Yeti Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Bike: 1995 R1100R History: Bike was running fine with no issues other than the head gasket leaking. Dealer replaced the head gaskets after one of the cylinder studs pulled out. When he was done, the tech called and said it looked like my battery was dead because the bike wouldn't start or keep running. He replaced the battery and dropped the bike off at my house. (He's a friend of mine.) Bike sat for two days. I then went to go take it for a ride and it wouldn't start. Turned over really slowly but wouldn't start. So I put it on the trickle charger and took the car to work. Got home, took it off the charger and it started right up. Went for a short ride, got home and shut 'er down. Tried to re-start her and the lights turned on but no cranking. Tried again and it would slowly crank but not start. So it seems the battery is not being recharged. BUT the alternator/battery light does not come on (except when I start the bike up). Oh, the battery had been replaced less than a year ago and I'm not sure it was actually dead now. Any thoughts or ideas what the problem might be? Any suggestions on things to check? Thanks in advance!! Link to comment
Ken H. Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Need to know some voltages. Do you have a way to measure? Need to know voltage across the battery when just sitting off. Both just after charging it and after it has sit for days. Also the voltage across it during cranking. And if it will start, both at idle and at say 3000 RPM or so. Link to comment
Stan Walker Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Any thoughts or ideas what the problem might be? Any suggestions on things to check? Loose battery cable at either end (pos / neg). Loose alternator cable at alternator. Bad battery replaced with bad battery. Broken alternator belt. Bad alternator. Something draining the battery (radio, alarm, etc.). Charge it up. Check voltage at battery posts about an hour after removing charger, should be close to 13 volts. Check again 24 hours later, should still be about 12.8 volts. Try cranking emgine, it should crank easily and start. Voltage while cranking shouln't dip much below 10 volts. With the engine running at a fast idle the voltage on the battery should be just a smidge over 14 volts. Most of the voltages above are from memory and may be off by a small amount. I'm sure others will correct me if I'm off by very much. Report back on your results and we'll go from there. Stan Link to comment
Stan Walker Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Darn, your fast........ Link to comment
smiller Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Broken alternator belt. Bad alternator. He is not seeing the alternator/battery light while running so it would appear that there is at least something close to normal voltage from the alternator. Link to comment
Stan Walker Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 He is not seeing the alternator/battery light while running so it would appear that there is at least something close to normal voltage from the alternator. I would trust a voltmeter more than an idiot light......., but you are likely correct. Stan Link to comment
Yeti Posted October 7, 2007 Author Share Posted October 7, 2007 Ok, I don't have a voltmeter (yet). I do know that the alternator belt is fine and is turning the alternator. My first thought was that one of the connections to the alternator had come off during the gasket replacement but I don't see anything amiss. First thing I checked was the battery cables and they're tight. I'll get a voltmeter and report back. Link to comment
Yeti Posted October 7, 2007 Author Share Posted October 7, 2007 Lcpl Yeti reporting back. I confess to feeling somewhat sheepish (BAAAA). Apparently it's not the battery or alternator. The battery after 24 hours on the charger was at 12.98. After one hour, 12.8. Turned on key, hit starter button. It kind of makes a sound like something's trying to engage but no go. Like a sharp "smack" sound. Best I can desribe it is the sound the starter makes when the battery is really low, right before it makes that rat-tat-tat-tat-tat sound. So now I think either the starter is shot or something was done incorrectly when doing the gaskets and the engine is too tight to crank. I know that it will run because it did yesterday. So perhaps some sort of intermittent starter issue?? If a Mod wants to chage the title of this thread to "God knows why my bike won't start" please do!! Link to comment
Stan Walker Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Voltage while cranking shouln't dip much below 10 volts. Still need the above. Stan Link to comment
Mike T Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Make sure the electrical connections are good at the starter. Link to comment
Yeti Posted October 8, 2007 Author Share Posted October 8, 2007 Voltage while cranking shouln't dip much below 10 volts. Still need the above. Stan When I cranked it the voltage was right around 10. Actually that's not really correct as I couldn't "crank" it. When I hit the starter button and the bike made the "whack" noise the voltage went down to about 10 but cam back up once I released the starter button. Link to comment
Stan Walker Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 When I hit the starter button and the bike made the "whack" noise the voltage went down to about 10 but cam back up once I released the starter button. Since you have indicated that the bike runs OK once started, I think you probably have a bad starter. It's not that unusual for an oilhead starter to have the field windings detach from the starter frame. They were (and likely still are) simply glued in place. Once loose they bind and cause the starter to turn slowly if at all. I had hear a rumor that this problem had been fixed at some point. But maybe it's not 100% true. Edited to add: Based on the year of your bike, and assuming this is the original starter, this is a likely failure scenario for you. Stan Link to comment
Yeti Posted October 9, 2007 Author Share Posted October 9, 2007 As I think about it, the bike has been slow to start for a while now. I suspect the starter was on it's way south. I got one form Beemer Boneyard which should be here Thursday so I'll put it on Thursday night and report back. Yeti out. Link to comment
James_H Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 I have had a similar problem, replaced the battery with an Odessey (it was weak). The bike is an R1100-RT-P. Swaped the main battery to the aux battery. Both were BMW with a date stamp of 03/07. Figure that must be the expiration date. Cleaned all contacts, bike would still not start reliabliy. To compound the problem, the battery tender had failed, gave a green light indicating full charge no matter what the battery voltage was. I suspected the starter but tried one more thing, cleaning the contact for the solenoid. After charging, the bike seems to start more reliably. But was slow to start until I found the bad battery tender. I still suspect the starter and after reading the above, I think I will purchase a new one from Vlaeo. It is an easy job to replace. Any thing that should be done before installing the new starter?? Link to comment
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