ignition off, headlight off, but lights still on and no start.

[imthewildman]

has anyone had this problem, key is turned off, all running lights stay on, parts of speedo stays on, headlight off, then when I turn ignition on, headlight comes on, ehc lights come on, then hit start button and click, click, no start, any ideas?
its not the battery, something else wrong, whatever it is, is causing the lights to stay on when key is off, when I unhook the one wire that goes to the ehc then everything goes out. I have had so many problems with this bike that Im about to give up and throw in the towel.
06 k-9

 

[k9nut]

It sounds like you have gotten the bike wet. I have similar problems when I have washed the bike with a hose. Water gets in the connectors and all kind of weird electrical problems. There is a thread on waterproofing the connectors that was posed by gasman that is very good. I will try and post the thread when I get on my home computer.

 

[imthewildman]

it hasnt been washed for two weeks, been sitting in a storage building that is dryer than my house, so no water there, rode it 30 miles yesterday to galveston tx, then on a 100 mile trip from home last night and when I got to my destination, bam, everrything screwed up, no loose wires(at least didnt find any), no its sitting on a friends trailer and he has to stop his plans to give me(and my bike) a ride home, I feel like I bought the most expensive trailer ornament around, ha.

 

[imthewildman]

really frustraded now.
now this is some crazy shit, called the big dog factory today, nobody there has even heard of anything like this happening, but I have read on this site people having simular poblems, the guy at bdm has been no help at all, last week I called bdm factory and asked for paint codes to my bike(due to the front fender brackets breaking off and the fender shooting off and almost killing a person on the sidewalk), they could only give me a base coat blend without the other colors and informed me they had no idea how to look them up, but he did say he would send me that 3 cent cap that goes on my speedometer, all the problems Ive had with this bike and they want to send me a three cent cap? ha, what an insult, so what gives? just trying to get this thing on the road one more time, so if anyone has any info I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[barhopper]

Kill them with kindness. Your warrantee is probably over I assume.

 

[imthewildman]

no warranty left, I have been so nice to the people at bdm, but my paitence is starting to run out. I think its the ehc gone bad, imagine that! so itll be on the trailer AGAIN tomorrow going to the dealer, problem is, the only dealer around is mancuso in houston, and the only thing they ever tell me is "never heard of that before", guess nobody takes thier bikes to them to work on, but before I do Im going to call the dealer in San Antonio and see what they say.

 

[Oscar Maldonado]

Strokers would be a hell of a lot closer then San Antonio or Ft. Worth H-D.

A lot of people don't care much for that place but they should be able to get you up and running.

 

[imthewildman]

the only reason I am going to mancuso is distance, I am going to try and talk to a guy named ron at san anton, he seems to know his shit and very honest too, Ive been able to repair everything on the bike myself so far, and everything Ive repaired has stayed together so far, but Im not an electrical whiz, and I keep going out to the garage and looking at it trying to figure it out, but no luck, does anyone know if they can test the ehc without it even being on the bike?

 

[RRRUFF]

Sorry to hear of your problems for sure, but getting that 3 cent cap for the speedo is an accomplisment. I was told would have to replace the speedo. Now if you get water in these connectors and especially on top of the EHC, weird things will happen and these weird things will eventually take out the EHC. Pull these two connectors at the EHC first and check and be sure everything is clean and dry. Then fill with dielectric grease. Tach board in the headlight housing getting wet and corroding will also cause weird things in the electrical.

 

[DRBarnhart]

has anyone had this problem, key is turned off, all running lights stay on, parts of speedo stays on, headlight off, then when I turn ignition on, headlight comes on, ehc lights come on, then hit start button and click, click, no start, any ideas?

Well, you have to start somewhere so let me ask, have you disconnected the battery for a few minutes to see if the EHC will reset? Or checked the starter solenoid?

its not the battery, something else wrong, whatever it is, is causing the lights to stay on when key is off, when I unhook the one wire that goes to the ehc then everything goes out.

What "one wire" are you unhooking from the EHC? Specifically, what light(s) are illuminated on the EHC while it's doing this craziness?

... does anyone know if they can test the ehc without it even being on the bike?

