Cold Weather + Oil

[budman]

..I'm with ya J3..some of these bikes (mine and yours for sure) just won't start in cold weather..and some will..I'm stumped..I was thinking about installing a 345CCA battery, but would have to do some mods because of the width (5" versus 3")..if you change the starter wires and it helps, let us know..good luck with it..

 

[Triple Trouble]

After lunch with the temperature at 3 deg C. I hit the starter and she turned over and fired. Hit the button again and away she went. No clue why my bike is different.

 

[Gothlander]

Try this, use your car jumper cable to connect the earth on your bike battery to the body of the starter motor. If it starts ok then the earth wire is the problem, If you are brave enough you can check the positive side as well (please to make sure bike in neutral first).

Still haven't got to the bottom of this yet. Even with two batteries in parallel it would not start the other day so I'm stumped. When I get some time, I'm going to be checking the starter connections and even maybe run a new cable to the starter. I have at least proved that it is cold related because the same day, I put a fan heater under the engine for a couple of hours and she fired right up.
It's painful because I've missed a few nice riding days already and the season is short enough as it is.

Cheers

Jthree

 

[jthree]

After lunch with the temperature at 3 deg C. I hit the starter and she turned over and fired. Hit the button again and away she went. No clue why my bike is different.

That just makes me even more determined to fix this. I know it should work.

Try this, use your car jumper cable to connect the earth on your bike battery to the body of the starter motor. If it starts ok then the earth wire is the problem, If you are brave enough you can check the positive side as well (please to make sure bike in neutral first).

Thanks, I'll give that a shot tonight.

Cheers

Jthree

 

[nethound]

My R3 is one of the ones that didn't like to start in the cold, and not just really cold weather, I had problems in the low 50's. I went to the Odyssey 545 and then the 625, but it didn't fix the problem.

After multiple stays in the dealer's shop they said they had found the problem was a crankshaft sensor was out of spec and that the change in temperature was enough to cause it to fail so the bike would not start. I was a little dubious, but the bike did seem to start ok. Of course, it was March and the weather was getting warm at that point.

The problem start reoccurring this September. The dealer replaced the oil with a lighter oil, and also replaced the Odyssey battery with a stock battery and the problem seems to have gone away. I put the Odyssey back in and the problem came back. So I'm still dubious here, because this problem occurred with the original stock battery and two Odyssey batteries and I wouldn't think lighter oil and a return to a stock battery would cause the problem.

That being said, it has started just fine in the low 30's now and I haven't had any more problems.

I did have some remote LED engine lights wired directly to the battery that the dealer said he thought was draining the battery and causing my problem. However, those were not installed when the original problem occurred and were only put in place after they initially said it was fixed, and the problem still occurred even after me disconnecting them with the Odyssey 625 in place. I haven't wired them back up with the latest battery yet and will probably put them on a relay.

Anyway, I can feel your pain. Having a bike you can't depend on is no fun. Right now mine is finally working, but it will take some time to really come to trust it. I was considering the spare battery solution myself before this last go round, and if it happens again that is probably the solution I will implement. That or trade it in for a Thunderbird Storm.

Good Luck

 

[jthree]

Well, we're back to the drawing board again. Ran a permanent cable from the battery to the starter (parallel to the original) and still have the same problem. I have a Shoria battery with, supposedly, 405 CCA and she still won't start below 15°C.
The one thing I haven't done is run a ground from battery to starter. Is there a ground wire connection on the starter or does it just rely on the body as a ground? (I'm not near it right now so can't look)

Cheers

Jthree

 

[jthree]

I am a firm believer in jinxes but... I think I may have it

Thanks to Gothlander I used my jumper cables to ground the starter to the battery and away she went. I then traced the ground wire to where it meets the engine, cleaned the connector as well as the engine connection and added No-Ox to prevent further corrosion. I figured, while I'm at it, I'll add another cable from the ground point to the starter (may be a complete waste of time but oh well, I now have a well grounded starter at least). It's 7C today (44F) and it started first time. Admittedly the first rev was real slow but it started none the less. I'm not about to ride when it's this cold anyway.

Yee freaking Haa!

As I said, I hope I didn't jinx myself by posting this so soon but after all this time I'm a little excited.

Now I just have to figure out why my KIL key-less ignition has lost its mind

Cheers

Jthree

 

[CanberraR3]

J3, I've been following this thread with great interest. Last winter I had the bike in a car port for the first time - always been in a fully enclosed garage before that. First morning where the temp had dropped to 0C it wouldn't start. By not start I mean it wouldn't crank and made all the sounds of a dead battery. Next morning it had only gone down to 3C and it did start. What I found was that 1C was the critical temp for me. I covered the bike through winter and it perhaps gave me an extra 1 degree.

Winter's again approaching but I'll be back in a garage so I'm hoping l'll be OK. But will be good to know there's at least something I can try. Thanks for your persistence and also Goth for what looks like the 'fix'. Fingers crossed (for you).

 

[64Herald]

I have one of the cold no-start, sometimes even with a jump. Today I was changing the rear tire and decided to check the ground wire. i grabed the wire and it moved, not a good sign. I took it off the bolt and it was dirty. Instead of putting it back I made a jumper and put the jumper on the ground bolt and put the ground wire from the battery with the other end of the jumper on the starter bolt. Being a Triumph car owner I know that grounds are always a problem so I anded an extra wire from the battery ground to the battery box frame. When I get my tire back I'll give it a try but it's not that cold now.

 

[64Herald]

38 this morning and she started right up. starter never spun so fast in the cold. Maybe it has more to do with the starter having a bad connection to the engine. Oxidation?? I'll try in a couple of days again