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PGM-FI Warnin


John Y

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So only had the bike a few days, all seems to be running fine. Today when I left work I noticed the PGM light was on (NC750X)

Bike has only done 400 miles from new. (I am second owner)

Bike ran fine, no performance issues and I ragged it a little on the motorway as I headed home.

 

first set of lights I came to, I turned ignition off and back on again (in the best of IT expert traditions) and the light stayed off.

 

Having read some threads here relating to EML and a few bits I gleaned from google I learned that there are a number of reasons why this might happen, mostly minor, despite the warnings of imminent disasters written in the hand book.

 

My plan is to see if it happens again ? If it does seek dealer assistance.

 

Has anybody any experience of a PGM issue ?

 

 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, John Y said:

 

Has anybody any experience of a PGM issue ?

 

 

 

 

 

No, they’re rock solid. :) 

 

If the light comes on then goes out after a re-start there’s really nothing to worry about. A more serious problem will put the light on and keep it on, that’s when a diagnostic check would be in order.

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As you say really. It's not a significant issue with the NC but odd spurious faults can be flagged up at times. If it resets it isn't really anything to worry about. Often it can be associated with the battery volts not being at the best and a cold start can result in values being slightly outside what the engine management expects (hence the fault flag).

Check the battery terminals are tight. Fully charge the battery if you have the facilities to do so. Otherwise keep an eye on it, if it doesn't happen again, ride on. If it does happen again, come back here, we might have more advice/info.

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Thanks guys. 

The bikes history suggests it was standing for a good few months with no use. Maybe battery is low. I will dig out my charger the weekend.

 

 

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On 1/1/2019 at 17:39, embee said:

 If it resets it isn't really anything to worry about. Often it can be associated with the battery volts not being at the best and a cold start can result in values being slightly outside what the engine management expects (hence the fault flag).

Check the battery terminals are tight. Fully charge the battery if you have the facilities to do so. Otherwise keep an eye on it, if it doesn't happen again, ride on. If it does happen again, come back here, we might have more advice/info.

 

Yep, that is what I noticed a couple of times:

 

Some years ago I had the bike in for a service and on the way home from work the next day the PGM light would flash. I took the bike back to the dealer the next day and the first thing I was asked was "how many times per minute the light came on". This apparently gives you an error code. I told them that I didn't really pay attention to this (after all I'd just worked 12.5 hours in an A&E Department and was on my way home on a cold, drizzly and dark evening). They plugged the bike in to get a read-out and it turned out that the apprentice (at least so they said) didn't tighten the battery terminals properly. The loos connection then made the onboard computer belief that something was wrong ...

 

Also, the PGM light came on flashing a couple of times after I had to jump-start the bike in cold/freezing weather after the battery had gone dead (parked for 36 hours or so). I rode the bike for a bit to give the battery a chance to recharge, then restarted the engine and the flashing stopped.

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Well since my first post i had a further repeat of the light. It wasn't flashing but a solid yellow.

 

Again, at the traffic lights i turned the ignition off and on and it went away. 

 

Having read these posts, i connected a trickle charger the following Saturday. I only have a cheap ass charger, designed to maintain rather than boost, however when i connected it the light was red saying charge was in progress. After only about 3 hours the light went green telling me it was fully charged, which means that the battery cant have been that low. Nevertheless, since charging, the light has not re appeared.

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On 09/01/2019 at 09:06, TJW said:

Some years ago I had the bike in for a service [...snipped...] it turned out that the apprentice (at least so they said) didn't tighten the battery terminals properly.

 

Must have been a cheap service @ £3.70/hour ? ;)

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7 hours ago, John Y said:

…... i connected a trickle charger the following Saturday. I only have a cheap ass charger, designed to maintain rather than boost, however when i connected it the light was red saying charge was in progress. After only about 3 hours the light went green telling me it was fully charged, which means that the battery cant have been that low. …….

You may well be OK until next winter. Sounds like the battery may be getting a bit tired, possibly the period of not being used allowed it to go flat and if it wasn't kept charged it will have deteriorated permanently, the capacity gets reduced if it remains low or flat for any length of time. You can usually get away with a less than perfect battery during warmer months, so if you can help it along with the charger now and then during the cold weather hopefully it'll be OK. 

I'd suggest you might start to budget for a new battery next year sometime by the sound of it.

Make double sure the battery terminals are nice and clean and tightened properly. Does it have accessories like an alarm, heated grips or USB adapters etc? These can all pull the battery down when standing, so each time you start it up again it's trying to get the battery back up to fully charged, the more tired the battery the longer it will take to recover fully and the more likely the ECU is to think something may not be right (and flag a fault).

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Thank you.. I will look to replace it when i have some some spare cash... I dont have any extras. The only off drain i can see is the 24 hour winking hss light. 

 

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On 1/11/2019 at 04:47, John Y said:

... when i connected it the light was red saying charge was in progress. After only about 3 hours the light went green telling me it was fully charged, which means that the battery cant have been that low ...

 

The problem is not if the battery is low or how low it is ... it's the reduction of 'cranking power' that becomes the problem after the battery starts to age.

 

There are basically two different types of batteries: Deep-Cycle and Starter.

 

The first are designed to steadily deliver amperage to power the lights in a caravan, golf-cart ... and my little workshop (which is off the main grid). This means, for example, that a 12 Volt Deep Cycle battery will drop voltage from 13.0 V to 11.0 V and the lights will still be on, then suddenly drop to a voltage of 8, 7, 6 volt ... and the lights go out (needless to say this isn't good for it, so one needs to be careful as to not let the charge drop below 30% or approx. 11.5 V before re-charging). Re-charging my 50 Ah deep-cycle battery takes about 24 hours, re-charging my 36 Ah battery takes about 12 - 18 hours ...

 

The second are designed to deliver a short-but-large 'boost' of amperage/cranking power to the starter engine. Once the bike's engine kicks in the alternator then takes over, maintains everything and by doing so re-charges the starter-battery for it to be ready for the next 'boost'. From a certain age the starter-battery simply can't keep up with this anymore and gets knackered ... and the first frost of the winter months finally finishes it off ...  R.I.P!

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Thank you TJW. The bike is a 2017 model but I think it has stood unused for several months. The dealer did mention something about the battery when he delivered it but I was so excited I wasn’t listening properly.

 

 

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trisaki

If the bike has been used and it took 3 hours to charge the battery  I think your battery didn't have a lot of charge in it , bin it before you really have to rely on it ,if you get chance charge it then leave for a day or so then put a volt meter on it with  something  like a bulb and clips connected  to act as a power drain to see if it drops to below 12v  or close ideally  should hold approximately 12. 5 v 

Edited by trisaki
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