Need a TCI test on a 4R0

[CatatonicBug]

I do think I still have a battery issue. I was looking at voltages at the battery last night, and at idle, I was getting 13.6-13.8V. As soon as I turned off the ignition, the voltages slowly dropped, by about .01V/second, until it got down to about 12.2. I'll keep an eye on it.

[dbeardslee]

I do think I still have a battery issue. I was looking at voltages at the battery last night, and at idle, I was getting 13.6-13.8V. As soon as I turned off the ignition, the voltages slowly dropped, by about .01V/second, until it got down to about 12.2. I'll keep an eye on it.

12.2V would be about right with the ignition turned on and not running, but a bit low with everything turned off. Did you ever load test your battery?

I've been using a Battery Tender Jr. for the last couple months, and I've been amazed at the beating my battery was taking. They say it takes about twenty minutes above 2500 rpms for an XS to fully recharge a battery after one electric start, and judging by the way the BT Jr has been acting I'd have to say I agree with that. I make a lot of short trips around the neighborhood at low rpms, so I was rarely giving my battery a chance to fully recharge. The BT Jr seems to be keeping it much happier.

[bikerphil]

Rode to work this morning, a decent portion over 85mph, with no issues at all. I get a feeling there was some strange disconnect in the mid-way connector for the pickup coils, behind the fuse panel.

Yep, there are a few threads about dielectric grease 'gassing' after a period of time and breaking the connection. I have had bad luck several times with this as I had mentioned, YMMV

[motoman]

I do think I still have a battery issue. I was looking at voltages at the battery last night, and at idle, I was getting 13.6-13.8V. As soon as I turned off the ignition, the voltages slowly dropped, by about .01V/second, until it got down to about 12.2. I'll keep an eye on it.

Very possible C.Bug. Could have a cell that is gettiny ready to sulfate. If batt. is not tightly held down in place, the movement and vibration causes cell plates to shake off excess plating from pllates. This gradually builds up in batt. bottom till it reaches the cell plates.......bingo, shorted cell. May wanna also re-read my post #18.

[motoman]

Very possible C.Bug. Could have a cell that is gettiny ready to sulfate. If batt. is not tightly held down in place, the movement and vibration causes cell plates to shake off excess plating from pllates. This gradually builds up in batt. bottom till it reaches the cell plates.......bingo, shorted cell. May wanna also re-read my post #18.

BTW C.Bug, if you can get access to a working, preferable an anolog meter with a dial,ect., and you have a servicable batt. that the individual caps can be removed, you can test each cell to see if and which cell may be gradually failing compared to the rest. If meter has pointy probes, ground the black lead to batt. groung. Then stick the positive probe just in top of each cell, not touching cell plates. This WILL signify which cell if any is getting sulfated if it shows below 2volts per cell. Just an 'old school' individual cell trst.

[TopCatGr58]

Just to confirm, yes, I ran Randy's test. I got the voltage swing on the analog meter, just like the video, pointing to the pickup coils.

Rode to work this morning, a decent portion over 85mph, with no issues at all. I get a feeling there was some strange disconnect in the mid-way connector for the pickup coils, behind the fuse panel. Once I opened it, put some terminals into it to test the connection between there and the TCI, and put it back together, everything seems to be happy again...

If nothing else happens, I learned a LOT about the TCI and the pickup coil circuit during all of this troubleshooting.

I do think I still have a battery issue. I was looking at voltages at the battery last night, and at idle, I was getting 13.6-13.8V. As soon as I turned off the ignition, the voltages slowly dropped, by about .01V/second, until it got down to about 12.2. I'll keep an eye on it.

Hey Bug,

First of all, running on your work trip commute at 85 is plenty of rpm to provide a strong charge. My battery would show up to ~13.5 volts right after getting fully charged, but then slowly bleeds back down to ~12.5 volts. So...if you were checking your voltage right after a run like that where you just pulled up, left it idling and then checked the voltage...it could show the 13.5 volts and still be normal.

But my other concern would be also to start the bike the next day cold, perhaps check the voltage before starting, then while it's idling. The voltage should still be only about 12.5 volts AT IDLE because the charging system shouldn't be able to develop much/any charging power/voltage at that slow or rpm. Then recheck it revving up to 2500 or so rpm. It should ONLY get up to ~14.5 volts. If you see much higher volts...15 or more, then the voltage regulator isn't working right and is probably overcharging the battery possibly to the point of boiling it/outgassing! Just some thoughts.

T.C.