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2007 GSX issues: electrical ?

4K views 29 replies 7 participants last post by  NuggyBuggy 
#1 ·
In the second of my two Revs apparently going down this weekend, while on the trail my son mentioned the low battery lamp was flashing and the sled was beeping. I assumed the battery was low and that the beeping was associated so we just proceeded on home.

I rode the sled for a bit (mine died in the middle of the lake) and I noticed that the very top part of the EMS/Engine Management System was also lit. The rest of the lamp wasn't lit making it very hard to notice, so I'm not sure if the bulb is just dead or not. While I was riding it, the sled would either beep a short beep or a longer beep, usually separated by a second or more. The interval was varied and it wasn't always a fixed pattern - it almost seemed random.

Went out today to start it so I could park it near my garage and charge the battery. Electric start didn't work. Sled started with a pull but it kept sputtering out and hesitating and did not want to be rev'ed even a bit or it would die. EMS lamp does not appear to be on.

I put my NOCO booster pack on it, and it seemed better but still uneven. You could hear it idling, and it would sound like it would just about die, then go back to a normal idle. Moved the sled near the garage. NOCO charger says the battery is at 100%. I measured voltage on battery and it's at 11.8 V.

I've left the charger on it but wondering if something is wrong here. My other sled seized up on the same trip (I think). Coincidence ? I'd topped both sleds up with coolant and oil.

Any advice would be appreciated. Anything more than simple things like replacing a fuse or a battery (for either sled), I'm probably going to have to bring it to a shop in which case my season is probably over.

THanks for reading.
 
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#5 ·
Sounds like a couple issues I've had with both my sled and my son's (2006 GSX 500ss). My sled had a bad battery from the previous owner, so I bought a replacement. Fired up fine so I thought I'd test the charging system... 12.6 volts. Revved it up, 12.6 volts. All accessories were off. I started looking around and found the relay for the charging system. Bench tested it and put 12 volts to it, sure enough it worked. But when I tried to get it to light my test light, it wouldn't. Popped in a new relay and upon startup, at idle I was at 13.2 volts and 14.4 volts when revving it.

So I'd check the battery with a load tester, can get from Amazon for $20-30 or so. Invaluable tool to know if your battery is good or not. Also, can get a box of 30-40 amp relays pretty cheap. Charging relay is left side under visor heater. Relays really need to be tested thoroughly, just seeing if the coil energizes or if it has continuity isn't enough. Have to see if it will power something when energized. So whenever a battery fails, it's a good idea to look further at the charging system.
 
#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
Sounds like a couple issues I've had with both my sled and my son's (2006 GSX 500ss). My sled had a bad battery from the previous owner, so I bought a replacement. Fired up fine so I thought I'd test the charging system... 12.6 volts. Revved it up, 12.6 volts. All accessories were off. I started looking around and found the relay for the charging system. Bench tested it and put 12 volts to it, sure enough it worked. But when I tried to get it to light my test light, it wouldn't. Popped in a new relay and upon startup, at idle I was at 13.2 volts and 14.4 volts when revving it.

So I'd check the battery with a load tester, can get from Amazon for $20-30 or so. Invaluable tool to know if your battery is good or not. Also, can get a box of 30-40 amp relays pretty cheap. Charging relay is left side under visor heater. Relays really need to be tested thoroughly, just seeing if the coil energizes or if it has continuity isn't enough. Have to see if it will power something when energized. So whenever a battery fails, it's a good idea to look further at the charging system.
Excellent account and explanation of the charging system and testing the relay!

Thank you.

I found the thread that I wanted to give you in return for a proper thank you. The first one has both, the relay AND stator. I added another one for relay diagnostic. In both cases the problem was diagnosed and solved in one page. Both times I was stunned with how quick it went. This is the level of diagnostics that needs to be brought to the forefront. Some things require a little more depth due to being uncommon and thus more difficult to find, but the majority of problems are reoccurring and can be diagnosed fast by knowing where to look first and what to measure. Thanks to owners like yourself, it is getting easier. What you explained is at the highest level of diagnostics with the use of a common multimeter. There are career auto techs on this site who are far more experienced and can do this with a simple test light. For the simple owners like us, I think we are doing pretty good.

