

All

While riding home yesterday my bike died and will not restart also, no lights come on, no fuel pump sound, no indicator lights on cluster nothing it's the bike has no battery in it. Here's what I have checked so far and or replaced/fixed.

New Battery in March, ground cable connections although tight I removed, cleaned and re tightened, battery terminals clean and tight, all fuses intact and contacts cleaned, ignition switch checked tested with meter power in/power out with normal operation, power to ignition switch confirmed, power to starter, tip over sensor removed and lightly shaken to verify internal ball has free movement and reinstalled. Battery put on charger, charger showing full charge. Haven't had a chance to mess with it anymore this morning but bike still won't start.
I'm at the end of what I can think of to check. Any ideas, or help would be great.

 

[user_deleted]

remove fuse box lid...locate schematic on the lid....it shows the key switch relay location. find it and swap it with the accessory relay. now turn on key and red-run switch and see if it comes to life. if so let me know and will walk you thru the rest of the procedure to resolve your problem.

 

[rbennett2082]

Lunatic
Sorry forgot to mention, I did the relay swap with a new spare I have and no change. I actually did the swap with each relay last night one at a time to rule out a possible relay issue.

 

[TPEHAK]

Does ignition relay make a click sound when you turn ignition key? If not there is broken wire between ignition relay and ground, or between ignition relay and key switch.

 

[rbennett2082]

Tpehak

I have no click sounds from the relay center. Here is what I can tell you. Last night when I got home I threw the charger on the bike, tested for voltage the fuse center had 10.?? volts as battery was discharged, I could track that voltage from the battery to the starter, the ignition switch in and out, had voltage and the inner side of the fuse panel when key is off. When key is turned to on position power is lost at inner side of fuse panel. Now being the responsible person I am i came to work today instead of playing hooky and working on the bike. Called the wife had her check the battery that has been on charge all night and this morning (2amp only) the battery is reading 10.45 volts. Knowing what I know about 12 volt batteries full charge is 12.6 volts, 12 volt battery with bad cell 10.4 volt. So I am leaning towards a crap battery and will do more battery testing tonight when I return home. Will remove battery and run jumpers to the jeep.

 

[user_deleted]

you just did a nice job of trouble-shooting and describing the problem: it's a battery with a dead cell. no amount of charging will fix it.....often times even jump starting won't work....and though it may now show 10 volts DC and change as soon as even the slightest load is placed upon it the volts drop to near 0. replace it. consider the link below if your 2 month old battery isn't being warrantied by the seller. best deal on best battery i've ever used. betting yours is evilbay/crap-mart chinese POS?????


https://www.ebay.com/itm/AUTHENTIC-...817959&hash=item43fe263c2c:g:un4AAOSwvg9XasBd

 

[rbennett2082]

Lunatic

Your reply matches my testing. Had the wife flip the key while she was giving me the voltage reading over the phone and it dropped to 1.3 volts then ZERO. Will confirm tonight when I disconnect the bike battery and jumper in my Jeep's battery, if the jeep battery fixes the problem then I will follow your link to the Deka unit. Not a fan of the aftermarket style nut and bolt battery terminal setup any way and not gonna replace a battery every couple months. Considering the current one caused a 36 block walk home while pushing the bike. As always the community has helped another fellow rider and I am ever so thankful. Will update after final testing tonight.

 

[njloco]

That is a good deal, I might have to buy one for the SS, since I don't know the age of the battery.

Thanks John !

 

[user_deleted]

my pleasure. and you're quite welcome kenny. a "dead cell" is a series of 2 or more plates within a battery cell that short out across the plates due to either vibration or sulfation build-up between the offending cells. chinese POS crap-mart type batteries notorious for this and unfortunately it typically happens without even the slightest warning sign. you'll love the Deka/BigCrank/DuraCell battery if you go that route. all the same battery from East Penn Mfg. right up the road from me. the beauty is in the CCA's, the construction and the terminal design....which is brilliant.

 

[TPEHAK]

Do not forget to install voltmeter on motorcycle so you will see what is happening with motorcycle without all those troubleshooting woes.

 

[rbennett2082]

All

The test results are in, took the battery out of the bike when I got home hooked the jumper cables to the bike and the battery in the Jeep crossed my fingers turned the key on the bike. With no hesitation the cluster lit up, the relays in the fuse block went click. Flipped the kill switch to run and the fuel pump did it's job. Pushed the start button and she came to life. LunaticFringe, followed your link and ordered up the OE Deka battery, TPEHAK also followed your advice and ordered a voltmeter to toss on as well. Again thanks to both of you and the BUELL XB community for always being there to support their fellow riders. I do apologize for posting in the wrong category I ride an Lighting and I posted in the Bolt forum. My bad I'll try harder next time.

 

[user_deleted]

yes sir always my pleasure. XB's are hell on batteries....period. i've been using dekas in all my XB's for 10 years now and typically get 5 years out of one. a tender applied over-nite at least once a week keeps it fresh. glad you're up and running and are now well-schooled in battery dead cells and their symptoms.

 

[rbennett2082]

Lunatic

Received the Deka battery on Monday along with a voltometer. Installed both bike fired right up, holds a constant 13.6 volts while engine running. I can honestly say I will only use Deka replacements in the future. The fitment, and the terminal design is just like OE, you can even feel the weight difference in the Deka compared to the previous unit.

 

[Cooter]

Awesome, glad you're back in action. Thanks for posting the solution

 

[Matt4543777]

I’m having this issue but no solution

 

[Matt4543777]

I’m having this issue but no solution

Could it be anything other than the battery cell with this issue

 

[Bueller-Bueller?]

Matt a little more info would help, is your battery voltage low and not charging? That would indicate a bad battery to me. If you don’t have a voltmeter and charger you can take the battery to auto parts store to have it tested.