No Power on KLR650

[fredtman]

My 2013 KLR650 has 8K miles on it. The other day I tried to start it and all lights came on when I turned the key on. When I pushed the starter button all power went off and I heard a faint crackling sound. I had no dash lights, headlight, brake light, turn signals or horn. ALL POWER was gone. I checked the main fuse (not the spare underneath in the rubber holder) and the two fuses under the seat with a fuse tester and the test light came on for all three. I took the key in and out, wiggled it around, turned the bars back and forth and still no power. Today I started to troubleshoot again. I turned the key on first just to start from the beginning and all lights came on. But when I pushed the starter button everything went off again and I heard that very faint crackling sound again. What do some of you electrical gremlin chasers think my next move should be?

[jeffyjeff]

Sounds like your battery is shot. Put it on a charger overnight and try again. If the bike still does not start, have it tested. Troubleshooting your electrical system requires a functional, fully charged battery.
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History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men - BOC

[oilyrag]

Could be the battery, good to give it a charge but it sounds like you have a bad connection on a main power or ground. Could be at the battery, starter relay, starter motor or earth connection to the frame and engine.

[doggone]

It sounds more like bad connection than necessarily bad battery
Take off and reclamp battery terminals, negative is always most likely to have a problem and make sure it has good contact to frame.
Some jump leads and another battery or vehicle would help diagnose at this stage.

[MCN]

2013 and still having the original factory (dealer) battery form new shouts out that the battery is kaput.

But no harm in troubleshooting the additional shit.

A test meter will only show volts in the battery and amps that a consumer uses but it cannot fully test a battery.
A proper test requires a substantial load to be applied to the battery whilst the volts are observed.
The headlamp is no where near enough load to make the battery work hard.
The sort of load that the starter motor applies to the battery is enough.
(On some equipment it is possible to stall the engine and engage the starter and read the volts.
That is the same load as a High Rate Discharge Tester would apply.
But modern stuff has interlocks to help prevent autists from starting an engine whilst in gear. 🤣

Halfrauds sell good bike batteries and can test your existing battery whilst you wait.

The high rate discharge test holds a load on a 'freshly charged' battery showing 12> Volts for a few seconds not more than 5sec is enough.
The battery voltage should not drop below 10volts.
If it drops below 10volts then that indicates that the battery is begining to break-down.
Batteries that test bad cannot be recovered to a reliable state and should be replaced with new. (Not some lump of shite that's been sat on dad's Healing Shelf for some time.)
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[oilyrag]

Am I missing something? Where does it say it has the original factory battery from 2013? I'd be 99% sure he's got a bad connection on a main power or ground. Where ever the "faint crackling" is coming from is the bad connection.

[doggone]

It easily could be on original battery, my CRF250 roughs it a bit but is from same year and not needed changing.

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

That "faint crackling sound" could be the starter solenoid buzz; a classic sign of a flat battery. There's enough volts for the lights (at first) but not enough amps for the starter. Quickest test: if it will start with jump leads to another vehicle it's got a flat battery.

[MCN]

[oilyrag]

Describing a noise is subjective so maybe it's the starter relay but people usually describe the starter relay as a rapid clicking or a buzzing sound when the battery is low.

What he or she said was "When I pushed the starter button all power went off and I heard a faint crackling sound. I had no dash lights, headlight, brake light, turn signals or horn. ALL POWER was gone" That is classic bad connection description. I'll give that my lock of the week

https://longshotvalue.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/smoothjimmy.png?w=630

[Easy-X]

I push the button / turn the key, doesn't start, lights dim... with all due respect, how is this a revelation?

Li-Ion jumper packs cost buttons on eBay/Amazon/etc. Surely the first port of call
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[fredtman]

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

When the new battery arrives it would be worthwhile checking the charging system in case it's the true cause of battery failure.

[fredtman]

[doggone]

If the rectifier was pooped, the alternator could be sending out battery destroying voltages

[oilyrag]

What brand battery is it? Sounds like there's a bad connection internally in the battery. It has voltage at the terminals when there's no load and no current flow but when a load is put on it all the voltage drops internally across the bad connection so no current flow.

[jeffyjeff]

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

I was thinking that a duff new battery seems unlikely, so suppose it starts off good but on each journey it's not being charged, only drained. OP gets home, plugs the charger in, next trip all seems fine. But in my experience even with an Optimate it may "recover" the battery but it'll never be quite the same again; damage has been done. Eventually after a few of these cycles it's done for, but to the OP it'll seem like a sudden event. Checking that the battery is being charged would be an easy test when the new one arrives, and it might save a repeat event in a few weeks time.

[jeffyjeff]

I agree. They make deep-cycle batteries for the kind of duty cycle you describe. Not the norm for a motorcycle with a functioning charging system.
____________________
History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men - BOC