Suddenly Dead...

[gaddog]

Okay guys.. I have researched this on the site... tried to diagnose it, changed parts and I'm about at my end here.

Here's the problem. Last year my 2005 Pitbull was suffering from spontaneous electrical issues. Some of the symptoms included: riding down the road and all the lights on the speedo begin flashing, It ran fine that way until I bumped the horn and the entire bike shut down (total shutdown, no lights nothing), riding along the road and total shutdown (no lights nothing), riding along and spontaneous loss of ignition for a few seconds then re-ignite.

I first tried changing the ignition switch hoping the switch was shorting out and it was the cheapest of the alternatives. No change. Over the winter I changed out the computer module (EHC). While changing out the module, I noticed the two screws welded to the box of the EHC had broken away and the module was only riding in the tray. I changed the EHC out and took the bike out for a run. It seemed at the time to be the problem. Does the computer use the screws that attach it to the box as a ground?

Today, I went for about an hour ride. I noticed at some point the RPM lights were flickering from bright to dim occasionally. I am not sure if there is a light sensativity diode that changes the illumination level of the RPM LEDS and this was about at dusk. About 10 mins after the "'flickering", the bike suffered a complete shutdown. Nothing. I was riding approximately 30 MPH and the bike lost all ignition and all electrical. No dash lights, no headlight and the speedo was froze at 30mph.

I was able to pull to the side of the road and did some diagnosis. No electrical at all. I switched the ignition off and then back on. It rebooted something immediately because I got total power back. Depressed the run button and started the bike with no problems and rode it home.

Suggestions... ? What else can I change out that would control the entire electrical system on the bike like this? My next two options are changing the entire wiring system and if that doesn't take care of it... selling the bike. I'm freakin tired of having to watch the traffic behind me for fear of the bike shutting off and getting rear-ended. I'm beginning to think the electrical system for the bike is made by Toyota.

Thanks in advance guys.


Thanks guys.

 

[mobsta]

ok before you sell the bike and get anymore frustrated let some of the guys help out,you said your mounting screws broke off you ehc right?if you still have it sitting there not mounted atleast use velcrow,i put in my new ehc and went for a ride and bike kept shuttn down,ehc was not mounted,mounted it and all is well,just sayn

 

[KaptinAmerika]

Well I am no expert by any means but do you have the stock Battery or have you changed the battery out. A lot of guys on the site have had electrical issues, me included, and many of us have solved those issues with a larger higher amperage battery.
With that said my buddies 03 Chopper has been acting a little strange lately. He will be riding along and suddenly with out warning the bike will just die for about 2 - 3 seconds and then, like it never happened, it will just start up again. We have gone through his wiring and found no loose issues so the next thing we are going to do is change out the battery to a larger higher amperage unit. If that fails then we are going to look in to getting rid of the EHC with the module that replaces the EHC all together.

 

[mobsta]

you might also have a loose connection or ground some place,check under tank and under your seat for starters,that is just some big idears

 

[gaddog]

Thanks mobsta... The NEW EHC is bolted down securely as it should be. Only consideration I might have is there was some "crud" under the original EHC (dirt, etc) that I though MIGHT be causing a lack of connection between the tray and the EHC. I cleaned the tray and the bottom of the new EHC and the unit is bolted as required. I also will note the tray is painted with no obvious indication of a clean metal patch that would be required to ground the tray to the EHC.

 

[mobsta]

one other roblem i had was the rt hand control,it was shuttn down the motor but still had lights,im sure some of the electrical gurus will chime in,just hang in there,we have all been there,theres alot of good help here,have you checked all connections?

 

[gaddog]

This is why I LOVE this site. 10 mins and I already have some answers.

Battery... Battery was old and I changed it out with the new EHC. I'll check the amperage tomorrow when I start playing with it again.

Electrical connections. When changing out the EHC, I checked the battery terminals and the computer terminals. All appeared clean although the computer terminals had a pretty good coating of what appeared to be that electrical grease. I cleaned all that gunk out and left them dry for testing.

Also, the bike supposedly has had the voltage regulator changed as part of the recall. Is there a way I can tell if it is the new one?

 

[Eric]

remove the harness connections ( the big plugs that go directly into ehc) check for dirty/crosion then clean if needed,, apply dylitreic greese,, start with that.. reinstall harness ..

 

[gaddog]

yeah.. I was thinkin about going ahead an changing out the RT hand switch set. It's a cheap deal.

 

[gaddog]

Will do Eric.. thanks.. I'm gonna try that tomorrow along with pulling the entire wiring harness and cleaning all the main connections. I got to figure it's something between the battery and the EHC or the EHC and the frame. I am thinking something is going to ground (or a break) somewhere around the EHC.

 

[Eric]

yeah.. I was thinkin about going ahead an changing out the RT hand switch set. It's a cheap deal.

have you had the hand controls apart?? did you pull on the harness that plugs into the board? if so yeah check the hand control boards..

 

[mobsta]

when my hand contol gave me problems i still had power just kept killing the motor,it is also an 04,good luck and if i come up with something else i will let you know.

 

[gaddog]

Thanks Captain. I just was reviewing your post. What amount of amperage did you change out to? I don't recall what my new battery is but I'm going to check it out tomorrow. I was wondering if the alternator is not providing enough power to the system and it finally doesn't have enough juice to run and shuts off. I will say though that when the system does finally reboot, it has plenty of power to start the bike and doesn't exhibit any indication of a low voltage (slow cranking or long cranking).

 

[Eric]

I dont think the mounting of the ehc has anything to do with a good ground,, as I have a piece of self adhisive rubber betwen the ehc & the plate it mounts to... just to prevet viberation.. its a micro processor box,, mounting just keeps it from moving around...

 

[Eric]

dont continue to try to start the bike if the batt,, wont turn it over... good... get your battery tested,, & check comp.releases to make sure thay work so starting is easier on the bat & starter...

 

[gaddog]

I have had the left hand control apart when i was diagnosing a horn issue. When I got the bike, the horn didn't work. I started from the horn switch back by removing the switch group and checking the operation with an ohm meter and it worked fine. Back tracking from the switch group to the computer and found no problem. Next I went to check the actual horn to see if maybe it had shorted out. Took the seat off and it turned out the metal connector loop that connected the wire to the actual horn had broken. Replaced the connector and viola' ... horn worked.

 

[gaddog]

Hey Eric.. I might have mistated... I am having no starting issues. Bike starts immediately and with authority. No problem starting

 

[gaddog]

Hmmm.. when the bikes came from the factory.. was there some sort of foam or anything between the EHC and the tray? I'm just wondering if maybe the vibration is causing an issue?

 

[mobsta]

wher you from?maybe moister in the control.might be worth pulling that control apart,just another something to look at.

 

[mobsta]

nope,no foam direct mount