Starter and fuel pump inoperable on 95 R1100R

[Ricky]

Hey, good people. I recently tore my bike apart trying to fix my tail light (it was the ignition switch, go figure) and somehow during that process I managed to make my starter motor and fuel pump inoperable. The fuel pump works fine when I put charge across it straight from the battery, but the same doesn't seem to be happening with the starter. I am highly suspicious that this is due to my moronitude, however.

 

The wires for both disappear into bundles and I can't for the life of me figure out where they come out. I've downloaded the BMW repair manual and I've spent hours trying to trace the wires both in this manual and on the bike with no luck. Does anyone have any advice for troubleshooting these problems?

 

Thanks much for your help.

Ricky

[AndyS]

Is the sidestand switch operated? or the engine kill switch on the RH handlebar.

You were working around the ignition switch so alarm bells go off as this seems directly related to the problem.

Does the ignition switch still have control of other functions (lights, horns, radio, parking light etc).

[dirtrider]

Morning Ricky

 

Your fuel pump only runs for a couple of seconds at key-on then doesn't run again until engine cranking so it might be working OK (sometimes difficult to tell)

 

On the "no cranking" problem-- tracing wires on the BMW boxer motorcycle is about impossible. You need to track the power flow to major points then isolate the problem to a specific area.

 

So-- beginning at the starter itself-- (MAKE DARN SURE TRANS IN IN NEUTRAL)

 

Will starter crank IF you manually jump small solenoid terminal on starter to large battery cable stud????? (yes/no?)

 

Does headlight light up at key-on then go out when you push starter button (yes/no?)

 

In fuse box-- does starter relay click when you push starter button (yes/no?) --If no then check side stand switch & kill switch)

 

Will engine crank when you jump terminal 30 to 87 at starter relay (yes/no?)

 

When you push starter button does terminal 85 at starter relay get 12v (yes/no?)

 

More to test but this should get you close to your problem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ricky]

Thank you much for the quick and excellent replies, your help is much appreciated.

 

Andy, my bike starts with the sidestand down (mod by previous owner?), but I have tried with the sidestand up and no dice. The killswitch is in the correct position. =)

 

You were working around the ignition switch so alarm bells go off as this seems directly related to the problem.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I shot myself in the foot here. It turns out I do not have control of the horn or turn signals, which for some reason I thought I had. Well, that's actually helpful, then.

 

Will starter crank IF you manually jump small solenoid terminal on starter to large battery cable stud????? (yes/no?)

Okay, I want to verify that I'm not being a moron here. You mean hooking up the small male terminal on the starter to the positive lead on the battery, right? I am doing this and nothing is happening, which is enormously confusing to me.

 

• Headlight lights up when ignition is on, does dim when starter button pressed.
   
  
• Relay clicks when I press starter button.
   
  
• Engine will not crank when I jump 30-87 at starter relay.
   
  
• I get 12v at terminal 85 on starter relay.

I'm going to owe you guys some pints. I was starting to consider hiring a professional, which is something I both never do and cannot afford to do. I'm in a tight spot financially and need to sell the bike. The research I did on my own was a complete waste of time, so I am very appreciative of your help. Thank you.

[Ricky]

So my moronitude was much higher than I previously supposed. It turned out that my battery was just crazy dead. This is very odd to me as I had it charging from a running car for ~ ten minutes and had these problems. I dunno. Thanks for your help, guys.