Post Wires Plus ECH replacement

[Frundsberg]

I just had my '08 K-9 Ehc system replaced with the Wires Plus system, along with the ign. switch and Efi kit. I keep my K-9 and Harley on battery tenders. The tender on the K-9 keeps charging and went into stand-by mode only twice in the three weeks since the Wires Plus install which was performed by a Victory/Big Dog mechanic who has experience with replacing the stock Ehc with the Wires Plus system. I switched tenders on the two bikes and got the same results. The company who I got the tenders from three years ago advised that the K-9 wiring is the culprit causing a constant battery drain. The Big Dog mechanic cited his hard wiring of the system and advised that since I have no electrical add-ons such as clocks, etc. there should be no drain upon the battery. I will be taking the K-9 back to him on Jan. 3rd for his inspection. I am curious to know if any of you have had a similar incident after a Wires Plus equipment install? I had a new battery installed at the same time as the WP kits and it checked out good. Thanks, Frundsberg.

 

[oldmutt]

I did a wireplus the first week in June and did not use a tender until the weather cooled in October. You have something drawing power for the battery.

 

[Chopper Dave]

I did Wire-Plus in April....always keep my bike on the tender..when I get back from a ride and plug in the tender...within minutes its flashing green and about 15 min. its solid green.
As oldmutt said...something must be drawing from your battery

 

[BigDogBro1]

The ECM (S&S EFI controller) draws continuous power, don't cha know.....measure the current draw with an amp meter (DMM) set to DC in the miliamp range.

 

[Frundsberg]

Yeah, something's getting by me on this. The mechanic is excellent and I know he'll find it, but that's about three rides away and it's the not knowing.

 

[bdmridgeback]

There is a constant 12v red wire that should be run through a very small (2 or 5 amp) fuse. It draws nothing to speak of just like a clock in a car. Just enough to keep the memory for the EFI module.

I can let my Carb bike with wire plus sit with no tender for over a month and it will fire right up. It has been hitting in the 40's down here so I plugged it in but have never caught it in charge mode yet.

He may have something else powered up constantly.

 

[Whistler]

Electrical Load When Ignition Key Is Off

I too have a 2008 K9 EFI and noticed when I installed a new battery a faint whinning sound coming from the gas tank area. I installed the positive cable first then noticed this sound when I connected the negative cable to the battery. This sound is very faint and obviously NOT the louder whine of the fuel pump loading up during pre-start up. I don't know what this faint sound is but it is obviously an electrical load of some type and therefore must be a slight continuous load on the battery.

Anyone know what this load is?

:flag::flag:

 

[Frundsberg]

Whisler, I also heard the faint whine from under the tank area, but that was prior to the Wires Plus install. I was having an elec. issue and I assumed that all was corrected after the WP install. I'm going to listen for the whine again. I had the WP install performed due to starting issues (turned out to be the battery which had been tested and declared good but was ultimately the culprit; voltage read 13 and cranking was 239 but it was determined that it would not pass load test)We all assumed that there were Ech problems and so many owners were having Ech trouble that I decided to waver from my "if it ain't broke don't fix it" creedo. Having read at least two reports of a complete shutdown of power while riding in heavy freeway traffic and the no warning suddenness of the shutdown effect, I spooked and had the WP system installed(reason #1). I had over 6000 mi. on the old system and it may never have failed, but my constant passenger, my wife, advised that she would be seriously stressed if we broke down on one of our remote mountain rides and got in my face so I folded(reason #2). bdmridgeback, and BigDogBro1, I hear you and my suspicions are that the EFI kit installed with the WP system may be the drain source. I'll have it all checked out on the 3rd and i'll post the diagnosis. Thanks again everyone.
Frundsberg.

 

[Frundsberg]

Having a little delay in getting mechanic inspection on the K9, and another little wrinkle; while traveling to the shop I began downshifting from 65mph to take the off-ramp and I noticed my oil light flickered twice during the downshift. I parked ASAP and checked the oil level which read full. Continued on to the shop with no oil light flickering during downshift on city street from 35 mph. Something ain't hooked up right. Service Mgr. promised to have the inspection done by tomorrow. Frundsberg.

 

[bdmridgeback]

Sounds like I would be questioning the install knowledge of the guy that did the install.

I would have them go back through it wire for wire at their cost and make sure everything is up to par...although if he didn't know what he was doing first time around, I would doubt he will find anything weong with HIS install the second time.

 

[erldawg]

Having a little delay in getting mechanic inspection on the K9, and another little wrinkle; while traveling to the shop I began downshifting from 65mph to take the off-ramp and I noticed my oil light flickered twice during the downshift. I parked ASAP and checked the oil level which read full. Continued on to the shop with no oil light flickering during downshift on city street from 35 mph. Something ain't hooked up right. Service Mgr. promised to have the inspection done by tomorrow. Frundsberg.

