Hey guys,

I have a 2002 CBR600F4i. I’m experiencing a problem now where I will start the bike up, start riding and randomly the bike’s electrical system will cut off on me (shutting off the fuel pump and thus killing the engine). When this happens, in the both turn signal indicators become solid and the high beam indicator becomes solid as well in the display (however every light on the front of the bike is off – headlights and front turn signals).

If I try to start the engine up again, the turn signal indicators will both start blinking while the starter is turning. It seems like whatever is happening is leaving the electrical system in a weird state – turning the bike off and back on again doesn’t fix things (e.g. I can’t get the fuel pump to cycle in the normal way of flipping off and on the red engine cutoff switch). In messing with the bike, the thing I’ve found that will reset the system and make it so I can start the bike up again is to turn the electrical system off, unplug one of the turn signal relays, plug it back in again, and turn the bike on again.

I’ve checked the battery terminal connections (they’re fine)…all the bulbs are working, and all the other connections look solid (didn’t see any frayed or loose wires).

Now I’ve had problems with my computer randomly crashing, but never the bike.  This is pretty dangerous as I live in the mountains and wouldn’t want the thing to cut off on me while I’m going up a hill… suffice it to say I’m not riding until I figure this problem out.

All sorts of weirdness started up after I had left the bike out in the rain for a few days. I ended up cleaning out and greasing all the electrical connections. The bike worked fine for a few weeks, and then this problem started up. If it matters, it was cold on the day that this was happening.

Has anyone had this problem, or know what the problem might be?

Thanks,

Robby

 

could be the rectifier/regulator, have you checked that out? If the rectifier is bad, the bike will usually run for a few minutes until it warms up, then it dies. After it (the rectifier) cools off the bike will start and run fine until it heats back up.

 

interesting... that sounds like the symptom (the bike seems to die after it's been running for a bit).

Is there a way to test the rectifier/regulator w/out special equipment to see if it's a likely culprit?

Robby

 

Luckily, there are only three types of wiring problems. Opens, shorts, and grounds. In a nutshell, if something doesn't work it's an open. If you have a blown fuse, burnt wiring or dead battery, it's a short. A ground is like a short, but on the ground side, like a horn that won't shut off.

Also luckily, you can buy all the equipment for testing every circuit on your bike for less than $50. If you have a Sears near you, get a 12 volt test light, a self-powered test light, and a digital voltmeter. You also need the wiring diagram for your bike.

Unfortunately, you have to test the wiring when the bike isn't working. So ride around the block until it heats up and dies, then push it in the garage. To use the 12 volt test light, clip the aligator clip to the negative side of the battery or chassis. Turn ignition switch on, but don't start the engine. Poke the pointy end to both sides of fuses, switch contacts, bulb sockets, etc. Don't poke it in the spark plug leads. Ever. To use the self-powered light, disconnect the battery and test for opens on segments of the wiring harness. You can also use a jumper to bypass suspicious switches, like the kickstand switch. The digital voltmeter is for testing things like the rectifier/regulator. Good Luck.

 

Looking through the shop manual, this is the best I can find to test it:

Make you battery accessible. Start the bike and turn the head light on high beam.
Use a multi meter to check the voltage on your battery at 5000 rpm, it should be between 13.0 and 15.5v.

All this is showing you is that your rectifier isn’t regulating the alternating current from your generator properly. I had the same problem on an 86 Ninja ZX600R. I have a parts bike so I was able to swap out to test. The problem is, your rectifier may be putting out the correct voltage until it warms up. So, how long does it take for your bike to die? Mine was anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes at idle, never more than 10 while riding. You may have to set it up and watch the meter for a while to see if the voltage starts to die off as it heats up.

Or you could do this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HONDA...spagenameZWDVW

 

Wow... I never thought anyone would have the same bizzare problem that I had! Though mine wasn't the bikes fault, it was accident related due to a damaged connector pin in the headlight harness main connector. Though I can't tell you exactly what your problem is, I can give you a pretty good idea where to start. This problem is caused by an open circuit in a green ground wire. In the headlight harness, there is a green wire in one of the first pins (on the side) of the main headlight harness connector. This green wire goes everywhere... in the headlight harness it goes to the headlight relay, both headlights, both front signals, and the bank angle sensor (which is why your fuel pump won't run). In the main harness, this same green wire goes to the instrument cluster as the (-) terminal, horn, fan motor switch, side stand switch, then to a grounding point on the frame, the service chech connector, twice into the regulator/rectifier, both rear signals, both brake/taillight bulbs, license plate light, fuel reserve sensor, and lastly into the fuel pump. Easiest way to try and determine where the problem starts is by trying all the items listed above. All end up grounding in the same spot, as well as grounds for other things not on this same circuit. This same point serves as several grounds for the ECM, the CKP and CMP sensors, instrument cluster, ECT sensor. If none of these items work, then the problem is likely a poor/no connection at this main grounding point (which is located under thet tank on the left, just in front of the rear subframe, and just to the right of the main harness loom. You may be able to see it without taking the tank off though). But if some stuff works, like the brake lights and taillights, horn, license plate light, etc all work, then the problem is obviously somewhere else in the circuit. The most likely cause from what you describe would be in the headlight harness. For me it was a damaged pin for this green wire in the headlight harness main connector(female side... hole got pushed open too far and wasn't making good connection, arched and tarnished the pins, and melted a small hole in the side of the connector).

For you I would start by unplugging the headlight harness from the main harness, and use a light to take a good look at the pins in both connectors. See if the pins for this green wire look tarnished or darker in color than any of the other pins. If it is, there's your problem. I need to replace my wiring harnesses anyways so I just cut the wire out of the connector and connected them together outside of the connector, and it's worked perfectly fine since (still gonna replace the harnesses though). Check it out and see what you find