My 955i has started to hiccup momentarily, the low tank and engine management

[Wolff]

...lights come on for about four seconds before going out.   But it then continues serenely, running normally.  For another few minutes, when this problem repeats.    It's a 2005 model, 32,000 miles, main dealer serviced in June, new battery in the spring, rode it from Bilbao home to Stocky in June (having taken the ferry down from Portsmouth), blissfully ignoring torrential rain through the Pyrenees.  I've had it three years and like the many other members of this and the Tiger section of the RAT site, am totally happy with its combination of long legged comfort, range, performance, smoothness and economy.  And I quite like the curved looks that Mockett gave it.  I've seen this problem reported once on the RAT site but the solutions didn't read as being categorical. 

Amy suggestions please?  I want my fun back!

[NortonCharlie]

Might double check the battery terminals are tight

[Bixxer Bob]

Read up on Tune ECU, download it, buy a cable then read the fault codes. You have to start somewhere..... :icon_wink:

[Chris Canning]

At the risk of pointing the obvious out the bike is 8 years old,the main dealer service thing frankly will get you no where,they do what they have to do but apart from oil/shims/injection setup it's only the basics,but their not going to undo every connector and check what state they are in and lube e'm up,it's an old bike and needs looking after,hence why if you look at the speedo thread I have had the tank off and had the bike in a zillion bits what connections haven't been opened have had WD sprayed in.

Could this be the answer to you problems?? I don't know but it's a dam good place to start and if your bike has ever seen a winters day or for that matter 20 minutes on a winters day there will be corrosion,mine isn't great and it's never seen a winters day in it's life,when your happy all the connections are good and clean I'd go Bixxers route.

[Bixxer Bob]

 

[John Stenhouse]

Sounds like ignition switch connections again

[Wolff]

Thanks for the several replies from Bixxer, Stenhouse and Canning!  Yes, the bike did have a hard winter this year.  And it wasn't the first such.  The icon photo gives a clue to the type of roads ridden last winter.
I've been under the seat and behind the front cowl yesterday, pulling apart connections and cleaning them up with some contact cleaner from Maplin.  Let's see if it works.  Now to put it back together... 

The Tune ECU will wait for another day.

Thanks once again.

[Chris Canning]

If you have been under the seat and behind the cowling that's great but the bit that counts is what you can get at with the tank off battery box etc and don't forget to pull all the fuse's out and clean e'm while you at it,there's a zillion and one connections,even though mine has 36,000 on and has had a hard life crossing Europe it's never seen any winter weather but the connections were not great when I checked mine.

[Wolff]

Chris, thanks for the advice about getting under the tank.  I tried - but failed - to get the tank off a couple of years ago when changing out the radiator cap.  One of the two insert/fixtures at the rear of the tank into which a mounting bolt is threaded, in front of the battery box, rotated with the bolt, inside the tank insert and so would not unscrew.  I could find no solution other than sawing through the bolt, which I didn't fancy doing. 

Have you come across this problem?  Is there an easy fix?  I would like to get at this place and clean it all off.

In the meantime, a quick one hour spin around the neighbourhood on Sunday was not disturbed by the hiccup/dash lights problem.  Maybe whatever I did, worked.

PW

[Chris Canning]

At the risk of digressing blimey if you haven't the tank off in 2 years and have done a winter as well boy are you for a chamber of horrors,mine was bad enough just riding to Mugello last year and when I stripped it last week  .

Re the problem,you need to get the tank off,cut the bolt off when the tank off you you will have better access to it and if you can't fix it doesn't matter because the important one is at the bottom that holds the battery box in place and the single bolt into the tank will be good enough.

Obviously if you've stopped the problem it's a connection and you need to undo e'm all,even mine were all badly tarnished,as I said in the other post the 955 is getting old it's no big deal just needs a little TLC.

Doing the rad cap with the tank on  now that's a trick!!!

What I forgot!! when you get the tank off don't leave it lying around for weeks I've seen others posts about them distorting and I believe e'm.

[Timbox2]

Easiest thing to get at which can cause similar issues, is the main fuse clipped to the side of the battery box, I seem to remember somebody swapping one out even though it wasn't blown as such and it fixing some weirdness.

[Bixxer Bob]

There's a sticky for dealing with spinning tanknuts........

[Advwannabe]

I've heard about the ignition switch problems before, what's the fix, just resolder them?

[Bixxer Bob]

As long as the loom wire is in good condition you can re-solder but quite often if the soldering has gone the wires are corroded too - then you are into surgery.  The loom wrapper has to be peeled back and each wire cut back until you find good copper.  If it looks dull or blackened the solder won't take properly and it will happen again.  Once you have good copper, solder enough wire to each to restore the original length, using heat shrink to cover each soldered joint.  It can make life easier to solder the extension wires to the lock first while on the bench so it's good and clean and you can get hold of it properly then trim them to length as you solder them to the loom.  Finally, re-wrap the loom and you're done.  You don't HAVE to use the same colour wire for each if you don't have it, but you MUST keep a cross reference chart so you (and possible new owners) will know what you've done otherwise future fault-finding becomes a nightmare.

[Advwannabe]

Thanks Bob, I'll try to stick with the original colour coding as I know what it's like to inherit a rat's nest from someone else.

Curiously, since I've threatened Tigger with pulling it apart again ( last time a couple of weeks back to do steering head bearings, fork service and lube throttle linkage) it's behaved itself.