In my last post, I described my frustration with the Ural and upon initial inspection believed the battery to be at fault. Last night, I had time to diagnose the problem further. I expected to confirm the failed battery by testing it with my multimeter, and then scavenge the battery from the R1150GS to get me back on the road while I waited for the replacement to arrive later this week.
When I tested the Ural’s battery with the multimeter, it read 12.59v. A healthy battery. Huh? The other voltmeter I had said 8.5v, and none of the lights worked. Dang. I was hoping for an easy fix. The new battery is still on its way and will be here tomorrow. It would be prudent to replace it anyways since the Harley battery in there now is near the end of it’s expected life. I guess my other voltmeter needs to visit the trashcan.
I checked the fuses next still hoping for an easy fix. They all appear to be in-tact. Next I looked at the relays. One of them was corroded like last time, so I clean it up and put it back. Still no difference.
After a sigh and a shake of the head, I started removing the fairing to get at the headlight and the rats nest of wiring behind it.
While I was in the rats nest of wiring, I found a couple red hearings. A couple of the wires for my heated grips were loose in their connectors, so I reattached them. I also sealed up some of the loose heat shrink that appears to have been forgotten about during that install. I was disappointed to see that. I hadn’t looked in this area since they were installed to see the quality of the work.
The Ural last worked flawlessly Sunday, but when I tried to start it on Monday morning. I turned the ignition key, and watched all the lights light up including the headlight. After pressing the starter it made a short “grrr… clunk” noise as the bike went dark and the power died. It seemed to lose power mid-crank which is what the clunk sounded like. Thinking back I had an issue like this a couple times earlier this year, but a reset of all the switches brought it back immediately. Not this time.
The above led me directly to the ignition switch since the fuses and battery checked out. It was getting 12.5v from the battery, but nothing after going to the “on” position. Maybe a bad switch? I spent some time looking on the Ural forums on how to hotwire a Ural. Ural ignition switch below with five different contacts – two blue which I should be ground and three red which are hot in various switch positions.
The main method is to connect a wire from the positive side of the battery to a wire coming out of the top of the engine. It is supposed to have a spade connector. On my Ural, there are three wires in one, and no spade connector. The connector is also jammed under the gas tank, and not accessible without removing it. I’ll try that next. If I do that, I will bypass the mess in the headlight bucket, and I should be able to kick start it. I also tried connecting the main hot wire from the ignition switch to the “on” wire. Nothing happened. Darn. Maybe I used the wrong wire.
I’m a bit stumped right now. I think it might be the ignition switch or right hand grip unit, but I’m venturing out beyond my electrical troubleshooting experience now. My attempts to bypass the suspect parts has failed to produce actionable results. It may be time to hire a trailer, and bring it to a professional which means taking time off work. Bummer.
Bummer indeed!
ReplyDelete~k
indeed.
DeleteWow, there is a lot of rust inside of the headlight bucket or at least the ignition switch does look to be in bad shape. Did you do any more exploring with your voltmeter? Such as, using the engine as a ground, measure the battery voltage with the ignition switch on, with the headlight on, engaging the starter. If nothing changes, it really does sound like the ignition switch. If the voltage drops dramatically, measure at the battery. If it doesn't drop, it is a bad ground, it it does drop, it's probably the battery.
ReplyDeleteThe real puzzle is the "clunk" and everything going dark. That really suggests something failing due to a short or overcurrent frying something again, it could be inside the switch or it could be in the wiring harness itself. Is there a fusible link or a master fuse listed on the wiring diagram or are you doing this blind?
There isn't any rust in the headlight bucket. Some dirt, but no rust. The poor lighting made it look terrible in the photo. I was too tired to take it over.
DeleteThanks for the tips. There isn't a fusible link, and all fuses were in shape. I have a diagram created by someone else. The one that came with my ural is junk. I did get it going. more details in my next post.
Wish I could help you Chris, you've done what I would have done....never thought about bypassing the start switch, let me know if you figure out how to do it sucessfully, something good to know.
ReplyDeleteAs to troubleshooting electrical gremlins, them's the worse kind!
dom
I didn't really figure it out, but would like to know as well.
DeleteUral gremlins are the worst kind...
Chris:
ReplyDeleteI wished I could help but I would only get in your way. I hope you get it sorted out and that it is something so simple we can laugh about it later
You know those signs which say $80 per hour labour, but $250 if you watch and talk, That's me . . .
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
My Flickr // My YouTube
ROFL! I've never seen a sign like that, but so funny. Thanks for the laugh. You did a good job helping me last time you had the chance.
DeleteIf you see corrosion like that on your relay repeatedly it is asking you for a coating of dielectric grease.
ReplyDeleteI used to generally dismiss suggestions about using it when I was younger and dumber. Now I have at least two tubes on hand in my toolboxes and one in my road kit for long rides.
Incidentally vinegar is remarkably good at cleaning corrosion like that and the build up on battery terminals if you have time to get same distilled white vinegar. If you are having charging issues on the road and find your battery terminals caked and covered when vinegar is not an option the mechanics emergency cleaner is a can of regular coke followed by a rinse with water. Not every gas station in BFE Colorado has vinegar. Almost all of them have coke and water.
(The choice of BFE Colorado is not a coincidence. Nothing like loosing lights on twisty mountain roads)
thanks for the tips. I used dielectric grease on it before. it's a bit picky though, can't use very much. I admit i didn't put a fresh coating on this year which i should have done considering how exposed that area is to grime.
DeleteI guess I should have explained that better. A very light coat is applied before you make your connections. Then once everything is connected you slather it up with the grease to stop moisture from penetrating. If the relay is not prone to heating and has had bad corrosion in the past, I will sometimes put it in a small plastic bag too with rubber bands or zip ties tying it off. I've done that on dirt bikes and ATV's more that street bikes but with you riding this year around it may be worth it.
DeleteOh, another thought. If you've cleaned that relay off twice and both times it had that blue corrosion on it inspect it and the wire it connects to carefully for wasting. The blue is copper leeched out of somewhere. Either the blade on the relay or the wire it connects to is loosing copper. Usually it is the wire which will then get brittle and prone to break at a less than perfect time.
ReplyDelete