Battery wont Charge Electrical problem

Relay Testing
 
#9 ·
Good chance that the battery is toast. SDI's rely on a good battery.

Do you have a battery from another sled that you could try? How old is the battery that is in the sled?
I do - I have two other Revs. I'll swap battery and see if it works. I bought the sled used in December, the lady who sold it to me said it was a new battery but who knows. This was the first sign of any trouble I've had with that machine.
 
#10 ·
So I'd check the battery with a load tester, can get from Amazon for $20-30 or so. Invaluable tool to know if your battery is good or not. Also, can get a box of 30-40 amp relays pretty cheap. Charging relay is left side under visor heater. Relays really need to be tested thoroughly, just seeing if the coil energizes or if it has continuity isn't enough. Have to see if it will power something when energized. So whenever a battery fails, it's a good idea to look further at the charging system.
Thank you Craiger17.

Looking at a couple of testers at a local place.

Does one look better than the other ?

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/motomaster-125a-battery-load-tester-0113009p.0113009.html

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/motomaster-eliminator-12v-digital-battery-tester-0113008p.0113008.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAgomBBhDXARIsAFNyUqNcMG3YTTh7B5YaPgz86x8khnfVWCsoVY0uugXU6W4gGoZrJGdKU-gaAtXvEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds#store=74
 
#11 ·
I like the latter one, but it's a bit more than I'd like to pay for something I use once and awhile. I copied the name of the one I use, I bought it after seeing a fellow youtuber use it below. All Amazon products have whacky names but I can vouch this little thing works.

It is powered off of the battery your testing, even the smallest amount of juice will power it. It's fast, accurate, I've used it on brand new, old, year old batteries, really gives a lot of information for a small cheap tester. I've used it on brand new boat batteries I've drained down only to have it tell me, the battery is bad and says "Replace". I then say, I'll try charging it and it won't take a charge. They are pretty accurate little units.

The latter one you show is a digital readout and I like those, but as long as it will tell you if it can take a load, enter the cold cranking amps CCA of the battery you're testing, it will work.

Then if you don't have a multimeter, you can one at Canadian Tire too. Don't have to spend a fortune on a multi meter. I use that for testing wall sockets in my house that go bad to anything in my garage. Of course, Youtube is your friend on testing things, relays, batteries...solenoids.. I do better with visual things so that's my go to on learning how to do stuff.

LEICESTERCN Battery Tester for Automotive Digital 12V Car Battery Load Test and Analyzer for Flood, Gel, AGM, Deep Cycle Battery
 
#12 ·
Battery story. Bought a used 2015 800 etec a couple years ago. Last winter one cold day, sled would barely turn over. Got a new YUASA from a dealer. Worked great. Had it on a tender on and off all summer, started sled just fine this fall.
Last Saturday went to move the sled. Completely dead, battery read 9.7v. Put it on a charger over night, best I could get was 11.4 v.
Still had the old original battery on the shelf (should have tossed it). It still had 12.4v, so I put that back in and it started just fine.

Heading to NAPA to pick up a fresh battery today.
 
#13 ·
Thanks Daag44. Is this as simple as putting a multimeter on it while the sled is running ? And dumb question - are there any spots that it is not safe to do this while running ?
Yes, that simple. You can measure from both battery poles, or bat positive and chassis/ground.

By the way I have the first tester you showed with a 125A heating element. But I can also load test with the fuel pumps priming for 2 seconds, or with the head lights using a simple jumper on the Load Relay. It may appears backyard to use a jumper, but I do have this this as an official procedure from BRP for a different test.
 
#14 ·
It sounds like voltage is too low when the sled is running. Check the running voltage.
Went out to check running voltage as you suggest daag44. It started up beautifully, no warning beeps, no engine trouble light. I put the voltmeter on it while running, its about 12.2 V give or take a few hundredths.

I don't even know what a relay is but I feel like that's what I'm going to be buying next.... should I replace the 30A fuse that right above the battery as well ?

I bought the battery tester that you said was a little expensive daag44, because I know I can get it today with curbside pickup. In for a penny, in for a pound, right ? I've had some weird battery issues on my other two sleds and it sounds like this is a useful tool to have even if only occassionally.
 
