Yamaha Riva electrical problems By mike932 (Read 13,446 times)

[mike932]

I removed the battery in order to take it to get tested, so I will eventually reconnect it carefully. It did have some kind of brown grease on the terminals. Does that matter?

With the scooter battery removed, I will connect a jumper cable from the positive terminal of the battery inside my car to the positive terminal connector in the scooter.  I will then connect the other jumper cable from the negative terminal of the battery inside my car to a non-fuel piece of metal inside the scooter.  I will then try to start the scooter with the car engine off.

Actually, I could connect the negative cable to the negative terminal connector in the scooter since there is no battery inside the scooter which could explode.

[JR]

Battery will be fine if you leave it in and hooked up, put the jumper cables on properly but do not start the vehicle you hook up to then start the scooter. You also need to put your volt meter on the battery and take a reading with it at idle, then rev it up and see if the voltage increases. You can do all of this with a car battery hooked up and the scooter battery also.

JR

[mike932]

Already done. Hooked up car battery without scooter battery in scooter. Scooter lights work great. Scooter started easily. Turned off scooter engine. Started scooter again easily. Repeated 5 times. Scooter started easily 5 times, so it must be either bad scooter battery or bad battery terminal connection, right?

Now I inserted the questionable scooter battery back into scooter.  There was no snapping sound that usually happens when connecting a battery.  Scooter lights did come on and scooter did not start.  I then used multimeter to see that scooter battery only has 11.1 volts now, so 12.7 must had been just a surface charge as Alleyoop suggested.  Time for new battery, right?

[JR]

Hard to say? Why? If it's a loose connection it'll not show it's face until you're riding the scooter and it jars loose?

So here are your choices IMO:

Trace the scooter battery cables and make sure they are tight and clean especially the ground (negative) cable

If you find nothing loose or corroded then put your battery back in, if it won't start/run buy a new battery and see if this cures it

If it starts/runs ok then give her a spin and see if it acts stupid again, if so then it's time to start hunting a electrical gremlin.

JR

[mike932]

I figure buying a new battery is never a bad idea anyway since they only last a few years, and the one I have is probably pretty old.  JR, make sure you reread my prior post which I edited to say that my scooter battery has only 11.1 volts now.

[mike932]

My questionable scooter battery is an 8-amp Bike Master TruGel MG7C-A non-spillable. There is this number stamped on it: M0107DA6. Is that a date stamp?

[Alleyoop]

Just get a new battery, as you experienced when you connected the car battery it started no problems whatsoever. And as you tested the voltage has now dropped even further. So when you turn the key on and hit the start button if you test it then I will bet it drops down into the 6 range which will give you nothing. Batteries are funny the surface charge may be good but as soon as you draw juice from it like a bulb it will light up zapping the surface voltage and then start to dim.

[mike932]

Looking for batteries online right now. Dimensions are:
Product Width 3.54"
Product Length 5.12"
Product Height 4.49"
Are the ones that must be filled by the customer any good?

[JoeyBee]

Not sure what the stamp would be. At least we know you need a new battery. I'm guessing once you replace it you will be good to go.

[mike932]

The car battery was a good idea, eh?

[cyborg]

I checked the date stamp you put up on the board and they transposed the letters the date of manufacture is 1070AD ,,,, ,,,, go buy a battery alright already

[Alleyoop]

GOOD ONE, MAN THAT IS AN OLD BATTERY

[cyborg]

Yes mike good call on the battery,,,,when testing its nice to have a clean steady supply,,,,I'd still go thru the beast and check all terminations ,,,ground lug on frame engine ground ,,,everything,,,just for peace of mind,,,,and yes the manufacturers usually send the batteries "dry",,, with a gang bottle of the acid,,,the top of the battery cell openings have the piercing tool built in,,you just take out the caps insert gang bottle on top tap it in place and come back 10-15 min later and it's done,,,easy peasy baby

[mike932]

I suppose I should post a photo of my battery....

[cyborg]

The same kind they used in Egypt,,,,,archeologists found shards in a trash heaps,,,,and they know this how?,,,,,,,,,, no carbon soot in the paintings,,,,bingo!!!!!! Tell him what he won Wink!!!!!!!!!!!!!