Battery Keeps Dying

[chuckfz6ryder]

Hang on a minute, I thought that the bikes came with a 1 year warrenty as standard?
How the fek can it be different for UK to US bikes?

I was wondering the same thing. now I question if I even had a warranty? I assumed that I did, but did not realize the Yamaha dealer could sell it and enter it into their computes as "as is" In Massachusetts where I live, you cannot even sell a used vehicle "as is" if it is over a certain $ value, $500 I think.

Did you get a reduced price that would have made you wonder why it was so cheap, or was this close to MSRP?

 

[kvanderploeg]

Seeing as you both have been pulling your batteries out of the bike, charging, and then re-installing, are the terminal bolts on the battery posts as tight as you can get them when you re-attach the cables? The reason why is if the contact between the cables and the post are not 100% in good contact the starter does not crank. For a poor connection, low current output to run instruments and headlights would be fine but during engine start there is a high demand for current. If the contact between cables and post is not tight, the battery cannot delivery and charging the battery would also be affected through the bike's charging system. The battery terminal bolts pass through the posts of the battery to a floating nut underneath which can slip out and not be there at all or if the cable lugs are not seated flatly over the battery terminals there is not enough length of bolt to touch the nut and suck it up. Just thought I'd mention this as maybe some are not aware of the floating nut thing.

I know exactly what you mean, and I've both loosend and tightened only with a socket. The other thing this makes me think to check is for any oxidation on the underside of the battery wires. Doubt if there is any, but I may check if this occurs again.

Kent

 

[HavBlue]

In my case, the Yamaha rep was able to look up my VIN in her records and see the date it was purchased, and it was registed as an "as is" sale, with no 1 year warranty.

First, somebody better be showing me where on the contract I signed for an alteration of the factory implied agreement. Or, maybe we're just going to throw "truth in advertising right out the window." The bike is advertised as having a 1 year unlimited miles warranty from wheel to wheel so what is the rep doing to get that warranty going? If the answer is nothing, watch how fast I feed Yamaha and the dealer of record an FZ6.

I just noticed you're in Inglewood, California. This is awesome because the State of California hates consumer fraud. Let the dealer and the Yamaha rep know that if your warranty isn't instated you'll be talking to these folks.... LADA's Consumer Protection Division - Consumer Fraud

 

[summey2967]

Let me know the out come b/c I'm having the exact same prob. and I just had a load test on the battery and it came back good. I think the cooling fan is whats pulling my battery down, even though it shouldn't.

 

[YoungAndDumb]

Hang on a minute, I thought that the bikes came with a 1 year warrenty as standard?
How the fek can it be different for UK to US bikes?

They are all supposed to (and yours probably does). Exceptions are when bikes are sold as "auctioned units" because they had cosmetic damage that was fixed, a bike was set aside for a corporate employee and never used, and a few other rare cases. (So I've learned.)

 

[YoungAndDumb]

Let me know the out come b/c I'm having the exact same prob. and I just had a load test on the battery and it came back good. I think the cooling fan is whats pulling my battery down, even though it shouldn't.

Mine turned out to be a bad battery. Yamaha paid for another dealer to come pick up my bike, do a full charging test on it, determine the battery was bad, and replaced it with a new one. :thumbup:

 

[YoungAndDumb]

First, somebody better be showing me where on the contract I signed for an alteration of the factory implied agreement. Or, maybe we're just going to throw "truth in advertising right out the window." The bike is advertised as having a 1 year unlimited miles warranty from wheel to wheel so what is the rep doing to get that warranty going? If the answer is nothing, watch how fast I feed Yamaha and the dealer of record an FZ6.

I just noticed you're in Inglewood, California. This is awesome because the State of California hates consumer fraud. Let the dealer and the Yamaha rep know that if your warranty isn't instated you'll be talking to these folks.... LADA's Consumer Protection Division - Consumer Fraud

Thanks for the link. I'm going to follow that route. In fact, I want some kind of compensation for all the headaches on top of it.

Yamaha went out of their way to ensure they did not have an unhappy customer (their customer service dragged their feet for a couple weeks anyway), so they paid for the fix, but now it's time to go after the dealer.

Oh yeah, for those that are curious, the salesman's name that pulled the bait and switch on me is Tim O'hara at BERT's Mega Mall in Covina, California. In case he's not in jail when this is all said and done, be sure not to trust this guy if you ever run into him!

 

[syda]

I bought an 06 FZ6 leftover, new with warranty, and am having a similar issue. I changed out the sitting battery with a new one from the dealer, but alas, the issue has come up again...

The bike just makes a buzzing noise when trying to start up, sometimes makes a quarter turn of the engine then buzzes, and then shows ER_1 (I believe) on the screen. Crazy thing is, it even happened after riding for an hour well over 5k rpms and shifting between 5-8k depending.

I've brought it into the shop twice now, and twice (at a different dealer other than where I bought it) they're saying the charging system is good, the battery is good, and they don't know what the issue is.