It'll be interesting to see what the fix is.
Besides Normad you may very well be the only other one to have a WP installed on a an EFI bike. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[BigDogBro1]

I too have a 2008 K9 EFI and noticed when I installed a new battery a faint whinning sound coming from the gas tank area. I installed the positive cable first then noticed this sound when I connected the negative cable to the battery. This sound is very faint and obviously NOT the louder whine of the fuel pump loading up during pre-start up. I don't know what this faint sound is but it is obviously an electrical load of some type and therefore must be a slight continuous load on the battery.

Anyone know what this load is?

:flag::flag:

I think the faint whinning sound you hear could be the stepper motor in the IAC (idle air control) unit on the throttle body.

 

[dnespolo]

It'll be interesting to see what the fix is.
Besides Normad you may very well be the only other one to have a WP installed on a an EFI bike. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I got wire plus on mine

 

[bdmridgeback]

It'll be interesting to see what the fix is.
Besides Normad you may very well be the only other one to have a WP installed on a an EFI bike. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

There are a bunch of Wire-Plus modules on EFI bikes done out there, just may not be members here.

I have sold about 20+ WP kits to EFI guys in the last 6 months.
I have walked about 6 or so through the install on EFI bikes out of those.

I have not had any of those guys get back to me with issues.

The EFI is always going to draw a bit, just like when the EHC was in it. Will always need a tender on a EFI bike with a Wire-Plus because of the memory drawing off the battery all the time.

Wire-Plus on a Carb bike can sit for months without a Tender on it and fire right up.

 

[Frundsberg]

There are a bunch of Wire-Plus modules on EFI bikes done out there, just may not be members here.

I have sold about 20+ WP kits to EFI guys in the last 6 months.
I have walked about 6 or so through the install on EFI bikes out of those.

I have not had any of those guys get back to me with issues.

The EFI is always going to draw a bit, just like when the EHC was in it. Will always need a tender on a EFI bike with a Wire-Plus because of the memory drawing off the battery all the time.

Wire-Plus on a Carb bike can sit for months without a Tender on it and fire right up.

I'm heading out to pick up my K9. I spoke with the service writer and he advised that the head mechanic from the Kawasaki side of the dealership, at the service manager's direction, performed the inspection(probably because the Victory/BD mechanic was swamped)and could find no problem(s). The key-off draw test was okay with .002 DCA. The driving test could get no oil light blinks. The service manager believes that my tender(s)is the issue. I'm thinking that the EFI kit draw may be just enough to keep the battery from reaching up to full charge standby and holding it there until the recharge kicks back in. Bdmridgeback, does my theory hold water? If not, I will explain my subsequent reaction to a possible fault by the mechanic on a followup entry on this blog. Anyone can make an error. I know and respect the BD mechanic. The response by the service manager in having another mechanic check the system could become problematic for the dealership owner. Frundsberg.

 

[bdmridgeback]

I seriously dont think that .002 DCA would stop the tender from turning off. It should be able to keep up with that unless it is 10 degrees in your garage. The colder it gets out, the harder it will be to keep up a charge. I wouldn't worry about if the tender is turning off or not, as long as when you go to ride it fires right up.

How many days can it set with the tender off of it before it doesn't turn over very well?

 

[erldawg]

I got wire plus on mine

Duly noted thank you.

There are a bunch of Wire-Plus modules on EFI bikes done out there, just may not be members here.

I have sold about 20+ WP kits to EFI guys in the last 6 months.
I have walked about 6 or so through the install on EFI bikes out of those.

The EFI is always going to draw a bit, just like when the EHC was in it. Will always need a tender on a EFI bike with a Wire-Plus because of the memory drawing off the battery all the time.

My observation was based on BDB members. Glad to hear many others with EFI have installed the WP. No new is good news I guess....:2thumbs:

Take the fuse out of the power line of to the VFI module and see if your charging changes / the draw on the battery stops. I really don't pay attention to mine I just plug it in and walk away. I have had my oil light flash but that was on a very hot day while coming to a stop. I think there was a thread on this somewhere.

 

[Frundsberg]

The KAWA mech. and the BD mechanic conferred following the inspection and I was informed that the system and install was checked and nothing was discovered which would be a power draw. The Kawa mech. believes that my tender is probably not working correctly. That's certainly possible although switching the two tenders back and forth between bikes gave the same results with which ever tender was hooked to the K9. Just to cover any ambiguities, I will send the tender, one of them that is, to the vendor for an eval. I agree with you bdmridgeback, that I should ignore the charging lights in this instance. The K9 fires right up and runs like new out of the box. I put about 150 miles on it since picking it up and the only other thing I noticed was when shutting the ign. off, the speedo needle comes to rest at 50mph. I've never seen that happen before. I switched the key on and off quickly and the needle rests at 0. I performed several series of downshifting at different speeds and RPM's and the oil light never flickered again. So, i'm not going to worry about these little gremlins(no, I don't have a bell) and go with bdmr's recommendation and just drive it. Frundsberg.