HELP ! 'it' refuses to start .... again...

[Francois_Dumas]

The only thing I haven't tried yet is jump start it from my car.... but that's because I have no start cables with clamps small enough to grab the tiny battery poles of the Odyssey.

 

Here's a video with the strange noises my GS is making:

https://www.hightail.com/download/ZWJYaXRNQ1A5NVc5TE1UQw

 

https://www.hightail.com/download/ZWJYaXRNNDI0b0JEZU1UQw

 

I charged the battery overnight, and now the sound stops after a few seconds.... but then the starter only says tick-tick-tick-tick.... apparently doesn't have enough strength to turn the starter motor?

 

Had similar problems this Summer, started it with the car, and then it ran fine all Summer, although I need to trickle charge the battery all the time.

 

 

[Indy Dave]

Francois: The link does not work.

 

How old is your battery?

[dirtrider]

Morning Francois

 

You just might have to jump it from a car (not running though).

 

The Odyssey battery is a strange battery as once it goes completely dead it won't charge back up from most trickle chargers (it take a big hit of current to get them to start accepting a charge again)

 

That is why when you jumped it last time the BIG HIT from the bike's alternator got it to take a charge again.

 

If you have a helper you can use regular car jumper cables by clamping the bike ends onto screwdrivers (or similar) then holding those onto the bike's battery posts while someone else pushes the starter button. (or clamp the ground cable onto a clean metal part of the engine then use the screwdriver trick on just the positive post on the bike's battery then use the other hand to push the starter button)

 

[Francois_Dumas]

year and a half.... practically new, but has been empty once !

[Francois_Dumas]

Thanks !

Got a cable now... running out to try !! :-)

[Francois_Dumas]

Jump starting it doesn't work either... only tick-tick-tick-tick somehwere in its belly. It will have to stay this way until we come back in March and have time to get it to a dealer, or get a BMW mechanic here.

 

Bummer :-(

[dirtrider]

Jump starting it doesn't work either... only tick-tick-tick-tick somehwere in its belly. It will have to stay this way until we come back in March and have time to get it to a dealer, or get a BMW mechanic here.

 

Morning Francois

 

You might want to take the battery out & take it with you. Then have it load tested when you get a chance. If battery is bad then take a new one back with you in march.

[Francois_Dumas]

Yes will take it with me. Have another one stashed in Holland too, will take that along too.

[Guest Kakugo]

Odyssey had a batch of defective PC-series batteries which they have been replaced on a no-question asked basis.

Drop a line with your serial and manufacture date to them here and you'll get a reply in a couple of days at most.

 

Also two things: the GS seems to be far more prone than the RT to sudden battery death syndrome. Exactly what you describe happened to my brother. Bike towed to the dealership because it clicked on start and it turned out to be a dead battery.

And these Hexhead bikes seem very hard to jumpstart for whatever reason (voltage spike protection?). I found portable jumstarters to work better than the usual car battery/cable combination, though I'll be damned if i know why.

 

Last thing: like all batteries, Odyssey's can become deeply discharged. They can be recovered but... I made inquiries on the matter straight to Enersys and they say to achieve this one need a pretty heavy jolt. According to them the only battery chargers available in Europe that can achieve this are the CTEK MXS 7.0 and 10 and the Accumate 12V/24V: Odyssey batteries are on the heavy side when it comes to amperage and the deeper they are discharged, the more ampere they need.

 

[Francois_Dumas]

I'll check the serial numbers. The supplier is a friend of mine (he imports them from the US and sells all over Europe). May try one more time with the battery of the (diesel) Mercedes, which is a lot stronger. But alas, the Mercedes got stuck in the mud earlier tonight, not sure I can get it close to the bike again ..... when it rains.....

 

And yeah, pushing it to start is not an option (for me at least). I tried that this summer.....never fired and it took me 2 hours to catch my breath again.

[Guest Kakugo]

I'll check the serial numbers. The supplier is a friend of mine (he imports them from the US and sells all over Europe). May try one more time with the battery of the (diesel) Mercedes, which is a lot stronger. But alas, the Mercedes got stuck in the mud earlier tonight, not sure I can get it close to the bike again ..... when it rains.....

 

And yeah, pushing it to start is not an option (for me at least). I tried that this summer.....never fired and it took me 2 hours to catch my breath again.

 

Is this "friend" located in The Netherlands? I suspect my Odyssey came from him as well.

 

And you don't need the whole car to try jump starting the bike: just the battery. As DR said these bikes should be "cold started", meaning with the donor car engine not running.

[MSmith]

Hi Francois_Dumas

 

Sounds similar to what happened to my ride. Long story longer, I had corrosion on the negative battery cable at the engine ground on top of the motor. I replaced the battery, starter and starter relay before I decided to bypass the negative cable and it started right away. I connected the negative jumper cable to the starter body and it fired right up. Let us know how it turns out.

[Francois_Dumas]

It is definitely the Odyssey (sourced by Nedplex in Zeeland). It went totally empty this Summer.... had it standing for months before and nothing happened, but this time it was totally drained. Had problems getting it loaded. Did not work through the Fronius loader, nor directly from a (diesel) car battery. In the end I found myself at the bottom of a steep hill and jumpstarted it there from a running car.

 

Ever since it emptied in 4 days, so something drains it when in the GS.

 

When I returned to it this time after 6 weeks (and having it disconnected!) it still showed 3/4 full.... but I think the battery tester is fooling me.

 

Connected it to a brandnew Odyssey and the GS started right away. Unfortunately this battery is destined for a customer in Milano, so I am still on 4 wheels instead of 2 :-(

The old battery is now on a charger with a friend of mine and I'll give it one more try tomorrow....

 

Or bring a new battery when we get home again......

 

Everybody here and elsewhere said 'it's the battery' and they were right. GS seems to be very sensitive..... or the Odyssey is.

 

[Guest Kakugo]

 

Everybody here and elsewhere said 'it's the battery' and they were right. GS seems to be very sensitive..... or the Odyssey is.

 

It's a combination of both.

In my opinion the GS has a undersized battery (should be the same as the RT) but due to space costraints the PC535 is the best that can be done. Beats the sorry OE unit any day.

But Odyssey's are weird batteries. They apparently last long and work well when the bike is used regularly but if left on their own they are very hard to recover without a proper battery charger. Meaning those three models I said before or anything putting out about 7A.

[Francois_Dumas]

Follow-up on the initial topic: our local 'electronician' has loaded the battery with a heavier loader than the little Fronius. He also put on an electronic device of his own design that was 'breaking up the sulfur'..... or so he said.

 

In any case, the Odyssey had enough power to star the bike again now, so I could move it up the hill to its winter storage.

 

I'll take the battery with me and we'll see what happens if I can load it or get me a better one.

 

The rear wheel flange unfortunately is NOT yet replaced because of all these troubles.... hope BMW will do it still next year !

[basilr]

Try this to see if you can get a charge.

 

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/interior-electrical/hrdp-1009-how-to-charge-a-agm-battery/

[Francois_Dumas]

Thanks Basir !