#15 · (Edited by Moderator)
I think that tester will do fine. Canadian tire has it special for half the price several times a year, but the important thing is to get it fast. Half of me wishes I had pushed harder to use the fuel pump priming sequence as a load test, because the real money needs to be spend on the a quality battery with the highest CCA that can fit the battery tray. But on the same token, owning a battery tester is priceless. In other words it was a good thing that you got it.

12.2 Vdc for running voltage tells me the battery is not charging. Start by replacing the relay.
 
#16 · (Edited by Moderator)
12.2 Vdc for running voltage is a no go. The expression refers to a Go/no go gauge.

For the relay, I have three links for this in my signature under Electrical with the first one that starts with 30A fuse socket. I am not looking to confuse you more with those links, so the short of it is testing the voltage on both sides of the Relay Switch. There are also links for stator testing. Keep in mind these are meant as an appendix for the shop manuals. I will still work along side of you on this thread.
I red the link about go/no-go gauges and didn't understand what I was looking at. But I think your point is, my battery voltage is too low, correct ?

I tested it again today both using my two multimeters and my new battery tester. This sled is still at 12.2V, whether I rev it or not. Should the voltage change if you rev it ? It has a testing feature where you enter the CCA . I pulled the battery and it says it is 310 CCA, I input that into the tester and the tester says the battery is "good". I do see other posts mentioning voltages in the 14V range so not sure what the "good" rating from the tester means compared to not getting the right voltage.

Additionally I checked the voltage on the other batteries in my two sleds. One was reading 12 V, running or not. The other was at 12.7 V, off. The latter sled has a new OEM battery as of 2 months ago. I couldn't check it running because the sled seized (I think) the other day.

daag44 I read the links about relays but I have no idea what most of it meant. I am googling now for primers on what a relay is, what a stator is, etc. I'm a babe in the woods with these things, but it sure sounds like I need to figure this stuff out !

Edit: serious question, is there a "Snowmobile electrical for dummies" tutorial out there or something that would serve ? Honestly, I don't know what the difference is between voltage and current, or a stator from a relay. I did terrible in that unit in high school science !

Thanks everyone for bearing with me !
 
#19 ·
My bad. 12.2 Vdc not changing tells me the battery is not charging. Start by replacing the relay.

Once you get it charging like it is supposed to, you will see the higher voltage in the 13s and 14s.
Thanks daag44. What does it mean that all 3 of my sleds do not have voltages > 13V ? I'd guess bad multimeter but I tested with two as well as the battery tester I have too. They're all fairly close.

Where do I find the relay ? Now that I have an idea of what it might look like, I'm ready to poke around. I think someone mentioned its under the hood ? Is it near the fuse box ? Near the battery ?
 
#22 ·
I looked around and found two relays in the fuse panel. This sled is different from my other Reva which don't have the same panel.

I had to leave the cottage but on my way to the city I pulled one of the relays out to play with it, after watching the video I linked to. I didn't get a chance to figure out which relay it is, but looking at the sled head on it was at the top left position, below what looks like a spot for a relay which is unoccupied (for a spare ?).

I put my multimeter across posts 85 and 86 which I think I understand are where the control lines go. My multimeter is reading about 100 ohms resistance.

I don't have a 12V power source handy but I saw a video where the guy connected leads from such a power supply to posts 85 and 86 and he said you should hear a "click". When I get back to my cottage I will try hooking up the battery to those posts and seeing what happens. i will also check resistance across post 30 and 87.

I have on an order a cheap variable DC bench power supply which sounds like it would be very useful for this stuff.

Also plan to buy some relays. Sounds like guys carry spares. Trying to decide whether to buy from Skidoo dealer or source from cheaper location.
 
#23 ·
You can forget that video. This is the reason why I added the Relay Test in my signature. It showed an knowledgeable and experienced person in the field of electrical/electronics who was testing the relay on his E-TEC which somehow got posted on this Carb/SDI forum. The relay testing according to known and 'acceptable' testing did not work. This is the reason that I added it to my signature, to show a better, easier and more efficient method of testing the relay. It is a 30 second test, so I am definitely not asking for much.
 
#24 · (Edited by Moderator)
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