So we return home from 1600 miles out to Sturgis last Sunday, and all went beautifully out there.
6 bikes, 1600 miles, and not 1 problem.
Tuesday morning as I set in the garage having my 1st smoke of the day with my cup of Java, I hear a faint intermittant buzzing sound. 1st off I shrug it off to the neighbor starting chores (he milks 80 head of cattle), but as I set I keep hearing it with some consistancy.
I get off the steps and head for my bike, and its coming from my intake manifold, so I quickly take the electrical cover off and pull the 40 amp main fuse, figuring I would deal with it after work. Upon getting home, I grab the service manual and I find my IAC valve cycling, and its driven by the ECM. All power switches are "off" and yet it is stepping in-then out.
I pull the "system" relay and its stops, and I notice while it is out, some rust has bled out of it.......
I sprayed some tuner cleaner in the relay to go in and get the moisture out, figuring it was "closing" the contacts allowing the ecm to think it was getting ready to start the bike, and thus setting the IAC valve in to position. Wha-la, it stops, I check it 2 hours later and all seems well.
I go out Friday morning, fire it up, and head for work. I check it a couple of times at work and silence, so cool.
2 o'clock comes, I get on it to come home, turn the key on, then the run switch, the fuel pump dash light comes on, then goes off, and after 3-5 seconds of turning over it won't start.

I go in and grab my meter, check the fuel pump fuse, and there is no power coming to it. I then pulled the "system" relay again, tore the black plastic cover off of it, and could see rust and corrosion on both the N/O and N/C contacts, so I made a jumper to emulate contact closure, and it fired right up and got me home.

I called my local stealer and they had 1 left, so they set it asside and I was up an hour later to grab it. While there I also grabbed the "starter" relay figuring for the piddlie 6 bucks each, it propably wasn't to far behind for failiing. (I didn't think the moco sold anything thing for $6.00, let alone a critical electrical component

Funny part of all of this is, that I have yet to run in any serious rain in the year and 1/2 that I have had her, so apparently the weekly bath that I give her has sent moisture under the electrical cover, and I never thought to tip her off angle opposite the jiffy stand and let the moisture run out.

I did take some good dialectric grease, put a thin film on the contact spades as well as the seam of the case, and this should slow the process way down until next time.

Just sharin' an "all's well that end's well" in case anyone else notices "flakey" issues that they are not sure where to begin.

 

Interesting....Thanks for the post .

 

You might be smart to use some dielectric grease on those contacts to inhibit further corrosion.

 

Not needed given the film I put on the spade bases and seam of the relay. I opted to keep the moisture out all together.

 

What film did you use? Dielectric grease does not inhibit the flow of electrons but it does protect against corrosion.