Triumphrat

10-08-2006

Well my first "issue" since purchasing my 2002 S4. The bike had been riding incredible, then one night i park it in the garage for the night, come back the next day and the battery is DEAD. Charged the battery and it started right up, the only problem was that the "check engine light" was on. I thought it was a bad battery. Changed the battery, light still on. Thought it was the charging system, but the voltage is fine and it is charging properly. I did checked my coolant overflow tank it there was nothing in it, not even close to "min". So i am going to fill it tomorrow when i can buy the right coolant. Here is the question! I know there are a million things that can cause the engine light to come on, but is the coolant level one of them? Any ideas?? I just don't want to take it to the dealer just yet, $89 an hour!!! and the guy that is "quallified" doesn't have too good of a history working on Triumphs. not just yet...Thanks everyone...

Mecchanica · 10-09-2006

You may have blown a diode (to ground) in your regulator/rectifier. It will still charge on the other two phases, but discharge when sitting. Try charging the battery and then unplug the rect./reg and let it sit. If it doesn't then discharge, you have found the problem.
Or, if you have a Volt Ohm meter, disconnect the hot (+) lead from the battery, and with everything off, place the positive lead from the meter on the battery + terminal and the neg. lead on the battery + cable terminal. If you get a reading, you likely have a bad rect/reg.

Yak · 10-09-2006

The check engine light is on because the ECU lost constant power. It will reset itself after 3 complete heating cycles. That means heat up to the point of the fan coming on and back down to under 110F.

10-09-2006

Well it wasn't the battery directly. It was the electrical system. More specifically it was a small electrical fire at a bad connection. It looks like the ground wire shorted and completely melted the conectors and one of the ground wire is completely dissolved. It is the first connection coming out of the stator and connecting to the main wire harnest. Before I bought the bike the previous owner had an issue with oil getting in the air box and leaking everywhere. There was a bad seal somewhere. Well he fixed it but the oil had already done it's damage. The wires under the tank are covered in oil. And the burnt connectors are covered in it. So problem found! But how in the world am I going to replace the male and female connectors without replacing the main harnest. Do they sell just the connectors, or i could buy the OEM harnest for $300+. I think i will splice some wires and make it work. Any ideas?

zippy · 09-09-2007

Thanks for this post. I also had this problem after fitting an intercom and letting the battery go dead. I followed your advice and the problem is sorted.
They ought to put this info in the workshop manuals. All they say is take it to a dealer. This has saved me a bucket full of dosh. Cheers!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yak

The check engine light is on because the ECU lost constant power. It will reset itself after 3 complete heating cycles. That means heat up to the point of the fan coming on and back down to under 110F.

Diego · 09-10-2007

> They ought to put this info in the workshop manuals.

They do. It may not be readily apparent unless you've had some experience with ECU error codes before; but if you glance at the list of codes in most Triumph shop manuals, you'll see that there is a code for electrical system undervoltage, and it's one of many that reset after the fault has been cleared for three full operating cycles.