complete Electrical failure

[Dakota Venture]

Need help, was riding around town, stopped to text the wife went start it...cooling fan kicked in right before I hit the starter, big click and everything is dead. no power to ignition or any system. Main fuse? I don't know where to start... is there a mainfuse and where might I find it?

[bongobobny]

Lots of possibilities, but, my first guess is going to be a corroded battery terminal or ground connector from battery to frame...

 

It could be your ignition switch as well, the best way to determine this is if your radio still works even if everything else is dead. If the audio still works then your main connections on the ignition switch have gone bad.

 

I would start with a voltmeter directly across the battery right on the actual battery terminals. You should see around 12 volts.

[steamer]

Like Bongo said, check all batt. connections and grounds. Main fuse is behind left side cover under divers seat where the starter solenoid is.

[dfitzbiz]

I had the same thing happen about a month ago. Hit the starter button and all went dark. Hard to believe but the battery died just that quick. Check the easy stuff first.

 

 

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[Dakota Venture]

I checked the battery.. (blushing). It's toast. LOL Never had a complete failure of a battery to where there wasn't even power to trigger the ignition switch or LCD screen or outputs on the instruments... I am concerned now though... as to what would cause a battery to short out and not take out the fuses? I will be getting a new battery tomorrow. Guess I will see what else may have been damaged when I get it swapped. Any advice on protecting the new battery if I have a major electrical issue? Good chance I'll be back out here when I get the new battery installed.

 

You guys out here are awesome... thanks for the help and reminder to start with the basics and the simple things first... I never would have thought it was the battery as I literally topped the battery up two weeks ago and it was in good shape.

[slowrollwv]

Mine did that at the WNY rally. Put a new battery in and still not charging. BongoBob had a RR and we put that in and it worked fine.

[djh3]

Not all that uncommon any more with batteries. Use to be a battery would be slow cranking or something for a little while then die. Any more the last 2 bike batteries I had go bad and 2 car/truck batteries same way you describe. Fine and then crap out.

[Patch]

I checked the battery.. (blushing). It's toast. LOL Never had a complete failure of a battery to where there wasn't even power to trigger the ignition switch or LCD screen or outputs on the instruments... I am concerned now though... as to what would cause a battery to short out and not take out the fuses? I will be getting a new battery tomorrow. Guess I will see what else may have been damaged when I get it swapped. Any advice on protecting the new battery if I have a major electrical issue? Good chance I'll be back out here when I get the new battery installed.

 

You guys out here are awesome... thanks for the help and reminder to start with the basics and the simple things first... I never would have thought it was the battery as I literally topped the battery up two weeks ago and it was in good shape.

 

 

Check the voltage after changing out the battery for over charging. And always use distilled water when topping off.

[M61A1MECH]

Steven G has very good advice there, many of the Ventures have been known to have Regulator/Rectifier failures, they tend to fail in a manner that over charges the battery and then bad things can happen. That happened on my 2007 Venture, boiled the battery, swelled up to where I almost could not remove it from the bike. Charging voltage should be around 13 to 14 volts as I recall, ay more or less is cause for concern.

[Dakota Venture]

Great stuff guys, after following the advice on checking for overcharging (was good) I went out on a run for cancer sponsored by Throttles-n-Gears. Bike ran fine and I had a great time, and thanks to the advice I got out here...I was able to go! Many Thanks to those that posted and to all that reach out to help. Great place you have out here.

[RSTDdog]

Glad you got it running again. Instant battery failure is typically one of the internal bridges connecting the cells or the internal bridge to the post failing. Remember a fuse only protects loads downstream of the fuse. Your battery is upstream of all loads, so a battery failure typically won't blow a fuse. This is why when sourcing power directly at the battery for any accessory you have to put the fuse as close to the battery as possible. I am personally a fan of the Yuasa Branded sealed Maintenance Free batteries. These are the ones that come dry charged in the box with the plastic thing full of acid that fills the individual cells. Then has the strip cap that seals it it. These batteries need to be properly filled and charged before use for best service. Short version is Fill, let sit for an hour after filling, then install the cap, then slow charge 1 amp, 20 hours (Its 20 amp hour battery), then install. My personal preference is too wait unitl the battery has cooled back to ambient temperature before starting the charge time. (they get warm when the acid and dry charge react). Your bike will not fully charge a new battery. My OE sealed Yuasa in my RSTD was over 6 years old when I took it out. Was still starting the bike but occasionally got a slow start. Used it few more years to run a 12 volt bait air pump.

[Beachbum]

I checked the battery.. (blushing). It's toast. LOL Never had a complete failure of a battery to where there wasn't even power to trigger the ignition switch or LCD screen or outputs on the instruments... I am concerned now though... as to what would cause a battery to short out and not take out the fuses? I will be getting a new battery tomorrow. Guess I will see what else may have been damaged when I get it swapped. Any advice on protecting the new battery if I have a major electrical issue? Good chance I'll be back out here when I get the new battery installed.

 

You guys out here are awesome... thanks for the help and reminder to start with the basics and the simple things first... I never would have thought it was the battery as I literally topped the battery up two weeks ago and it was in good shape.

 

One year my buddy and were heading out to glacier via sturgis. Going thru Columbia MO he suddenly wasn’t there. I pulled over and waited. And waited. Finally got a text he was two exits back. His VTX had died just like your bike, except at highway speed on the interstate. Turns out the battery had died that quickly. Lucked out and O’Reilly had a replacement in stock. That fixed it. Had a good rest of the trip. Glad your scoot is going again!

[OutKast]

The newer AGM tend to do this. Even Yuasa AGM. They go from perfectly good to dead very quickly. Have had three that was working fine all day, stop for gas or lunch, turn the key on and indicator lights come on, hit the starter and it all goes black. Last one 800 miles from home, and 500 miles from destination. Fortunately had a jump box on the truck running tail. Had to roll start a Venture in the flatlands.

 

The older style traditional lead acid usually gave you a warning such as slow cranking, headlight going dim when stopped, etc. But is is very common for AGM to have a quick death.

[baylensman]

Had the same issue with the car over the weekend. The newer batteries give little or no warning. car cranked okay thursday night then wouldn't start the car friday morning, put a volt meter on it 9.6 volts. charged it for and hour read 13.5 volts pulled the charger then watched the voltage drop 1/10 volt every 2-3 seconds under 10 volts in under a minute! Charged it again (hot charge 80 amps) started it up ran right to Oreilly's $140.00 later

[Flyinfool]

My last truck battery I caught in the act of dying. I had parked waiting for someone and turned the key to ACC to listen to the radio. 10 minutes later the truck started to complain about low battery and recommending I start the engine. It still spun and started fine, just like normal. I beat feet to the place I bought the battery from and it tested as bad. Had I not parked with the radio on I would have never known it was going till it was gone. Now every fall for cages and every spring for bikes I do a load test of the battery to see if it is weak or not. Many auto parts stores will do this for free.

[YamahaLarry]

The newer AGM tend to do this. Even Yuasa AGM. They go from perfectly good to dead very quickly. Have had three that was working fine all day, stop for gas or lunch, turn the key on and indicator lights come on, hit the starter and it all goes black. Last one 800 miles from home, and 500 miles from destination. Fortunately had a jump box on the truck running tail. Had to roll start a Venture in the flatlands.

 

The older style traditional lead acid usually gave you a warning such as slow cranking, headlight going dim when stopped, etc. But is is very common for AGM to have a quick death.

 

WOW. And I had already planned on getting a new AGM from Batteries Plus in a week or so because I have heard so much good about them. Guess I need to rethink that one.