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Buell Forum » 1125R Superbike Board » Archives 001 » Archive through May 28, 2010 » Battery Dead - Theft Error Message. What caused this? « Previous Next »

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Peter_nikols
Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 01:05 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Hi all,

Yesterday I went to start my bike and I get Theft Error on my instrument cluster then it went dead and won't start.

Before you start up on me I've already done searches here and on other forums.

SO, at first I thought it had something to do with the fact that I reset the Service Odometer last week. I thought I did something wrong. I still may have...
But I have gone riding twice since then and have started it up at least a dozen times with no errors or warning, and it did not ask me to enter a PIN in any of those starts. The bike sat for 3 days then yesterday I went to start it and the cluster lit up showing Theft Error then it went dark.

After reading Wahoo's thread I decided to check the battery. It was in fact low. I could see the headlights were dim and when I put the battery tender on, it showed that is was charging. I left it all night long but it still did not charge. I think the batter might be completely dead.

Can the battery just completely die out like that? Shouldn't it take a lot longer to discharge?

I could see there were a lot of reported incidents of batteries dieing out in only a few days. Is this because of a know issue like a power drain from the security system or something else?

My question is, should I buy a new battery and install it or is this gonna happen to the new battery as well?

Thanks
Peter
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Daggar
Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 01:10 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Buy a new battery. I've had car batteries that worked great and then were dead on the next attempted start.
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Dktechguy112
Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 01:36 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

you can check your battery, charge up the battery, and then just put a voltmeter across the terminals, if you get a voltage of 12.7 it is a good battery(100%). 12.6 is 75% charge, and i think 12.5 is 50% charge. If you don't have a voltmeter you can get one at radio shack for $20. make sure it is set to dv voltage when you measure.
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Jules
Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 01:47 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I notice from your profile you have a 2008 R, some of them had issues with the IC drawing current and draining the battery over the course of a few days. You might want to check the s/w version of the IC too..
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Thefleshrocket
Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 01:58 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I too had a battery that was fine and then completely dead, albeit not in my 1125R. My CBR wouldn't turn on its lights or have any sign of life whatsoever. I thought it was the ignition switch or something in the wiring and did some wiring testing only to find everything appeared to be good. On a whim, I tried a new battery and it worked properly. I guess a cell in it went bad or something, but it was probably my fault--I had left the plastic piece that wedges the battery firmly in place and says "do not leave this piece out or battery damage could result" on it.

In your case, it could be the IC drain that caused the battery to die prematurely. I had my 1125's battery die overnight once.. but only once. I assume it was the IC drain that caused it, but since it hasn't happened again in ~1500 miles, who knows.


(Message edited by thefleshrocket on May 20, 2010)
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Peter_nikols
Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 02:05 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Hey Jules,

They updated the ECM with the latest flash when I went in for the first service 2 weeks ago. They forgot to reset the service odometer so I decided to do it myself.

I followed the instruction in the manual but it asked me for the pin number, I didn't know what it was so I turned it off to exit. I was afraid I did something wrong but it didn't seem to do anything except make the "Service Now" message go away. So I went riding and no problems.

When I got the Theft Error message yesterday I check the manual. It said that the Theft Error message appears if there is an incorrect entry during Setup Menu. So I assumed i screwed up and got locked out. I'm almost convinced that is a coincidence and it's actually the battery.

If your right about the IC that would explain something. Maybe resetting the odometer caused some power drain. What do you think?

Peter
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Lucky_jim
Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 02:56 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

You may have already come across this by now, but the default pin is 0000
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Bertman
Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 04:46 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I have had a dead, or too low to start the bike battery four times on my 08R. It has always come as a result of accidentally getting into the security function, twice while trying to reset the service counter like you did. If I go out and ride the motorcycle after getting onto the security mode I am always good to go and don't have the drain problem. So yours is kinda strange to me having the drain after running the bike a couple times.
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Peter_nikols
Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 05:25 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Bertman,

Do you suggest I disarm the security mode?
Assuming I can get it running of course...

Peter
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Easy_rider
Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 09:55 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I had a similar situation. Went to pick up the bike from the dealer, rolled it around the corner rather than start it and went in to buy parts, and got the theft error code and a dead battery when I returned. I thought it was from rolling the bike but a battery replacement did the trick. I was concerned because they put in new battery when I bought it a month earlier but I haven't had a problem since.
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Swampdog225
Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 10:33 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I had a similar problem with my 08 R, and disabled the security code. After recharging the battery, the issue subsided.

As an FYI, I suggest you check the connections on the ECM, make sure that they are seated properly. This condition can occur without the Security PIN being armed.

After some time I had the same issue pop up again randomly. With the THEFT ERROR. This was with the security pin turned off.

After several trips to the dealer, and the shop foreman working on the bike, they determined that there were several pins that were bad on the connection to the ECM. If the IC loses its connection to the ECM, this condition would occur. The pins and the connector housing were replaced and the issue disappeared.
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Bertman
Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 10:48 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I have the theft mode off myself. I have never been able to reset my pin number from day one, and the computer does not accept 0000 as the default pin. It just seems that the only times I have battery problems is when I get the cluster trying to verify a pin number - which I can't. Put a volt meter on the battery, I bet it is just really discharged.

If you have an appropriate charger, just try to charge it up. If it works, then fine - ride it!
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Peter_nikols
Posted on Friday, May 21, 2010 - 01:22 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Hi all,

So I definitely concluded that it was the low battery that caused THEFT ERROR message. I charged it with a real battery charger until the load meter went to zero amps. That took a couple of hours. Then I put the key in, No warnings or errors, and fired right up.

So I went for a ride and stopped a couple of times to see if it would behave normally on restart. Every thing went smooth. I put the trickle charger on it over night and this morning headed to the dealer.

They plugged it into the computer. Nothing seemed wrong. We set a new PIN and made sure the Security system was set to 'OFF ON KEY OFF'. The tech checked the battery and the charging system. He told me that it really starts charging at 4000 RPM. He proved it to me on by showing me the reading on the computer as he revved it. I immediately thought I must have been babying it too much and didn't charge properly. Second thing we noticed is when we were setting things on the IC the voltage on the battery went down. SO the IC is a huge drain on the battery. You need to charge it after messing with the IC (if you spent a lot of time setting it).

I will buy a battery connector for the trickle charger and plug it is between rides. That should do it. I hope...

Thanks all...
Peter
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Jules
Posted on Friday, May 21, 2010 - 01:36 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Yeah - i have to do that when I use mine for really short journeys in traffic. Battery doesn't get enough juice to recharge in stop/start traffic and it's a cumulative discharge over a number of journeys.
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Lucky_jim
Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2010 - 12:33 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

That's some good info. I had some battery problems last time I took my bike for a commute, with lots of stop and go.. even during the go I probably wasn't even doing 4000 RPM. Have to keep that in mind for the future : )
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