The bike starts from a bump start too... I'm quite frustrated with it, especially since I've had the bike for a month, and it's been in the shop for half that time.

Did everyone else have their problems fixed and they not resurface?

 

[nimzotech]

As unlikely as it may seem, the battery needs to be replaced. If it makes you feel any better, the headlamp bulb went out after a couple of months of owning my brand new 2007 FZ6.

 

[syda]

As unlikely as it may seem, the battery needs to be replaced. If it makes you feel any better, the headlamp bulb went out after a couple of months of owning my brand new 2007 FZ6.

I'm on my second battery now... This one was brand new. That's what I can't figure out.

 

[08fz6]

the only way i know of that you wouldn't get the 1 year warrenty is if the dealer went to a yamaha dealer only auction and bought the bike that was out of another dealers inventory yamaha only gives a short engine warrenty only on that. as in when a dealer goes out yamaha comes in and takes all the machines and then takes them to auction and they are available to yamaha dealers only and they usually buy them anywhere from 40-60% under dealer cost then they take them back in and mix them with their inventory and come up with a much lower averaged sale price! That is also posssibly how some of you got such good prices some got the original bike and some got auction bikes! if the battery is not fixing your problem then i would say you have a charging problem!

 

[YoungAndDumb]

Did everyone else have their problems fixed and they not resurface?

Yes. A new battery fixed my problem. Your bike is under warranty so fortunately you won't have to pay for the fix. Possibly you can be compensated for your inconvenience.

 

[YoungAndDumb]

Did everyone else have their problems fixed and they not resurface?

I must have jinxed myself. My battery died last night. No idea what is going on... The charging system was verified and a new battery was put in a couple months ago.

I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong. I ride with my brights on, I "cruise" below 4k RPM's a lot, and when I'm done riding I leave the key in until the engine fan shuts off.

Anyone understand this in detail to assess what's OK and what's not? Or from personal experience?

 

[syda]

I must have jinxed myself. My battery died last night. No idea what is going on... The charging system was verified and a new battery was put in a couple months ago.

I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong. I ride with my brights on, I "cruise" below 4k RPM's a lot, and when I'm done riding I leave the key in until the engine fan shuts off.

I'm really sorry to hear that, I just got mine back and it's been "OK" for now.

Granted it's been a day. Since I live in the city I also find myself below 4-5k rpms a lot, but never really below 3-4k unless stuck in traffic or at a red light, I don't do the brights thing though.


And same deal, "charging system OK", "battery OK", etc.

Question though, do you get the same buzzing noise and the Er_1 code, which looks like it reboots the front panel?

 

[sportrider]

I must have jinxed myself. My battery died last night. No idea what is going on... The charging system was verified and a new battery was put in a couple months ago.

I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong. I ride with my brights on, I "cruise" below 4k RPM's a lot, and when I'm done riding I leave the key in until the engine fan shuts off.

Anyone understand this in detail to assess what's OK and what's not? Or from personal experience?

gear down when your riding,keeping your RRRs up will help your battery charge. also there's no need to let the cooling fan run ,your bike won't produce anymore heat once it's turned off. how long has it been since you rode your bike?

 

[wrightme43]

Yeah man. leaving the key on till the fan shuts off also leaves the lights on.

Check it out.

Battery Tutorial | Batterystuff.com

When a battery drops below 12.4 volts it begins to sulfate coat the plates. Ours are little tiny things that just dont have much of a reserve.
How do you start your bike. One thing is to make sure to always hold the switch down untill it starts. Otherwise the lights will come on and make it harder untill you shut off the key and turn it back on.

I drained mine the other night riding back with a horrible headache. I couldnt keep the rpms up because I couldnt thing fast enough. I tried to start it the next day and nothing. I removed and trickle charged it, and its been working fine, but I know that I damaged it, and will probley have to replace it before the year is out.

Its something like 8-10 amp hours and 225 cca.

Its easy to run one down.

 

[FZ6 Elwood]

I'm really sorry to hear that, I just got mine back and it's been "OK" for now.

Granted it's been a day. Since I live in the city I also find myself below 4-5k rpms a lot, but never really below 3-4k unless stuck in traffic or at a red light, I don't do the brights thing though.


And same deal, "charging system OK", "battery OK", etc.

Question though, do you get the same buzzing noise and the Er_1 code, which looks like it reboots the front panel?

Mine does this same thing at times. Other times it won't even click. Sometimes it starts fine. I know my battery must have discharged over winter since I did charge it in the spring. Have any of you got an answer yet? Mine was a left over 06 as well. I bought mine April of 06. Of course mine is over a year old, and my selling dealer went bankrupt. Can you help?

 

[wrightme43]

Remove battery. Have it load tested.
If it load tests good, then you would want to look things you are doing to discharge the battery, and how your riding could be changed to keep it charged better. Higher rpms.