620 - engine shuts off 1 block from house

[Privateer]

04 620, 86,xxx miles
Generally runs just fine, has a mis-fire once in a while when the plugs get long in the tooth, historically resolved by putting in new plugs.  a small oil-mist-leak up front somewhere, horizontal cylinder I think, but otherwise seemingly mechanically sound.
 
Bike ran fine this weekend. Changed the oil Monday and no weirdness discovered.
Commuted tuesday, 20miles each way.  After work noticed the temp said --- so I jiggled the temp sensor connector (which I'd taken off to inspect the screen), temp worked fine after that, no issues getting home.
 
Warmed up this morning, no issues.  mounted up, down my street and died at the end of the street.  Didn't shut off, still had electrical power, just engine shut off.  key off/on, gauges swept, restarted, revved and idled fine.  weird.
 
pulled out of street, seemed OK, 1/4 mile down the road made a right, another 1/2 block and it shut off again.  U turned to go back home, noticed this time, now the gauges aren't sweeping when I key-on.  nursed it another block, died.  pushed the rest of the way home.
 
hopped in my car and drove to work (suck!), and just got home from kid's school concert so I didn't get to trouble shoot at all.
 

no gauge sweep makes me think it's electrical, but then I shouldn't have enough juice to start it either.
Any suggestion on what I should check first?

[Privateer]

tested the battery, key on, motor off, 13.8ish volts.  fired up, idles OK.  at 2k rpm, I get about 14.5v at the battery, so seems to be charging OK.

did noticed just now the headlight is out, but shouldn't cause it to die.

took a spin on my street, got 1/2 way down the block and it shut off again.  key off/on.  gauges did not sweep, but it did start and got me back up the street to my garage.

[Speeddog]

Check the fuses, occasionally they can provide an intermittent no-power condition.

Visually inspect the contacts in the fuse box, I've seen those get crappy.

Check the two small relays next to the battery, the housing the reside on, and contacts.

[Privateer]

thanks nick.

I pulled all the fuses, everything seemed normal. contacts looked normal.  relays and the main fuse all looked OK.

put it on my stand and fired it up, started right up again.  shifted through the gears on the stand and it ran fine through all the gears.

i'm going to run it around the block in a bit and report back.

[Privateer]

hm same thing.
so runs OK through the gears on the paddock stand, but not under real load.

fuel filter?  the whole gauges not sweeping makes me think no, but maybe it's starved for fuel when under a real load?

[koko64]

Loose dash connection/wire?
Sidestand switch? Bypass it with a paper clip and see if it stops. Careful now.

[DarkMonster620]

does this happen on any gear?

gauges not sweping is no good . . .

fhe with similar case, same symptom but cause was an hid lighr kit where they bored the ECU to use as ground because they were told the front lights and blinkers used the ECU/dash as ground . . . since I had another bike, same model/year I swappwd ECUs and issue was gone . . .

I am leaning towards an electrical gremlin . . . do as koko says and let us know

[Howie]

Any immobilizer light happenings?  If not I would suggest bypassing or replacing the main relay and see what happens.  Also check the connections to the gauges and see if turning the handlebare while running causes a stall.

[Privateer]

Loose dash connection/wire?
Sidestand switch? Bypass it with a paper clip and see if it stops. Careful now.

i don't want to screw it up. I searched around, but didn't find anything really definitive.  is there a picture or diagram on doing this? 

does this happen on any gear?

gauges not sweping is no good . . .

well, i can't really get it up to speed on a clear road to figure that part out.  so far it's happened around 2nd/3rd, but that's because I have a stop sign/light.  in my garage on the stand, I got it up to 4th/5th with no problem.

Any immobilizer light happenings?  If not I would suggest bypassing or replacing the main relay and see what happens.  Also check the connections to the gauges and see if turning the handlebare while running causes a stall.

no immobilizer lights, altho the immobilizer does activate once in while when I'm trying to start.  Usually I turn it off, remove key, walk 50 feet away, come back, and it starts up (multiple walks sometimes needed).

I looked in the parts diagram and I couldn't identify the main relay.  can you describe it to me?

turning the bars doesn't seem to do it, each time it's died I've been on a straight.

[stopintime]

Wild guess, but what about the antenna and it's connection?

[SpikeC]

this is probably out there, but I was having some strange problem with my bike, and it turned out to be the fuel pump not fully seated in the mount. It managed enough flow to ride but would sometimes not start after having been ridden ans stopped for a while, and glitchy just off idle.
 Prolly not your case, but something to look at if all else fails.

[Privateer]

well..
I visually inspected the gauge cluster connector and the plug and socket looked clean and normal. 

but I did hear something rattling around in the gauges as I handled them... that can't be good...


ok, just some plastic tabs, no idea where they came from, but don't seem to be functional.


but then I noticed this:


i should mention in the last 6 months or so, once in a while the cluster lights are slow to come on. 

bike still ran up and down the street OK, maybe 100 yards down the block, and then back.  didn't die.  I tried to goose it a little, but can't go too fast down my street.



I'd previously mentioned the headlight was out and I figured it was just age.  I mean, 80k miles and I've never replaced it, figured it just died.

replaced it yesterday and today when I went out to try some of the things above, I noticed the headlight was out..  so even more so I think I have a short somewhere. 

I checked the fuse block under the ECU, behind the airbox.  is there another somewhere that just drives the headlight?

[Howie]

I don't remember which relay is which, but there are only two.  One is the main relay, the other is the fuel injection relay.  Either can cause your problem.  You could replace them or bypass them by placing a jumper wire between terminal 30 and 87 for test purposes.  Remember, you have bypassed safety devices.

I have no idea whether the immobilizer affects running after start up, hopefully someone will clarify.  After stalling does starter work?  That will be affected by the immobilizer.  Clearly you need to do something about that instrument cluster anyway.  Kill the immobilizer and you can get a used or aftermarket cluster.

Neither high, low, passing or pilot light function?  Got power at the white wire at the headlight connector?  Good ground?  If you just visually inspected the fuse test it with a meter or test light.

[Speeddog]

The main fusebox is as you described, and then there's the master 40A fuse located near the right rear corner of the battery.
That's all of the fuses.

I'm with Howie on replacement of the relays.

[Privateer]

I don't remember which relay is which, but there are only two.  One is the main relay, the other is the fuel injection relay.  Either can cause your problem. 

I'm with Howie on replacement of the relays.

those are the little square/cube things near the 40A fuse right?  just want to ensure I'm replacing the right thing.


Do you think they'd have them at the local auto parts or electronic supply house? or only at the dealer?