firedad415 Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 Ok... For several months now, I have tried to track down the FI light issue on my 99' Bird. And... with the help of this forum and a lot of searches on the topic, have narrowed it down to what it's not. After all that has been done, the FI light continues to glow steady or softly, then on full, blink with signal lights, turn on and off with high beams...simply no regularity or code structure to the FI light. It comes and goes with a mind of it's own. First I tried the loom tricks... taking it apart, cleaning contacts, dielectric grease. etc... upon startup, light persistant. Second I tried bypassing the kickstand wire to isolate that... no luck. During all of this, the light seemed to have no common factor that made the light come on or go off. One day while riding in the Appalachians, the bike got warm while in traffic, the bike began to sputter, backfire occasionally, then die as the fan kicked in. That progressively got worse to the point where whenever the bike would get warm, the fan would kick on and the engine would die, as if I had hit the kill switch. I took the tank off, shook the wires under the tank and the light went off. The bike ran fine for a few miles, then right back to the same issues. When I ride on the highway, with the fan never kicking on, the bike runs fine. So I figured a loose connection (FI light stays lit the whole time). So, when I got home, tank and plastics off, all wires checked at connections, dielectric grease, connections cleaned and put back together. Bike ran fine for a few days, back to the same problem! Other things I have tried... substituting another computer using a buddies 99 XX, NO HELP. Simply unplugging my computer, waiting, replugging...no good. Replacing all the fuses. Checking for loose plugs, Ignition wires, etc. I finally broke down and took it to the shop for a new steering head baring and fork springs, and asked him to see about the FI light. No issues on the diagnostic, so he looked around at the wires, took apart and reconnected some things, cleaned a few connections I missed and things appeared to be fixed! No light for a few weeks. Well... you guessed it... the light is back on! No other problems as of yet! The fan cycles on and off and the light glows slowly on and off at will, seemingly with no regularity. Sometimes it comes on while driving, sometimes it doesen't. It still is itermittant with the blinker or high beam lights, sometimes not. The motor doesn't sputter, kick off or anything else it was doing...just that damn light... antagonizing me at will... like some punk kid sticking his tongue out and saying you can't catch me! I have 45K miles on the bike and have never had any other issues. This one is really kicking my butt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekanix Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 Uh, yeah, I tried the dielectric loom thing too on my 99, same thing. Then the light flicker went away. Then my blinkers went kaput. Get a mini butane torch, lots of aluminum foil and wet newspaper for shielding (soldering iron can't get the bundles hot enough) and follow the directions elsewhere in this bbs where it shows how to cut the connector off and solder the wires together. If you are not well practiced with soldering, get someone to help. Seriously. I did it, never had any issue again with the FI or the blinkers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furbird Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 Ditto what Mekanix said. The very first thing you need to do is completely eliminate that connector altogether. It sounds to me like it has gotten moisture well into the wire and is continuously breaking contact, so you are looking at a job. I had to cut about an inch or so back from the connector to get good wiring, and that makes things tight. I was a professional 12 volt installer for 9 years, and still do my own stuff and help friends out with their stuff, not to mention 3 years of messing with racing RC cars, and that job was difficult for me due to the area you are working in. If I had it to do over again, I would pull the rear subframe out so you would have plenty of room (once again, big job, but it will make life much easier if it's gone). I can almost guarantee you that eliminating that connector will take care of your problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TX1100F Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 My FI light used to go on right after starting it and went out a couple seconds later. I swear I saw if go on/off quickly while riding a couple times but could never actually verify this. I replaced my battery (for other reasons) and the FI light has not shown it's ugly head since. WalMart battery is a cheap $30 test and it's easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunbun9090 Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Hi Guys, My 00' BB is also facing the same problem of FI light coming on when i switch on my headlight... did the loom cleaning, checking all the connectors but yet i still can't solve the problem... The worse part is when the FI lights up, my 1k rpm to 3k rpm feel jerky when my bike is moving off. Can someone enlighten me abouth my problem... :icon_snooty: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furbird Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 The cleaning connector thing only delays the inevitable. The connector needs to be completely removed from the equation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firedad415 Posted August 3, 2007 Author Share Posted August 3, 2007 The cleaning connector thing only delays the inevitable. The connector needs to be completely removed from the equation. I finally did it... I searched the site and got the pics posted by Porterb123's post. I compared his to the UK guy who posted his stuff. I tried to follow directions to the letter. :icon_think: The only other thing I did is add heat shrink tape to the whole works before I zip-tied it to the frame. I hope this works! My battery was replaced just a few months ago, so that took care of that possibility. I also took apart as many other connectors as I could find while my bike was apart, inspected and cleaned them, and wire brushed all