Hi Guys, I have a 1999 Voyager and this season I'm having issues with her, the radio Stays on the Headset and thanks to the help I have gotten on here I got that figured out, havnt had the time to make the repairs yet but at elast I know its not a biggie ( so far )
Anyway I also have the problem with the battery now, it goes completely dead in 3 days if I dont start the bike every day I have looked at everything I can think of....Trunk light, radio clock I disconnnected the aftermarket running lights etc, last week I replaced the battery still no change, Im lost as to what to look for next..... I dont have tons of spare time so I would rather be riding than working on them, Any help ?? If I can t figure this one out soon I may just sell her.
Sounds to me like your trunk light is staying on all the time and running the battery down. You can install a switch to manually turn on/off the light or just disconnect it from the switch. These are known to shift a little and not turn off when the trunk is closed. Just an idea....
What I would do is pull all the fuses, see if your battery dies then. If it does chances are your battery is bad. If not replace the fuses one at a time to find the circuit that is running it down. Then check what's on that circuit.
Let us know what ( type of battery ) is it . standard /non sealed , sealed -lead acid , glass matt. ... any battery must be fully charged first before being put into service..
3 days does sound like the trunk lamp is on. look as you close the trunk if it goes out. Or just look at the switch first...
Second have someone with good electrical skill put a meter on the system to see if it is indeed charging
"Its not bad if you don't know something, but when you don't know you don't know; That's when your in trouble". Joe Place 1912-2008 (my grandfather)
Yup,
My vote goes to the trunk light. Three days...hum!? Check to see if the screw that holds the trunk switch in place has come loose. Mine did that years ago on my '94. Then again later on the '03. Didn't take me near as long to fix on the '03.
Bill O
If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
1994 Voyager
2003 Voyager
2003 Voyager TriKing Trike
Thanks Guys ................its a brand new battery just a standard lead acid motorcycle battery, bought from my local dealer fully charged twice now ( makes me wonder if the old one was really bad) , after searching through old posts I had already disconnected the trunk light I actually just pulled both the wires off the swich and taped them up, I pulled the fuse for the radio already since its not currently working anyway, tomorrow morning I will put the charger on and pull all the fuses and see what happends, I have become a expert at getting the fake gas tank off to get to the battery !!
Ill do my best to keep you posted on what if anything I find and if anyone can come up with other Ideas I check in at least everyday
Also you might want to try disconnecting the Alternator sometimes they can go bad and discharge a battery.
President - Mid-Atlantic Voyagers 1990 Voyager XII 1991 Voyager XII (Team Green) 1972 Yamaha LS2 (100cc Twin 2stroke) Voyagers Voice editor SEND ME STORIES AND PICTURES PLEASE to. (kew427@comcast.net)
If you have done everything suggested by the posters, I would suggest getting a battery tender like the Yuasa Smart Shot which has charging and charged indicator lights on it, attach your bike battery to it and see if it charges the battery and maintains it or not. If it is constantly on charge, then something is still draining the battery. My suggestion is to disconnect one battery pole from the bike and allow the tender to fully charge the battery without having the bike drain it. You may need to consult a qualified electrician to have you sort out what is doing the draining.
The quick and easy way to determine if the sys is draining the batt is too. 1- pull your 3 amp fuse for the memory of the radio. 2- remove the negative battery cable from the battery
3- using a 12 volt test light, install one end of the test light to the negative battery terminal and the other end to the wire you just removed. If there is a draw the lamp will begin to light.
Depending on just how much the drain is will determine how brightly the lamp will glow.
"Its not bad if you don't know something, but when you don't know you don't know; That's when your in trouble". Joe Place 1912-2008 (my grandfather)
Just wanted to post a quick update, I finally got a few minutes to myself to get a good full charge on the battery, there were 3 other wires connected to the battery that had little 3 amp fuse blocks on them they didnt look to be factory and I could only follow them back so far into the left side of the faring but they were taped and the crimp fittings didnt look to be stock, but anyway I have yet to notice anything not working so I taped them off and we shall see if that makes any difference, Thanks for the input Guys hope one day I can return the favor
You can pass on what you learn about your bike to the next newbie who asks a question. That's what everyone here has done. We were all newbies at one time
Also having a problem with my 1990 voyager . The battery light is staying on. I just got the bike from a friend it sat for two years. I put a new battery in fully charged bike fires up but light is on. went back 4 days later it was dead as a door nail. Pulled headlamp fuse. checked battery volts at idle 13V. 4000 rpm at about 13.9/14. Checked alternato at idle at 14.5. So that seems good. pulled audio fuse. Checked main wire and as many as I could without tearing it up grounds also look good. Dont think trunk light is on cause I had the trunk off saw two wired had been cut not sure if they are for the light or a speaker but all speakers etc work. Will check trunk but dont remember seeing it on. Also had battery checked and it is good. Checked the trunk light is not on so could be bulb is dead or wires will do a better check later. Checked light in trunk after running and played with some wires it is on but when closed it went off ( Put cell phone in trunk on record)
There is a sensor that goes in the battery to tell you that the water is low in the battery and that is all it does. It lights up when the water in the battery is low. or the sensor is bad, the end corrodes off and can't reach the water level. Or you have a sealed battery and the sensor is not plugged into the battery and then you need to connect the wire to 12v connection which will turn off light..
I have the sensor in the battery I believe it is touching the acid. I alsochecked the trunk and the light was working (I played with wires) so I put my cell phone in the trunk on video and the light in the trunk went out when I shut it. So that alleviates the trunk switch problem. Checked bike running again at idle was 12.5 at 4000 rpm it went to 13.5/13.9. If I cut the sensor off it and wire it to the pos terminal the light may go off. But the battery which is new and good went dead when I checked it after 4 days. I have since disconnected the neg terminal while not in use.I noticed the cb switch was not turned off so it may haved drained the Batt. but doesnt explain battery going dead. I have had other M/C and never had this happen even after storing them all winter not on a tender and the batt not disconnected.
So we pulled the left side apart near the alternator and behind the overflow for the radiator and found the main alternator wire grounding out on the frame where the frame flexes. It was frayed and sparking kept blowing 30 amp fusues so I believe we found what was drainin g the battery finally.
bossman17954 wrote:I have the sensor in the battery I believe it is touching the acid. I alsochecked the trunk and the light was working (I played with wires) so I put my cell phone in the trunk on video and the light in the trunk went out when I shut it. So that alleviates the trunk switch problem. Checked bike running again at idle was 12.5 at 4000 rpm it went to 13.5/13.9. If I cut the sensor off it and wire it to the pos terminal the light may go off. But the battery which is new and good went dead when I checked it after 4 days. I have since disconnected the neg terminal while not in use.I noticed the cb switch was not turned off so it may haved drained the Batt. but doesnt explain battery going dead. I have had other M/C and never had this happen even after storing them all winter not on a tender and the batt not disconnected.
The sensor is there "to" touch the electrolyte. The purpose of the sensor is to warn you when the acid is low. When this happens, your "Batt" light on the dash will light up. This is the only function of the sensor and the dash "Batt" Light. It does not give any indication for the charging circuit.
If you want to disable the sensor, the sensor wire can be connected directly to the positive battery terminal and this will keep the Batt light off at all times. (It will still come on when you turn on the ignition to start the bike) Many say you should connect the sensor to the battery using the installed resistor (270 ohms I believe) or one in it's place. But, I have seen many make a direct connection with the wire with no adverse effects.
Bill O
If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
1994 Voyager
2003 Voyager
2003 Voyager TriKing Trike