I know for the '07 model BDM can so there's no reason to think they can't do the same for the '06!

Dennis

PS Do you have a wiring diagram for you bike? Unforutunately I only have an '05 and '07 diagram so unless your wiring is the same as one of those I can't get too specific...

 

[imthewildman]

the one wire Im talking about is comes from the batter to the ehc, and yes, I actually unhooked the battery over night, so everything should have had enough time to reset, when I hook the battery up with key off, no lights on the ehc comes on, but the running lights come on and part of the speedometer, but not all of it, then I turn the key on and all the lights on but the speedometer doesnt change, ehc comes on for 1 sec, then all go out except the controller on and power lights, hit the start button then those two lights stay on plus starter light on ehc, turn key off and all lights start flashing until I hit off button on handlebars or disconnect battery, then back to the same when reconnected. in the meantime when I turn off the key, the headlight starts blinking at the same as the ehc. plus, the speedometer never cycles when I turn the key on, I havent checked the solenoid due to what happens when the key is turned off, if the only problem I had was not starting, I would go there. I do not have a wirig diagram for the bike, so Im lost in that area too.

 

[imthewildman]

Im sorry but I forgot to put, when key gets turned on ignition light comes on too, but when starter button is pressed that light goes out and starter light comes on.

 

[imthewildman]

great news, found out the main ground cable that goes straight to the cases was bad, only reason I found it was when I tore it down I felt a soft spot in the cable, hooked up a battery jump from battery to case and lord have mercy, it started, so the only problem I have now is the lights dont turn off when the key is off, guess thats going to start a new topic, checked all connections to ehc, everything dry and grease still in it, how do you reset this thing, anyone know? already disconnected battery and no go.

 

[imthewildman]

well, according to big dog factory, there is no way to reset the ehc except to unplug it, well, that didnt work, so I ended up putting a toggle switch under the battery cover, guess it also makes a theft deterrent device, and bdm basically said there is no way possible that the ground cable will give out like that due to the way it is made, I have to disagree, due to the fact that I have one in my trash can next to my bike(with alot of other parts that they said wont break), I know its very uncommon, the only reason I checked it is cause I saw it once on a chevy van with a 350, the positive cable was getting really hot and breaking down, so it does happen, but the bike is running and Im sort of happy again, thanks for the advise and thank you to this site for all the information that is on here, I think Im going to go ride, peace.

 

[Slider]

great news, found out the main ground cable that goes straight to the cases was bad, only reason I found it was when I tore it down I felt a soft spot in the cable, hooked up a battery jump from battery to case and lord have mercy, it started, so the only problem I have now is the lights dont turn off when the key is off, guess thats going to start a new topic, checked all connections to ehc, everything dry and grease still in it, how do you reset this thing, anyone know? already disconnected battery and no go.

So Wildman, I'm just thinking how the hell does a battery cable (what's it about 8 gauge?) break in the middle unless your battery is vibrating? I'd double check all your battery connections and do something to shore up the battery. I had the cheap, crimped, ring connector from the battery to my ehc break in the middle of the Nevada and lost all power. In my opinion, you gotta stabilize the battery from vibrating.... I used sheet fiberglass insulation around the battery- that rubber strap on top the battery by itself wont do it.

 

[imthewildman]

its wierd how it done it, to tell you the truth, I dont know why it done it, the wire looks fine but its soft near the middle of the cable, I mean more soft than normal, ive only seen it happen one other time but in a chevy and the cable was 20 or so yrs old, so thats kinda expected, when things get old they break down, kinda like me after I hit 40, ha, but I wouldnt think one thats three yrs old to do it unless it was just a defect from the maker, guess Im just lucky it made it 10 thousand miles first unlike the rest of the bike, but hell, like all the dealers and the factory said, thats the nature of the beast, shouldnt be for the price, hell, if I only paid ten thou for it I would still be mad from the problems Ive had, but I cant really say anything bad about the bike cause people here will start acting like a 6yr old girlscout and start calling me names, ha.

I have checked the battery, it does only have the rubber strap on it, but hell, it feels really tight, I would think if that was the problem all the small wiring would have broke down first, well, I would think but you never know.