Sluggish starting? Might not be the battery ...

Try running a seperate earth direct from starter body to battery -ve; you can be pleasantly surprised at speed it now turns over, you'll rebuild the starter, fit a new battery, but do you consider replacing the cables ? Probably not, we are but men !
 
Tractors are go said:
Try running a seperate earth direct from starter body to battery -ve; you can be pleasantly surprised at speed it now turns over, you'll rebuild the starter, fit a new battery, but do you consider replacing the cables ? Probably not, we are but men !
Click to expand...

Aha I tried +Ve, never thought -Ve if i go off one of the mounting bolts should be good, or would going of the -Ve on the solenoid / brushes be better??
 
The main earth point is on top of the engine under the ABS block. Its a common corrosion point but you checked that in post 1.
 
I'd use one of the mounting bolts, clean to bright metal, use acf50 grease or vaseline (petroleum jelly) to protect from detritus (green mould). Then run it up to battery. Try and use thickest/ shortest cable you can.

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk
 
Mine is sometimes sluggish and sometimes spins over really nicely. Maybe it's just the crank position when the engine stopped? If a new battery sometimes doesn't turn the engine over then it must be either a badly performing starter motor or resistance in the wiring. Resistance could be the Earth connection or the solenoid contacts.
 
Bendy toy said:
The main earth point is on top of the engine under the ABS block. Its a common corrosion point but you checked that in post 1.
Click to expand...

No, only cleaned the feeds on the starter & battery ... will have a look for that one tommorow


mart
 
Pukmeister said:
Look at the top of the engine block next to the alternator on LHS.
Click to expand...

Cheers, will check that out tommorow

Ok, Today i grabbed a 24" earth lead from the local Sunday factors and ran it from the starter mounting bolt, back to the -Ve on the battery

I gave the starter relay under the seat, a good clean, refit and fired it up ...

No problem, ran up to temp, and did the usual engine off and wait.

Restart one = OK, span over quite quickly and fired up OK

Immediately after ...

Restart Two = OK, span over and fired up OK

Restart Three - OK, but some slowing of the starter, took two attempts

Restart Four - OK, but again took a couple of try's, and only just caught

Restart Five - NOK, normal non start service has been resumed ...

So big improvement, not perfect but much better than yesterday ...

Just wondering whether to do the same with the +Ve side, as mentioned in another thread, and chop the original +Ve feed back

They also mention running a new feed from the relay to the small +12v on the solenoid

Mart
 
Go for a new +ve cable too, anything that makes life easier.

Make sure, stud on solenoid doesn't turn whilst your undoing small nut.

It can get expensive that way 😨

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk
 
Could it be heat soakage into the starter motor windings affecting its resistance/performance? Try touching the casing of your starter motor with bare fingers after a long run, you'll get my point. Being out of any cooling airflow and bolted to the engine cases near the exhaust, its little wonder.
 
Right - Todays installment, are we sitting comfortably ;)

Picked up another earth lead, red this time , and ran it from the +Ve feed on the solenoid to tbe +Ve

on the battery .

Started it up and ran upto temp ...

did the mandatory 3-5 min wait, and prodded the starter

Restart 1 OK no problem

Restart 2 OK no problem

Restart 3 OK no problem

Restart 4 OK no problem

Restart 5 OK no problem

Each time the starter turned well, two good turns before it fired up,

Didnt appear to any sign of the slowing or dropping off as before..

Battery back on charge now ready for tomorrow ...

Handlebars next (need them shortened ) ;)

Mart :D

sluggishness of before
 
How does the new wire you are using compare to the original on the bike? Thicker cored/finer conductors, or same size ??

Perhaps BMW designers under-specified the cabling design, not realising hot starting issues/current draw ?
 
Pukmeister said:
How does the new wire you are using compare to the original on the bike? Thicker cored/finer conductors, or same size ??

Perhaps BMW designers under-specified the cabling design, not realising hot starting issues/current draw ?
Click to expand...

Cant tell what the cable is exactly, as its fully sleeved right down to the ferrule. I'd say its thicker than the normal part.

If you do some digging, there are similar issues with the K1300 and the solution there was to fit a thicker harness to the starter.

Just need to get the bike on a GS911 now and see what fault codes are stored, i've probably generated a few with all the poor starts ive had.

Then its 60 mm off the bars, ergonomics & garden gate ;)


mart
 
Pukmeister said:
How does the new wire you are using compare to the original on the bike? Thicker cored/finer conductors, or same size ??

Perhaps BMW designers under-specified the cabling design, not realising hot starting issues/current draw ?
Click to expand...

That applies to all cabling on vehicles in my opinion, made to the minimum standard which is ok when the vehicle is new but over time it starts to tell.
 
Norfolk Tiger said:
That applies to all cabling on vehicles in my opinion, made to the minimum standard which is ok when the vehicle is new but over time it starts to tell.
Click to expand...

I was surprised how small the conductors are to the headlamp. They look barely thick enough for an indicator never mind a power sucking H7 halogen.
It would be interesting to measure the volts drop under load.


Sent somehow.
 
Bendy toy said:
I was surprised how small the conductors are to the headlamp. They look barely thick enough for an indicator never mind a power sucking H7 halogen.
It would be interesting to measure the volts drop under load.


Sent somehow.
Click to expand...
Thats not just bikes,

The H7 lamps wiring in my subaru outback are as thin as can be.

Its a modern day thing

old stuff over engineered?? (now we know, for a reason ;) )

mart
 
Just out of curiosity, does anyone have an idea where the battery earth goes, as there is so much stuff in the way to have a proper look ? would it be the engine or the frame, and if so where about ? is it bolted to the gearbox ? also the posi lead too where does that run to from the battery ?
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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