Help! I cant find my ghost

[blacklist]

Thanks all. I will try some stuff over lunch today and report back with my findings.

 

Let me say, I've been a member of several bike forums over the years and you guys are by FAR the most helpful group.

[blacklist]

So I went home at lunch and tried a few things in the short amount of time I had.

 

Battery is hovering around 11.4-11.5. On start up it pulls down to 7-8 and then rises back to 11.5 when running.

 

Bike fired up as normal, was running a LITTLE higher idle than desired. Also didn't have to use the left bar fuel adjustment like I normally do when tells me I'm probably running too rich since the motor was stone cold. This is probably from me playin with the PC yesterday.

 

Still no tach movement. I have 5 pins in all my relays but I figured one might be going bad so I swapped a few around to try different combos. All new relays are ordered and should be arriving within a few days. I need more time to fully test all these.

 

Shut the bike down to check the spark and when I went to crank it with a placeholder plug the starter packed up. Now all I'm getting is a loud, repeating clicking from the starter (which is only a couple years old). No spark but that's to be expected since the starter wasn't engaging the motor? I'm really hoping my starter isn't toast.

[docc]

That's a dead battery. AGM batteries should be 12.84 volts and not drop below around 10 while cranking.

 

Once started, does it show charging voltage?

 

A bad relay connection in the #2 position would defeat the tach and the charging reference. But, I would think other lights would also be out (brake light, headlight, warning "idiot" lights).

 

Consider conditioning your battery with correct charging voltages/amperages and beginning again.

[Kiwi_Roy]

The VII doesn't have a choke, the mixture is all taken care of by the ECU, it knows or should the engine temperature.

 

All the lever does is jack up the idle speed

 

Update:

 

From your earlier post I'm guessing the TPS and throttle balance needs attention but it should still start.

The TPS should read in the 450 -500 mV range at idle and increase smoothly to about 4-1/2 Volts at WOT

 

Ditch the Power Commander if it's installed once you get running ok then you can put it back but I wouldn't.

 

You will be up and running in no time.

[blacklist]

That's a dead battery. AGM batteries should be 12.84 volts and not drop below around 10 while cranking.

 

Once started, does it show charging voltage?

 

A bad relay connection in the #2 position would defeat the tach and the charging reference. But, I would think other lights would also be out (brake light, headlight, warning "idiot" lights).

 

Consider conditioning your battery with correct charging voltages/amperages and beginning again.

 

That would make sense why it fires up the first time and not after it has been running for a few mins. The #2 relay is one of the new OMRON 5 pins units, but ill give it another look.

 

 

The VII doesn't have a choke, the mixture is all taken care of by the ECU, it knows or should the engine temperature.

 

All the lever does is jack up the idle speed

 

Right. I have been having to jack up the idle speed to get it started and then once its warm I can run it about 3/4 to the top and it hovers around 1k rpm. Is that normal?

[docc]

Idle ought to be higher.

 

High idle should be around 1500, while I like my normal idle around 1200 (spec is 1050 +/- 50).

 

We'll keep at it and figure it out - likely more than one thing foiling you!

[Scud]

 

Some of the symptoms you mentioned make me wonder if the relays are perhaps dropping out due to low Voltage

after the ignition switch. it is long overdue for cleaning if it hasn't been done.

The wires at the back of the switch can also break if they aren't secured there, the switch comes out in a few seconds, just undo the two Phillips screws underneath and pull the switch block off leaving the lock in place.

Mark the switch before you pull it apart so it goes back in the same position and wipe out the old grease, replace with fresh petroleum jelly aka Vaseline (Never ever use di-electric grease)

 

 

You don't have to be an Electrician to own a Guzzi but it helps!

 

Since mine is apart and the switch is easy-access, I decided to do a little preventative maintenance as suggested. But I'm stuck. I've been trying to release the white or black tabs and prying a bit at the seam near the bottom. But no release. 

 

 

Am I supposed to take the black Zadi switch apart? If so, how?

[Kiwi_Roy]

One tab is a little different release it then tilt the white plate, I think I have it right.

 

 

Sent from my shoe phone!

[fotoguzzi]

when my battery went dead the tach was the first sign.. even new batteries can be bad, get a load test free at Batteries Plus or any good service station.

[Walterg]

 

 

Some of the symptoms you mentioned make me wonder if the relays are perhaps dropping out due to low Voltage

after the ignition switch. it is long overdue for cleaning if it hasn't been done.

The wires at the back of the switch can also break if they aren't secured there, the switch comes out in a few seconds, just undo the two Phillips screws underneath and pull the switch block off leaving the lock in place.

Mark the switch before you pull it apart so it goes back in the same position and wipe out the old grease, replace with fresh petroleum jelly aka Vaseline (Never ever use di-electric grease)

 

 

You don't have to be an Electrician to own a Guzzi but it helps!

 

Since mine is apart and the switch is easy-access, I decided to do a little preventative maintenance as suggested. But I'm stuck. I've been trying to release the white or black tabs and prying a bit at the seam near the bottom. But no release. 

 

IMG_3114.jpg

 

Am I supposed to take the black Zadi switch apart? If so, how?

 

The black tabs release the black rounded cap with the hole in it. Once open you pry the white tabs to release the white contacts plate.

[Scud]

Thanks guys, I had to be more forceful. That switch doesn't come apart easily (which is probably a good thing).  Look what I found in there...

 

 

Two loose strands just waiting for the right time to cause a problem.  I snipped 'em (and took it apart the rest of the way, cleaned, and lubed with petroleum jelly as you recommend).

 

@blacklist - it might be worth taking that switch apart. A couple loose strands like that could make "illegal contact downfield" and be a ghost.

[blacklist]

If I find out it's my battery, does anyone have any experience with Antigravity Batteries? Might be time to pull the trigger on one. Ya know, if I HAVE to.....

[Kiwi_Roy]

Thats weird, here's what mine looks like for reference

http://s1304.photobucket.com/user/Kiwi_Roy/slideshow/V11%20Sport%20Ignition%20Switch

From the colour I suspect the 2 loose strands were already touching something.

[blacklist]

Well it looks like a relay was going bad and causing the tach to drop out randomly. When the tach was dropping, my charging system was also failing and killing my battery.

 

I replaced all my relays with new five pins as suggested and everything is running smooth as silk. I'm getting much higher readings on my battery (13-14) and my tach is back. Start ups are back to normal and my idle is stable at around 1100-1200.

 

Thanks everyone for the help, and Kiwi_Roy for all the info on the electronics. Luckily this was an easier fix than I thought it would be.