Is my ignition light on the EHC supposed to blink when running?

[Mario77746]

Are there any other lights still on when the bike dies? Headlight, turn signals, brake lights, etc...

Dennis

Sorry, just got back in town.
Everything electrical shuts off then turns back on.

 

[Mario77746]

Are there any other lights still on when the bike dies? Headlight, turn signals, brake lights, etc...

Dennis

Sorry, just got back in town.

Fiber, no the "hot wire" did not fix the problem.
Everything electrical shuts off then turns back on.

 

[DRBarnhart]

Everything electrical shuts off then turns back on.

It sounds like there's a short somewhere that's tripping the internal EHC breaker. Is there anything in particular you do when the bike shuts down like flipping from low to high beam (or vice versa), or blowing the horn... anything? If there is it may give you a clue as to where to start looking.

So how are you with a multimeter?

Dennis

 

[Mario77746]

DRBarnhart, Nope, It just happens. And to make things even worse.....:bang::bang::bang::bang::bang::bang:

I wired the ignition module directly to the battery and took it for a rip. Within 2 miles the speedo was completely dead. Nothing was working on it but the bike was running down the road just fine at 50mph. I started to think well positive at least I have it figured out. Negative now either drop $475 on a new brick of shit (EHC) or rewire.

I rode for another 12-15 miles. I could feel something was still not right. There seems to be a very slight hesitation for a split second every now and then. It was running fine then it started to spit and back fire like crazy. I looked at the speedo and it's dead again. I pull in the clutch and the bike dies as I roll up to a stop light. Now the back firing says it's got fuel so there still must be an electrical issue. Also, the tach started to flash on and off then dim to bright but the rpm was reading right.

WTF does that mean? My EHC is shot explaining the problems with the lights and speedo and either the ignition or coil or some sensor for the problem with the motor? What could cause both problems?

 

[DRBarnhart]

I wired the ignition module directly to the battery and took it for a rip. Within 2 miles the speedo was completely dead. Nothing was working on it but the bike was running down the road just fine at 50mph.

By wiring the ignition module directly to the battery it seems you've ruled out it as the culprit. Something else must have a short that's causing the EHC to nod out.

I started to think well positive at least I have it figured out. Negative now either drop $475 on a new brick of shit (EHC) or rewire.

Not necessarily! You need to make sure you don't have a short somewhere BEFORE you waste a shit load of money on another EHC or even rewiring the bike! There's been a number of members here that have replaced their EHC (either with another EHC or an after market solution) thinking it was their problem only to find that they still had to deal with the real problem later...

I rode for another 12-15 miles. I could feel something was still not right. There seems to be a very slight hesitation for a split second every now and then. It was running fine then it started to spit and back fire like crazy. I looked at the speedo and it's dead again. I pull in the clutch and the bike dies as I roll up to a stop light. Now the back firing says it's got fuel so there still must be an electrical issue. Also, the tach started to flash on and off then dim to bright but the rpm was reading right.

As far as running bad even though you had the ignition wired directly just keep in mind that the coil also gets its power directly from the EHC, not the ignition module.

WTF does that mean? My EHC is shot explaining the problems with the lights and speedo and either the ignition or coil or some sensor for the problem with the motor? What could cause both problems?

The EHC can cause all the symptoms you're seeing so you need to find out what's causing it to go into protection mode. I would start looking for shorts in the most likely areas such as chaffed wires around the swing arm, rubbed wires in the headlight housing, or chaffed wires under the gas tank.

Dennis

 

[Mario77746]

As far as running bad even though you had the ignition wired directly just keep in mind that the coil also gets its power directly from the EHC, not the ignition module. Dennis

It looks like both the Ign Module and Coil are fed power from the same source within the EHC, 13 & 14. I only tapped into the red power wire (14) to the module to give it juice. I'll start by tracing the red wire that powers the coil from the EHC and the Yellow wire that connects the coil to the module. That also may explain why the tach started to flicker before everything went out. Thanks for your help DRBarnhart.

 

[Raywood]

Have you checked your ignition key switch to see if it's worn? With it running wiggle the key and see if it shuts down.