the grounds I saw and bolted them back. So far the bike is still disassembled yet runs fine. The FI light is off (for now), but it has gone off before with other attempts and come back to haunt me as much as two months later. I'll pray that blasted light stays off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furbird Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 Good to hear. I'm pretty sure that the pesky light will be gone for good. Mine came on and off intermittently from about 2003-this year until I finally broke down and eliminated that connector. Of course, I already had the bike in pieces because my stator took a crap so I just took care of a lot of little problems at one time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yig Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 The cleaning connector thing only delays the inevitable. The connector needs to be completely removed from the equation. I finally did it... I searched the site and got the pics posted by Porterb123's post. I compared his to the UK guy who posted his stuff. I tried to follow directions to the letter. :icon_think: The only other thing I did is add heat shrink tape to the whole works before I zip-tied it to the frame. I hope this works! My battery was replaced just a few months ago, so that took care of that possibility. I also took apart as many other connectors as I could find while my bike was apart, inspected and cleaned them, and wire brushed all the grounds I saw and bolted them back. So far the bike is still disassembled yet runs fine. The FI light is off (for now), but it has gone off before with other attempts and come back to haunt me as much as two months later. I'll pray that blasted light stays off! I am glad to see I am not alone, I have only just begun to see the F1 light issue on my 99XX , were did you find the step by step, and pics, this sounds like not a small job, and any help would be appreciated. Yig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porterb123 Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 The cleaning connector thing only delays the inevitable. The connector needs to be completely removed from the equation. I finally did it... I searched the site and got the pics posted by Porterb123's post. I compared his to the UK guy who posted his stuff. I tried to follow directions to the letter. :icon_think: The only other thing I did is add heat shrink tape to the whole works before I zip-tied it to the frame. I hope this works! My battery was replaced just a few months ago, so that took care of that possibility. I also took apart as many other connectors as I could find while my bike was apart, inspected and cleaned them, and wire brushed all the grounds I saw and bolted them back. So far the bike is still disassembled yet runs fine. The FI light is off (for now), but it has gone off before with other attempts and come back to haunt me as much as two months later. I'll pray that blasted light stays off! I am glad to see I am not alone, I have only just begun to see the F1 light issue on my 99XX , were did you find the step by step, and pics, this sounds like not a small job, and any help would be appreciated. Yig Here you go http://www.cbr1100xx.org/forums/index.php?...+american+style Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XXTi Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Did you check the codes in your ECU? Try it and reset the unit. That fixed mine after the plug cleaning didn't. Replacing the battery has the same effect since that also resets the ECU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firedad415 Posted August 7, 2007 Author Share Posted August 7, 2007 Did you check the codes in your ECU? Try it and reset the unit. That fixed mine after the plug cleaning didn't. Replacing the battery has the same effect since that also resets the ECU. I have about 60 miles on my Bird since the "Big Fix"... no light thus far. I have a 600ish mile ride scheduled this Saturday, and hopefully, the same will stay true. The new battery and ECU reset did no good at all for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XXTi Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Glad to hear your bike is working well. You must have one of the bikes that actually had a "wiring loom" problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firedad415 Posted August 17, 2007 Author Share Posted August 17, 2007 Glad to hear your bike is working well. You must have one of the bikes that actually had a "wiring loom" problem. Not only is it working well.... well... it's working... ahhhh well! Seriously... 600 + mile day through all types of traffic, roads, etc.... no light, no problem, seemingly, no worries! It's like having a new bike again. Now I can put another 55K miles on it. Thanks to all for posting here and on the "loom fix" thread! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danzig69 Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 My 99 is begening to light up the FI light. Sometime the FI light glow very low, medium and sometime full On. It light up at idle (11.3 to 12V) or when running at higher RPM (14.4V), to turn it off, I need to blip the front break or turn on high beam!! I have a Voltmeter always connected. I always monitor my battery and i know that I have to change it soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo50jeff Posted August 27, 2007 Share Posted August 27, 2007 My 99 is begening to light up the FI light. Sometime the FI light glow very low, medium and sometime full On. It light up at idle (11.3 to 12V) or when running at higher RPM (14.4V), to turn it off, I need to blip the front break or turn on high beam!! I have a Voltmeter always connected. I always monitor my battery and i know that I have to change it soon. I did the connector fix about 2 years ago now, and after about 8-9 months it returned! No problems with turn signals and high beams and stuff. Just the fi light and poor running then finally stalling. I soldered and shrink wrapped the fix twice and I have no idea what is going on now. I'm thinking just sell the bike and buy something from the 2001-2003 vintage with the new dash and no fi light problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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