Wilsons Sandbox

Use a bigger hammer. (running for cover) sic. You really left yourself wide open for that one. Bob in CT. P.S. I'm not smart enough to have the correct answer, but dumb enough to give my .02.

----- Original Message ----- From: "JohnD" To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Sunday, September 03, 2006 4:44 PM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] KLR goes dead and dark > I turned on the ignitionon my A12, everything looked bright and > fine. I push the starter button, and everything goes dark and dead. > And stays dead for anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes, no > matter what I do with the key. Eventually, I can switch on the > ignition, and same thing happens the same way again. > > When I do get an "on" ignition situation and press the starter > button, I hear a slight click from the area of the starter, but > nothing like the starter even trying to engage. Just "click" and > dark! When bump-started, bike runs fine. > > Shaking and jostling the bike seems to make no difference. Battery > terminals are nice and clean with a coating of dialectric grease. > Load testing with an old automotive handheld battery tester showed > full charge but slightly weak under load. > > I noticed that with the key on, when I wacked the side of the battery > with a rubber mallet, it sometimes caused the ignition to come on, > but not consistently. Wacking the starter did nothing. > > Took the battery to a shop to have them load test it with something > perhaps more reliable than my garage sale device and they said the > battery showed 12.5V under load and was fine. > > Internmittant shorted cells in the battery? > > Any ideas? Too old for this bump-starting stuff. > > JohnD > > > > > > > Archive Quicksearch at: http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html > List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com > List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > Member Map at: http://www.frappr.com/dsnklr650 > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > >

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "JohnD" wrote:

> > I turned on the ignitionon my A12, everything looked bright and > fine. I push the starter button, and everything goes dark and dead. > And stays dead for anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes, no > matter what I do with the key. Eventually, I can switch on the > ignition, and same thing happens the same way again. > > When I do get an "on" ignition situation and press the starter > button, I hear a slight click from the area of the starter, but > nothing like the starter even trying to engage. Just "click" and > dark! When bump-started, bike runs fine. > > Shaking and jostling the bike seems to make no difference. Battery > terminals are nice and clean with a coating of dialectric grease. > Load testing with an old automotive handheld battery tester showed > full charge but slightly weak under load. > > I noticed that with the key on, when I wacked the side of the battery > with a rubber mallet, it sometimes caused the ignition to come on, > but not consistently. Wacking the starter did nothing. > > Took the battery to a shop to have them load test it with something > perhaps more reliable than my garage sale device and they said the > battery showed 12.5V under load and was fine. > > Internmittant shorted cells in the battery? > > Any ideas? Too old for this bump-starting stuff. > > JohnD >

Give the connections to the starter solenoid the same treatment you gave the battery terminals, making sure they are clean and tight.

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "JohnD" wrote:

> > I turned on the ignitionon my A12, everything looked bright and > fine. I push the starter button, and everything goes dark and dead. > And stays dead for anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes, no > matter what I do with the key. Eventually, I can switch on the > ignition, and same thing happens the same way again. > > When I do get an "on" ignition situation and press the starter > button, I hear a slight click from the area of the starter, but > nothing like the starter even trying to engage. Just "click" and > dark! When bump-started, bike runs fine. > > Shaking and jostling the bike seems to make no difference. Battery > terminals are nice and clean with a coating of dialectric grease. > Load testing with an old automotive handheld battery tester showed > full charge but slightly weak under load. > > I noticed that with the key on, when I wacked the side of the battery > with a rubber mallet, it sometimes caused the ignition to come on, > but not consistently. Wacking the starter did nothing. > > Took the battery to a shop to have them load test it with something > perhaps more reliable than my garage sale device and they said the > battery showed 12.5V under load and was fine. > > Internmittant shorted cells in the battery? > > Any ideas? Too old for this bump-starting stuff. > > JohnD >

Give the connections to the starter solenoid the same treatment you gave the battery terminals, making sure they are clean and tight.

> 11. KLR goes dead and dark > Posted by: "JohnD" slash5er@... slash5er > Date: Sun Sep 3, 2006 1:50 pm (PDT) > > I turned on the ignitionon my A12, everything looked bright and > fine. I push the starter button, and everything goes dark and dead. > And stays dead for anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes, no > matter what I do with the key. Eventually, I can switch on the > ignition, and same thing happens the same way again.