 

[Mario77746]

Have you checked your ignition key switch to see if it's worn? With it running wiggle the key and see if it shuts down.

Yup. Took the switch off and wired it directly. I got a few looks when I pulled into the gas station with wires hanging out of the hole that I had to take apart to kill the motor.

 

[1BADK9]

Sorry to hear of the run around. Do not want to beat up on the shop for I am not there, just always wonder why they charged you $468 and that did not fix the problem. To me if you are going to charge for a part, they better be sure that part is bad and was troubleshot, otherwise the shop is guessing and do the old part change until they hit the right combination.

Hey Snake the charge was $160.00 for ignition module, and the rest was all labor hours for the t-shooting. They are reputable shop, and fabricator, just not up to speed on the electronics and computer crap. They have "credited" me the labor hours toward continuing t-shooting. What sucked is they thought it was fixed, bike behaved normally for about 70 miles then went right back to shutting off again. Unlike Mario though, mine is only shutting off ignition, all other electronics are still on, lights, horn, speedo etc. Corporate sent a software patch for them to upload to my bike, so..... I have asked that the old ignition module be reinstalled and then test ride, the shop agreed to try that, now I am waiting to hear if they think the software updates were the fix. Fat lot of good my new hexhead 3/8" ratchet drive sockets will do for problems like these.

 

[Mario77746]

Did some more work today. Followed every wire and did not see any problems. Put a new coil in and it shut down again. I wired the coil AND the ign module directly to the battery. Both still have the wires connected that lead to the EHC. I have a fuse and a switch on the line that goes directly to the battery. Now here is the interesting part. It shut down again. At the same time the speedo shut down to. When I pull the seat off the fuse is still good and the switch is on. The yellow and green light on the EHC are the only ones on.

Now if the coil and ign module are directly wired to the battery and the bike dies I'm thinking the ignition module is cutting out on me. I already tried another coil and it still died. I can see how the tach would be affected but am not sure why the whole speedo shuts down.

I did make a mistake earlier. It looks like the headlight and brake lights stay on during this. I have checked them every time the bike dies and they are on. Also, all I have to do to restart it is turn the key off then back on and it starts. I've gotten pretty good at this while still riding down the road.

What do you think?

 

[TheDeadOne]

Both still have the wires connected that lead to the EHC. I have a fuse and a switch on the line that goes directly to the battery. Now here is the interesting part. It shut down again.

Try disconnecting the coil & ignition wires that are coming from the EHC. Just use the temp. wiring that you installed. Then see what happens. :2thumbs:

 

[1BADK9]

Mario, i got mine back yesterday and what was found was there was aluminum shavings in and around the connector to the small circuit card in the switch housing on the handle bar. This makes sense because the run/off start buttons are all related to that small circuit card. The aluminum shavings were causing a short to ground making the igntion cut off.

Oh and who ever is wondering where the aluminum shavings came from. The ASSHOLE mechanic at Super Street Customs that installed my Cruise Mate. He also had my brake light wires pinced in the housing as well. But all my problems of electrical shut-off were related to the small circuit card in the handle bar housing. I now agree with the signature block that says "why pay someone else to fuck up your bike". Sloppy, careless installation of an accessory by a shop was my problem. Good luck finding your gremilin.

On a happy note, after months of frustration confusion, and hundreds of dollars, it was sunny and warm yesterday and I was able to put 70 miles on the dog. NO ELECTRICAL SHUT OFF. :up:

 

[Mario77746]

Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had a Crane HI-4 PowerLink 8-2300 and coil that I took off a motor I sold a few months ago. I checked it out and it looked brand new. The motor only had a few hundred miles on it. I removed the stock ign and coil from the BDM and installed this one along with all new wiring. I put about 180 miles on the bike today and no problems. I have it set up as single fire, rpms maxed at 6,000. I have the mode set to 2 - Race Advance Curve No Multi Spark and have the Advance Slope set to 7.

Thanks for everyone's help!:2thumbs:

Glad to see your up an running too 1BADK9.