help...

[JONNYBIGBALLS]

Battery lead snapped off tonight..bogged it back on to get me home....then the red light came on and stayed on on the dials and the temp guage flashed from the temp to F1..any ideas?

[Tark]

What red light came on? The battery light? Thi swould indicate that the charging circuit isn't working. Do you have the cables all back together now?

[JONNYBIGBALLS]

It was the red light on the clocks dial, then the temp digi guage flashes from the temp to F1....the battery is charged, but the solonoid just clicks when i try to start the bike.

[Lateshift]

With the battery still connected, make sure the bike isnt in gear, turn the ignition to first stage and then using something like a plastic handled screwdriver, short the two connections across the starter relay/solenoid (normally has a rubber cover over it).

If the bike starts its the battery discharged beyond repair, if the bike doesnt start then it will be either the battery with too weak a charge or the start relay as others have already mentioned.

As you havent specifically mentioned what bike it is, i assume that it is a fuel injected GSXR, the red light on the clocks i imagine is either the charge circuit light, or the oil warning light, the temp guage changing from temperature to display FI would normally be the diagnostics on the bikes ECU telling you that there is a fault on the bike.

[Lateshift]

Right, having checked your profile i see it is a GSXR1000K2, in which case the red light is a warning light to let you know of a problem that is being logged by the self diagnostics on the bike, it should light up in conjunction with the F1 being displayed that you are talking about.

There is a way to check for the codes on these much the same as the Aprilia does in so much as there will be 2 wires that you can connect together, turn the ignition to stage 1 (that means do not start it) and then whatever codes are registered by the ECU, they will list on the dash).

there "should" be a two pinned connector hanging out of the wiring harness, on the left hand rear of the bike, (possibly above the pillion foot peg. Be sure not to confuse the other connector used by the Suzuki Workshop Mechanics, as this has four or five wires to the connector)
After locating the one with only two wires at the back, Remove the black rubber cap, use a wire,or split pin or paper clip to bridge the two wires togeather and turn the ignition to the ON position, but do not start it. You should now be able to read the code on the console. The fault codes are as follows:

C14 - THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR
C15 - ENGINE COOLANT TEMPERATURE SENSOR
C21 - INTAKE AIR TEMPERATURE SENSOR
C22 - ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE SENSOR
C23 - TIPOVER SENSOR
C24 - IGNITION SIGNAL #1
C25 - IGNITION SIGNAL #2
C26 - IGNITION SIGNAL #3
C27 - IGNITION SIGNAL #4
C28 - SECONDARY THROTTLE VALVE ACTUATOR
C29 - SECONDARY THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR
C30 - SECONDARY THROTTLE CONTROL UNIT
C31 - GEAR POSITION SENSOR
C32 - INJECTOR SIGNAL #1
C33 - INJECTOR SIGNAL #2
C34 - INJECTOR SIGNAL #3
C35 - INJECTOR SIGNAL #4
C41 - FUEL PUMP CONTROL SYSTEM
C42 - IGNITION SWITCH SIGNAL
C46 - EXHAUST CONTROL VALVE ACTUATOR (1000 ONLY)

That should get you started ;)

[JONNYBIGBALLS]

Cool..loads of info...i'll be round in 10 mins and let you sort it....lol....cheers for the info though...top man!!

[JONNYBIGBALLS]

Just bridged the solonoid wires and got nothing...like i said, the battery is ok and fully charged, so it must be the solonoid itself?

[Lateshift]

Sounds like it to me, they arent expensive, the one on my Aprilia was changed for a Yamaha R1 start relay and it cost around £14 ;)

I assume that the connection to the battery (seeing as you bodged it) has been sorted to make sure that the start relay is getting all the power?

But seeing as the F1 light is on, it may well be that the electronic ignition circuit is going to throw up a fault, but it should then tell you what the problem is, and may want you to start fault finding by checking fuses etc ;)

[JONNYBIGBALLS]

Checked out the code on the clocks and it is the actuator, tried to get a new lead for the battery, but was told that they are hard to get hold of....so i'll get one from another source, as Bates in Dartford are ****e!!!!:shooter

[JONNYBIGBALLS]

Got a new battery lead..charged new battery..solenoid is working..i can here the inside making contact..so it must be the starter motor..anyone tell me after i take out the two bolts holding the starter to the engine (inside under tank) do i need to take off the cover to get the starter out...??????

[Lateshift]

The starter motor itself is held on with two bolts, however the starter clutch is inside the engine and would require the cover to come off to get to that.

I would assume that you should be able to test the starter with it detached from the engine block to narrow it down from there?

When you mentioned the fault from the code it listed, which code did it show????

[JONNYBIGBALLS]

I checked the code and it was c46....and you can really hear the gears inside the actuator grinding, but that is a minor thing and does n't effect the starting...i was told that if the solenoid does NOT do anything when you bridge it, it means that it is ok....was told this by a bike mech today..so other than taking of the starter to see if that is the prob..i'll just have to book it into get it looked at properly, as i need to sort out the bike for work...i'll see if i can find someone to test the starter for me asap...or cry alot!!

[Lateshift]

It may well be that the actuator (seeing as its failing) is stopping the engine from turning to prevent any damage to the engine, i know the guy said it shouldnt stop it from starting but if the ECU is clever enough to log a fault, i wouldnt have thought it would have been stupid enough to allow the engine to run with the fault still logged?

I know on my bike, if the ECU logs a fault it drops into "limp home" mode, and wont allow the bike to go above a certain speed and rpm range.

And yes i got the bit about the Start relay arse about face :D (if it starts when its bridged then the relay isnt working properly or the battery is knackered).

As far as the starter motor goes, surely if you pull it away from the engine with it still connected, if the start relay is allowing power to it, then it would spin up when you hit the start button?

[JONNYBIGBALLS]

I'll take it out tomoz and try it then..i'll try and move the cable on the actuator by hand when it primes and see if it will let it start......i hate bikes really...:shooter

[JONNYBIGBALLS]

Found the problem..after taking the side casing off to get the starter out bits of metal fell of..what ever is in the casing gear wise if completely smashed up and the gears going into the engine are loose...f**king doomed

[Lateshift]

Sounds like a knackered starter clutch to me ;)

There is a set of gears inside where the starter connects to that can get damaged/chewed up when things go pear shaped.

Its not normally a cheap fix either :(


A lot of the time the damage to the starter clutch is caused when people hit the start button and pull the throttle in at the same time, if it the bike fails to start the inertia from the pistons forces back on the starter clutch causing it to lose its teeth etc ;)