This is _exactly_ what the battery in my old Suzuki did when it died, and it confused the heck out of me until I figured it out. Didn't try the testers, though. Since the battery tester says it's OK, it could still be something else; Is there anyone near you from whom you can borrow a working battery for a quick check? Krokko -- J. Christopher Krok, Ph.D. Big Cee Engineering KLR650 Accessories and home of the FAQ

Hi John, More than likely you have a bad cell in your battery. You say the connections between the battery posts and cable lugs are clean. Did you check for corrosion between the battery cable lug and cable conductor, or the ground connections to the frame? If you have a flooded cell battery that is more that three years old and/or you live somewhere with extreme temps, it's due to be replaced. If you have a Batteries Plus in your area, they carry a brand called Extreme. I would strongly suggest that you get an AGM (absorbed glass mat) type battery, which you should be able to find in an exact replacement size and configuration. Actually, I just installed one earlier today, so I can no longer see the label to get you a number; if I can find the receipt, I'll post the model number. Just to be clear, I'm not talking about an SLA (sealed lead acid), which are some better than flooded cell batteries, like the original, but AGM are the best, and not much more. Good luck, Dennis Scottsdale, AZ

On Sep 3, 2006, at 1:44 PM, JohnD wrote: > I turned on the ignitionon my A12, everything looked bright and > fine. I push the starter button, and everything goes dark and dead. > And stays dead for anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes, no > matter what I do with the key. Eventually, I can switch on the > ignition, and same thing happens the same way again. > > When I do get an "on" ignition situation and press the starter > button, I hear a slight click from the area of the starter, but > nothing like the starter even trying to engage. Just "click" and > dark! When bump-started, bike runs fine. > > Shaking and jostling the bike seems to make no difference. Battery > terminals are nice and clean with a coating of dialectric grease. > Load testing with an old automotive handheld battery tester showed > full charge but slightly weak under load. > > I noticed that with the key on, when I wacked the side of the battery > with a rubber mallet, it sometimes caused the ignition to come on, > but not consistently. Wacking the starter did nothing. > > Took the battery to a shop to have them load test it with something > perhaps more reliable than my garage sale device and they said the > battery showed 12.5V under load and was fine. > > Internmittant shorted cells in the battery? > > Any ideas? Too old for this bump-starting stuff. > > JohnD > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Bottom Posted. Message left intact for reference purposes. On Sun, 03 Sep 2006 20:44:54 -0000 "JohnD" writes:

> I turned on the ignitionon my A12, everything looked bright and > fine. I push the starter button, and everything goes dark and dead. > > And stays dead for anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes, no > matter what I do with the key. Eventually, I can switch on the > ignition, and same thing happens the same way again. > > When I do get an "on" ignition situation and press the starter > button, I hear a slight click from the area of the starter, but > nothing like the starter even trying to engage. Just "click" and > dark! When bump-started, bike runs fine. > > Shaking and jostling the bike seems to make no difference. Battery > > terminals are nice and clean with a coating of dialectric grease. > Load testing with an old automotive handheld battery tester showed > full charge but slightly weak under load. > > I noticed that with the key on, when I wacked the side of the > battery > with a rubber mallet, it sometimes caused the ignition to come on, > but not consistently. Wacking the starter did nothing. > > Took the battery to a shop to have them load test it with something > > perhaps more reliable than my garage sale device and they said the > battery showed 12.5V under load and was fine. > > Internmittant shorted cells in the battery? > > Any ideas? Too old for this bump-starting stuff. > > JohnD

<><><><><><> <><><><><><> John, My short guess is your battery is bad. If I was troubleshooting your bike I'd try jumping from a vehicle (engine off) and see what happens to the problem. If it goes away I'd suspect the battery and watch battery voltage when trying to start the bike without the jump battery hooked up. If the jump didn't make the problem go away I'd then do some more complicated tests. A load test of a battery showing 12.5 volts is pretty much unheard of. I'm thinking the load test wasn't performed properly or someone gave you the wrong number. If the 12.5 volts is the voltage of your battery when not under load then it's at about 75% of full state of charge. It would be ok to load test the battery but it would be a marginal test at best. When a battery is load tested the load is based on the Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) rating of the battery. Usually the load you'd use is 1/2 the CCA rating. So if the CCA rating is 200 amps you'd load test at 100 amps. The load test is performed for 15 seconds and the voltage at 70 degrees shouldn't drop below 9.60 volts in a good battery. Anything below that means your battery needs to be charged and retested. As the ambient temperature goes lower the acceptable minimum voltage under load also drops. A fully charged battery at about 70 degrees should read about 12.70 volts. If it reads more than that remove the surface charge. An easy way to remove the surface charge is to turn on the headlight for 3-5 minutes. If a battery reads below 12.5 volts after charging and won't go/stay higher the battery is bad. "Whacking" a battery with a mallet is a poor way to test a battery. If the battery is good you may damage it. If it's bad I don't know how that would prove a problem. I'd say the same is true with "whacking" a starter on a KLR. It doesn't have a solenoid which activates a starter drive so there is nothing to "unstick". I would for sure check the two heavy wire connections on the starter solenoid. I and a few other folks have found them loose. The starter solenoid is located behind the black plastic cover for the side stand switch above the left footpeg. Make sure you are careful when checking the connections. The positive wire from the battery goes to one side. If you touch that connection and ground (frame) with a wrench you will cause a direct short. It would be just like laying a wrench across both battery terminals. A safe way to check them would be to disconnect the negative cable from the battery. Then check the connections and then reinstall the negative cable to the battery. Good luck with your troubleshooting. Please let us know what you find. Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT