electrical issues

TDH

Member
I have an 06 pitbull and wanting some input on my electrical issues. Any input is greatly appreciated. Sometimes the headlight, front marker lights and tail lights will come on when the bike is off . it doesn't matter if the key is in the ignition or it is out of the ignition. This just started yesterday. battery is fully charged. has anyone had this issue before. Thanks.
 

TDH

Member
They all stay on solid. they may stay on for a few minutes or even longer. I have left the battery unhooked for about 5 hours and just hooked it back up. iIm just watching it now to see what happens. It cranks fine , Alittle sluggish but im about to replace the battery with a braille b -2015 so im hoping that will fix my at times "sluggish " starts. I wouldn't think that my current battery could be causing my light problem, but then again strange shit happens to me! battery charged all night. Shows 12.7 volts even after being off the charger for about 4 hours. Ive not performed a load test on the battery yet, but that will be my next step possibly this evening.
 

TDH

Member
now when the lights come on its like the ignition switch is "on". and im holding the key in my hand. The bike will crank up with no key but must shut off with stop switch. This is all intermittent. sometimes everything works great then its like a ghost is turning the key on and the key is in my pocket. Is this possibly a bad ignition switch?
 

Nukeranger

Nukeranger
I am not sure about 2006. But, normally the ignition switch provides a path from the EHC to ground to turn on the EHC which turns everything on such as lights, etc. So, if the ignition switch isn't opening the circuit then everything will stay on or you could have a short upstream the switch. It is easy to check. By taking the ignition coil cover off, you can check both the switch and a JST plug. Unplug the JST connection and use a jumper between the two connections to see if you can turn the bike power on and off. You can check continuity across the key switch to see if it works properly. There is another JST under the tank if this doesn't point to your problem.
 
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TDH

Member
Thanks for the input. I believe I have ruled out the ignition switch. have the ignition switch in my hand unplugged from bike and hook battery back up and lights come back on and then go off when they feel like it. I tried one wire at a time hooking up to positive terminal on battery and the only wire that will make this symptom occur is the red positive wire that comes up from the ECU!. Im fearing the worst and of course most expensive.
 

BigDogBro1

Made in the USA
OMG!

The EHC uses 5v logic level voltage and NOT 12v from the battery.

DO NOT connect 12v to the ignition switch connector wires. You can damage the EHC input and direct short 12v to the ground wire of the switch.

You could have the keyswitch signal wire going to the switch being shorted to ground somewhere back upstream to the EHC connector.
 
You can try the Self Test
You have an 06 so it may or may not have the "Smart EHC" as BD likes to refer to it.
With the left blinker button pressed in and held turn the key on. Continue holding the left blinker button for approximately 8 - 10 seconds. If everything is okay then the EHC will go through a self test, and in some cases fix issues it may have, and then return to the "Start Ready" state.
It sounds to me like the EHC may have issues.
 

TDH

Member
I will put the ignition switch back together and try the self test feature to see if my bike has that smart ehc . I will also check for any loose connections on the wire harness but if no luck then I guess I will convert to the PDM kit and install it myself. Thanks to everyone for the advice.
 

TDH

Member
I did not hook any of the ignition wires up to the battery. I knew it was logic signal wires. but with the coil cover and ignition switch unplugged from the harness and 50 feet away from the bike the bike was acting just like you had put key in ignition and turned ignition on. no lights on ecu until you press "run" on handle bar and then only 1 red solid light comes on which I believe is the ignition fault light. bike will crank and run fine and turn off fine. all functions are working on bike; horn, hi/lo beam. hand brake light, foot brake light, lest and right turn signals. tachometer. everything is good. im wondering if I need to pull tank and follow the ignition wires back and check all connections and redo connections with di electric grease. all is hooked back up as im typing and its working fine, but in 30 minutes you could look out there and its like a ghost has turn the key on and the key is in my pocket! WEIRD SHIT!!!
 

BigDogBro1

Made in the USA
Have you ever cleaned and put fresh dielectric grease in both the harness connectors that go to the EHC?

Be CAREFUL to not bend any EHC connector pins.

The EHC is either going bad or the keyswitch/EHC input signal is shorting to a ground point somewhere from rubbing through the wire insulation.
 

TDH

Member
Thanks for your help. just got back from auto parts store with di electric grease. will possibly tackle this evening or the weekend. this was my next step to trace the ignition wire all the way back to ecu and re pack all connection with di electric grease including the two black connectors going into ecu. I will be careful to watch the pins. know about this a lot from my work dealing with EPROM software chips on logic boards. pins are tiny and bend just by looking at them. battry right now has 12.83 volts on it and I am working outside right next to the bike today so I can watch it close to see if lights come on today for any reason. I will check battery voltage several times today and see if im losing voltage because of a current draw on the system. I just know everyone is saying its the ecu and it mightbe, im not ruling that out for sure, but im not having any of the other symptoms most people are having on here with bad ecu's. they seem to have hi/lo beam problems, no blinkers, bike wont crank, bike wont shut off, all ecu lights are lit up. im not having any of those issues! just a ghost turning my key on even if there wasn't an ignition on the bike to pit a key in. the lights are not coming on as much as they were on sunday, maybe if there was some water in the connections it is almost gone, but will still check and clean and re apply di electric grease to my connections. Thanks to everyone for the help, this site is a major help and to see what other issues people are having. I guess we are all learning from each other.
 

RRRUFF

Well-Known Member
Thanks for your help. just got back from auto parts store with di electric grease. will possibly tackle this evening or the weekend. this was my next step to trace the ignition wire all the way back to ecu and re pack all connection with di electric grease including the two black connectors going into ecu. I will be careful to watch the pins. know about this a lot from my work dealing with EPROM software chips on logic boards. pins are tiny and bend just by looking at them. battry right now has 12.83 volts on it and I am working outside right next to the bike today so I can watch it close to see if lights come on today for any reason. I will check battery voltage several times today and see if im losing voltage because of a current draw on the system. I just know everyone is saying its the ecu and it mightbe, im not ruling that out for sure, but im not having any of the other symptoms most people are having on here with bad ecu's. they seem to have hi/lo beam problems, no blinkers, bike wont crank, bike wont shut off, all ecu lights are lit up. im not having any of those issues! just a ghost turning my key on even if there wasn't an ignition on the bike to pit a key in. the lights are not coming on as much as they were on sunday, maybe if there was some water in the connections it is almost gone, but will still check and clean and re apply di electric grease to my connections. Thanks to everyone for the help, this site is a major help and to see what other issues people are having. I guess we are all learning from each other.
Looks like you are on the right track. Check the ignition wires all the way back. Look for any chaffed or pinched wires especially the black wires, these are grounds. As said above check for water in the connectors at the ehc and also check the handle bar controls for water. 12.8 volts at the battery with nothing else turned on, minium.
 

TDH

Member
alright I believe my problem is resolved. I re packed EHC connections with di electric grease, (they were pretty dry) and hooked back up . Rode around about 20 minutes this evening before the 3 inches of rain fell on me!. Everything was perfect. Im glad the $10 bottle of di electric grease fixed my problem. I was dreading the $750 PDM kit not to mention all day to put it in. Im sure my day will come and I will have to bite the bullet and go with the PDM kit, but for now, she will stay factory until she goes!!!. Thanks everyone for all the advice. This site has taught me a lot. :)
 

woodbutcher

Mr. Old Fart member #145
Staff member
good to hear, Tom, and yes, it has been raining alot up there this last week, hasn't it. got back home this afternoon and it looks like rain the next few days and i've got grass to mow. :bang::bang::bang::cheers::cheers:
 
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