I have an '02 f4i. Pulled up the the gas station yesterday. After filling up, I went to start my bike. nothing. If I have the kill switch engaged and hit the starter button everything lights up. If I have the switch to where I am going to start the bike and hit the button everything goes dead.

Well I started to do some research on the bike and when this is going on, I have a clicking noise coming from one of my relays. Well I disconected both of them and switched them around. When I do this I have power just won't start. Does this sound like it could be a relay. If so, where can I get one in a timely manor. I had plans for Labor Day Weekend. Now if I can't get this figured out, then those plans go down the drain.

Thanks in advanced. Any help would be appreciated.

 

I don't have a wiring diagram for the F4i, but I'm downloading one now. Where are the relays that you're referring to and maybe tomorrow I'll look it over and be able to give you some suggestions.

Did you check to see if you have a good charge on the battery ? Maybe low on water.

 

Which 2 relays did you swap around? It will crank with them swapped out but won't start? A clicking relay is usually a working one. I'd also suspect battery or possibly bad connection at battery.

 

They are the relays that are back by the rear seat. They were attached to the frame of the bike. I had to do some digging around for them due to the plastic being in the way.

 

I had a similar issue and it turned out to be my starter motor. The starter relay would click as you said, but nothing past that. Found a used starter on the forums here cheap, and replaced it myself.

So, check your starter motor.

 

The first thing I would do is take your battery out and get it load tested. You may be showing enough voltage, but it may not have enough amps. If your battery has a dead or shorted cell, it can cause odd things to happen. Normally, a clicking a relay is a battery that is not putting out enough amps to crank over the bike, but has enough power to trigger the relay. So you get the clicking.

If its bad, replace the battery and test the charging system right away. A bad rectifier can ruin the battery. You don't want to ruin a new battery.

If the battery is good, take a closer look at your killswitch. It sounds like it may have malfunctioned internally. They can sometimes break internally.

I too would also check the connections as already suggested. At the battery and at the mounts. The ones on the relay and the chassis grounds. Keep in mind, the battery terminals can sometimes become corroded unter the screws. Remove the cables and clean the contact areas. Also, make sure your bolts are not too long. I've seen in the past where someone had replaced the battery, but used the screws from the old battery. Unknowingly to them, the screws for the other battery were just a bit too long, and they bottomed out into the terminals base. The bike worked for a little while, but the contact was loose, and soon gave him problems. That was a fun one to track down...

 

There are 2 relays in the back of the bike. One is the Fuel Cut Relay and the other is the Engine Stop Relay. The Engine Stop Relay is tied to the Bank Angle Sensor located in the front of the bike. It's responsible for killing the engine if the bike leans to far over. You may want to check into the operation of that sensor and make sure it hasn't come loose. I guess one of the relays could be bad, but I'm thinking something simpler.

There is also a 20A fuse that passes through that Engine Stop Relay. It could be something as simple as that fuse. If it's bad, the Relay would turn on and off, but it just wouldn't be supplying any power to anything. If you have a meter or tester, you could check for the presense of 12v on the Red/White wire on the Engine Stop Relay.