ST1100 ABSII Code 7 - Faulty Power Circuit

Uncle Phil

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One of my girls threw this code this morning upon take-off.

1. Battery connections are good, clean and tight.
2. Meter says battery is at almost 13 volts 'standing still'.
3. All ABS fuses are good (taken out, cleaned and checked for good measure).
4. No fluid been added in a while.
5. Plan on checking the ABS/TCS switches and their connections later.

Any other insights?
 

jfheath

John Heath
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I once had a very weird fault with my 2000ABSST100.

Lights flashing all over the place.

Memory fades, but I seem to remember 2 long multi-pin connectors to a metal clad electronic box. A black and a white. Under the fairing, front left (????). I unplugged them both. Gave them a stern look and then plugged them back in again. And it all worked fine after that.

I never found out what caused it, and it never did it again. I can lend you a stern look if you need one ?
 

Ron

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I would check the battery water level. How old is the battery? Check voltage while cranking to start. If you don't find anything, you probably have a new battery in you future. The ABS II is a pretty good bad battery gauge.
 
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does the abs pump have an external relay or and internal relay in the module? That code description is similar to Honda car abs codes. If you could power up the abs pump externally and momentarily to see if the pump runs and go from there.
 
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Uncle Phil

Uncle Phil

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Well, I pulled the upper left fairing, disconnected all connections, clean them up, spray contact cleaner for good measure and reassembled.
I test drove it up and down my driveway and all was well- multiple starts, stops, turn off the ignition, back on, start, etc.
Just put on all the body work and the problem came back. :mad:
I am suspicious of the ABS/TCS switches or the brain now.
Back to the drawing board.
 

Ron

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Mine throws that code when I have my heated gear on full and sitting at idle too long. ;)

The 1100 ABS II is a pretty good "low voltage" meter. :)
 
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Uncle Phil

Uncle Phil

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698
Well, I got some other ABS switches from Fleabay today as Mother Honda does not carry them now (BTW all years of US ABS ST1100s use the same switches) and installed them. I've taken a couple of laps - starting and stopping, switch off, restart up and down the driveway. The problem seems to be 'fixed' once again. I'll know after I get some more highway miles on it. Thanks for all of the input.
 
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Uncle Phil : Anyway you could measure resistances the switches you removed with an Ohm meter just to see if you can find a bad or intermittent switch so you can sleep better?
 
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Uncle Phil

Uncle Phil

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Well, the problem is now back indicating 'faulty power circuit'.
I've already swapped the brain and it made no difference that I can tell.
Any ideas?

Just for grins - what is an 'easy' way to check that the output of the alternator is up to spec?
 

kiltman

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Just for grins - what is an 'easy' way to check that the output of the alternator is up to spec?
I would put a volt meter across the battery. I read 14.4V at idle ( like you I have LED headlights). Turn on your heated grips and you should see around 13.9 V. If it’s around 13.1 with only heated grips on I might suspect a faulty alternator, worn brushes possibly the built in regulator.
Now you have a bonus because you can compare that to your other bikes as they are equipped the same. Check the voltage across the battery on each one at idle, are they the same?
 
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Cars and bikes all of them, just as an easy first step, I've got a set of multimeter leads with alligator clips [I often have to monitor three multimeters at once, probes are worse than useless unless you got eight hands] that I attach to the battery, set the meter to DC Volts [first] and just watch the voltage before I start, while cranking, while changing rpm a bit, while adding loads, whatever they are - lights, in your case heated accessories so on. You'll see if any of your gear "browns down" for lack of a better term [causes your voltage to drop] your power plant.

Here's how my 13 reads, and although it's 14.2 VDC immediately after starting, I think that will settle closer to 13 after a bit, but others will know these values for your ST better.

My own voltage measurements from earlier this summer between rides, bike started cold after about one day.

12.56 VDC Static - Battery appears well charged; below I think 12.4 you're already behind.
11.63 VDC Key On / Post Fuel Pump Prime / Head Light and Instrument Cluster On. - Should only slowly drop if left in this state for a few seconds.
10.30 VDC during the cranking phase fairly steady, but brief bike starts pretty quick. - If you're voltage droops much more than this, you've either got a weak or inadequate battery, or you're drawing excessive starting current.
14.20 VDC or something close to that once the bike runs. - Means your alternator is developing a high enough voltage to run your gear and recharge your battery.
 

Nashcat

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UP, You may have good voltage, but do you have good grounds? I would check voltage between “hot” and ground wires, as close to the brain as possible.

John
 
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