2011 Touring won't power up to start (resolved)

[IMDave]

So, tried to start my bike up this morning to go to work. the Bike has been acting weird and It was in the dealer yesterday, and they said it was fine and no error codes. Hoping that you guys can help figure it out.

Note: it's none of the stupid stuff we've all done before (kill switch, in gear, kickstand down)

Issue: Initial power cycle doesn't happen, so start button does nothing

Symptoms:
With ignition key to on:
Fuel pump does not spin up / prime
Limited instrument lights
- neutral light out, high beam works
- yellow engine light out, oil light on
- gas gauge inop
- starter switch doesn't engage starter / press it, nothing happens
- That lack of a power-up cycle seems to be the issue. Like when you leave the kill switch engaged, nothing happens when you turn the key.

Previous 'acting weird' stuff
- engine light on intermittently
- significant (10 sec) delay between turning key and electronic power up sound
- gas gauge going to zero, then returning to normal
- speedo went out yesterday while driving, for about 5 min, then worked again

Any help appreciated!
Update: moving the handlebars, flipping the kill switch, etc. = no change. checked the fuses/relays I could reach, they seem seated correctly. Having the bike hauled to the shop ($115 for an 8 miles drive, sheesh), hoping they can figure it out

 

[Fingers]

Is it in neutral? Also did you try moving handlebars back and forth ? Others more knowledgeable will be around with proper answers .

 

[IMDave]

Is it in neutral? Also did you try moving handlebars back and forth ? Others more knowledgeable will be around with proper answers .

Thanks for the prompt reply. yes, it is actually in Neutral, though the indicator doesn't light during this failure state. Most indicators are inoperative, including neutral

 

[Mike]

Am I correct in making the presumption that you checked all of the fuses? The issue with the gauge lights starts to lead me to fuses.

 

[IMDave]

Thanks for the prompt reply. yes, it is actually in Neutral, though the indicator doesn't light during this failure state. Most indicators are inoperative, including neutral

Thanks for the suggestion. It was at the dealer yesterday (they said they checked all that) and it is an intermittent issue, so not a blown fuse. Though they could of missed a poorly seated fuse in their checks. It was still dark outside when I tried to leave (I'm 200 mi from home in a hotel parking lot, so limited options). Though I wouldn't be surprised if the geniuses at triumph put some of the instrumentation lights on a circuit shared with the ignition and the rest on a different circuit I'll check that now.

 

[Ygransom]

I recently had a similar sitation on my 08 RT. It was a problem with the alarm blank off plug under the tank.

 

[daytonageo]

I'll chime in not knowing crap about electrical issues, but have seen many posts like this on other boards. A whole host of weird problems can appear with bad grounding on any circuit. I'm not saying that is the issue, but a bad ground can cause holy hell on the electrical system as a whole.

 

[idk]

The usual culprits are:

Battery terminals loose and/or dirty
Fuse blown or not connecting correctly. Try jiggling them, especially the 30amp fuse
Ignition switch burnt out. Pull the switch apart and re-solder the wire. You will need to remove two tamper-proof screws and replace them (preferrably with regular metric bolts)
Faulty connection in the wiring harness.

Although the R3T doesn't have the ingnition switch problem as much as the Classic or Standard, it can happen. Especially if you are in the habit of driving with high beam on through the day.

 

[Claviger]

Sounds like a dead battery or bad ground from the battery to chassis.

 

[Bedifferent]

Always an issue when things are dead and things just don't seem to work. Here is a page from the manual I find invaluable. Make sure you have power across fuses 1-4 and 6,7 without the key being on. 5 and 9 should be energized with the key turned on and if not, I would suspect the switch. I would closely check the starter relay (70) and more specifically the engine management relay (3). The starter relay is different but the engine management relay is the same as the two other relays you see behind the left cover. You can switch those relays around to check their function. The starter relay is located under the right cover kind of behind the ECU. There have been several posts as mentioned about this type of problem with the alarm connector(34) and circuit. I would remove the alarm connector and see if that solves the problem. There are numerous sensors that can also cause issues like the sidestand switch (5), clutch lever switch (62, engine kill switch (32) and the fall detection switch (15). Throughly check the battery connections and their attachment points. @DEcosse has written some very knowledgable post about how to approach this problem and a little research may bring something to light.