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2010 Hammer Battery & CEL problems

4K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  whooshbang 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all!
Bought a 2010 Hammer with 12 000 km (~7400 miles) on the clock a couple of months ago. Except for the engine backfiring a lot, the bike has run perfectly for the ~1000 km I've ridden it so far. I came back from a trip with the bike about a week ago and left the bike in the garage for a few days. The next time I went to go riding, the battery was so drained, that the starter barely turned over and the bike wouldn't start. Just a lot of "relay rattle". Before this happened, there were no obvious signs of the battery being weak. I figured the battery had come to the end of it's days and bought a new one. I installed the new battery and went for a test ride, behold; the check engine light came on. Stopped the bike and started again, the CEL went out but came back shortly after. In the beginning the CEL would come on after revving the engine e.g. after a brisk acceleration, now it lights up at steady 2000 rpm. I'm baffled! I've checked the battery voltage (12,8V) and charging voltage (14,4V at idle) and they seem ok to me. Checked the air filter, the spark plugs and they seem fine, plugs had the right color & gap etc. If i set the throttle to 2000 rpm and hold it steady, the rpm's will sail between 2000 - 2100 and the motor sounds a bit rough. Since the problem started with the battery change, I'm thinking it has to be some sort of electrical problem????
Any ideas on what the culprit could be? Could anyone suggest some troubleshooting methods to find the problem or to rule out properly working systems? I have an appointment with a Victory service shop in about a week and a half to hook it up to a diagnostic machine, but I'm somewhat skeptical of the outcome and I'd like to try and find the problem myself, saving me a trip to the dealer & throwing away money.
I called the dealer today to ask about the bike's service history and I found out that they had recorded problems with the battery draining at all services up to the 8000km service (after that no maintenance record to date). They had "fixed" the problem by changing the battery & spark plugs.... Eh? Wut?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!
:devil Stefan

2010 Victory Hammer (Stock, except for the pipes???? dunno)

Previous bikes: (that never gave me trouble!) :grin
-06 Triumph Speed Triple 1050
-06 Hayabusa
-93 Honda CBR 1000F
-82 Honda CBR 900C
-81 Honda CBR 900F
 
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#2 ·
I'm no mechanic so I'm not much help in the troubleshooting department, but I imagine if those are after market pipes you probably have a fuel controller installed somewhere and that would be something else to consider as a source of the problem.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Hi all!
Bought a 2010 Hammer with 12 000 km (~7400 miles) on the clock a couple of moths ago. Except for the engine backfiring a lot, the bike has run perfectly for the ~1000 km I've ridden it so far. I came back from a trip with the bike about a week ago and left the bike in the garage for a few days. The next time I went to go riding, the battery was so drained, that the starter barely turned over and the bike wouldn't start. Just a lot of "relay rattle". Before this happened, there were no obvious signs of the battery being weak. I figured the battery had come to the end of it's days and bought a new one. I installed the new battery and went for a test ride, behold; the check engine light came on. Stopped the bike and started again, the CEL went out but came back shortly after. In the beginning the CEL would come on after revving the engine e.g. after a brisk acceleration, now it lights up at steady 2000 rpm. I'm baffled! I've checked the battery voltage (12,8V) and charging voltage (14,4V at idle) and they seem ok to me. Checked the air filter, the spark plugs and they seem fine, plugs had the right color & gap etc. If i set the throttle to 2000 rpm and hold it steady, the rpm's will sail between 2000 - 2100 and the motor sounds a bit rough. Since the problem started with the battery change, I'm thinking it has to be some sort of electrical problem????
Any ideas on what the culprit could be? Could anyone suggest some troubleshooting methods to find the problem or to rule out properly working systems? I have an appointment with a Victory service shop in about a week and a half to hook it up to a diagnostic machine, but I'm somewhat skeptical of the outcome and I'd like to try and find the problem myself, saving me a trip to the dealer & throwing away money.
I called the dealer today to ask about the bike's service history and I found out that they had recorded problems with the battery draining at all services up to the 8000km service (after that no maintenance record to date). They had "fixed" the problem by changing the battery & spark plugs.... Eh? Wut?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!
:devil Stefan

2010 Victory Hammer (Stock, except for the pipes???? dunno)

Previous bikes: (that never gave me trouble!) :grin
-06 Triumph Speed Triple 1050
-06 Hayabusa
-93 Honda CBR 1000F
-82 Honda CBR 900C
-81 Honda CBR 900F
well the backfire definitely sounds like a Fuel controller problem. You might want to check to see if there is one. I know there is one controller ( Cobra) that will NOT run in a victory at all. really screws it up
 
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#4 ·
put in new spark plugs. If you pulled the spark plug wires off wrong. They could be bad. Not sure in auto store over there will sell NGK but if they do ask for P/n 3481 that should be DCPR6E

 
#5 ·
Latest development:
I checked the charging voltage at higher than idle and it was 17-18V @ 2000 rpm. I read somewhere that the voltage should be between 14 and 14.8V, if I remember correctly. This would indicate that there is a problem with the voltage regulator? Electric systems are not my forte, but it would make sense to me that my old battery suddenly died, if the charging nuked the battery.
 
#6 ·
with voltage that high its for sure over charging the battery. Yes the bike should be charging at 14.2.
You could check the ground on the regulator. Look for shorted wires bare spots.
There is a test you can do on the regulator if you have a volt meter.
 
#7 ·
Also there was a fellow that posted from the British Isles. He lost a regulator and was able to get one made overseas that was supposed to fit a Vic.
I believe it worked for him. It was more reasonably priced than one from Polaris. Might check around first before you order. If the tests show yours is bad.
 
#9 ·
Yes that was me. Regulator was internally breaking down. CEL was coming on and i checked everything. shortly after my regulator gave up in a huge plume of smoke. I tried to get OEM part but every company let me down, part obsolete! chucked a mosfet type after market regulator on the beast and it's been perfect ever since. a steady 14.2v and the reg remains cool at all times.
 
#8 ·
I measured a 120mA ground drain on the battery with everything off. When I unplugged the rectifier / regulator the drain dropped to 48mA. Still too high, if the spec is 2mA, so I'm a bit worried that there is some other problem also. I checked the charging voltage & current 17 - 18 volts & up to 33 Amps and looking at the flow chart in the manual it states that the regulator should be changed, if voltage exceeds 14.8V. The check engine light will not come on with the voltage regulator plug disconnected, so I'm hoping a new regulator will at least take care of the CEL & overvoltage issues. Picking up a new unit tomorrow, a bit pricey (260€) but they have it in stock. Ordering from victoryonly.com would have cost ~ $180 + Customs fee + VAT, so not much cheaper. I researched the net trying to find a replacement regulator, but I only came up with 1 hit, a used unit on Ebay, from the States. There seem to be a multitude of aftermarket regulators for other models, but not Hammer. I hope I can the this thing fixed, I really want to be out riding, not cooped up in the garage. :frown
 
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