DCT Issue

[Mark S 28]

Ok I was out for a soggy ride yesterday. After about an hour and a half I stopped to water the hedge. On restarting the bike it would not go into drive after a couple of attempts I switched the ignition off waited a minute or so and Bob's her mother's brother, into gear and running fine but the engine warning light came on and stayed on. I made my way home. I then restated the bike after a 30 minute break, hey Preston no warning lights and normal service resumed. Two 40 minute rides in traffic later still all fine. Any idea's?

[rjp996 1,091]

Is the battery old - I’ve had a low battery, let me start the bike but not go into gear - bit odd as I had thought once started the alternator would have been enough, but it was the cause - made the bike throw a load of other errors too (this was on a DCT AT). 

[poldark 1,556]

Had you moved the DCT into Neutral before dismounting, or did the call of nature distract you? 😁

[embee 7,288]

It could be all sorts of things, but Richards suggestions above are a great starting (sic) point. The most common cause of intermittent or unpredictable issues is from connectors in the wiring. I've had issues with tarnished connector pins on my Integra.

Anything which can result in voltages which the ECU doesn't consider to be within the normal range will prompt a fault flag, which may be either a check engine light or with the DCT it can make it not want to engage or shift a gear, depending where it's coming from.

Check battery connections first, clean and tight. As Richard said, how old is it and have you had any issues at all with the battery going flat or getting weak? They usually have a date code on them in some form, worth checking.

Once it is up and running check the charging voltage at the battery terminals, should be around 14V at most running conditions, idle and revved a bit. Under 13.5V or over about 14.7V might be an issue.

Go round as many connectors as you can get to, release them and spray with some contact cleaner (WD40 at a push) and work them in/out a few times to get the best contact. The connector on the back of the instrument pack can sometimes cause faults. I had problems with the connectors from the handlebar switches.

 

Without more detail or more occurrences it's very difficult to be any more specific, just that as Richard said it's most common for such issues to be associated with battery or connectors, it's pretty rare (but not impossible) for sensors etc to actually fail. Aftermarket alarms can be troublesome.

[Mark S 28]

Thanks chaps, I will take all on board and have a look at the battery and connectors. 

[sparyk123 38]

5 hours ago, Mark S said:

Thanks chaps, I will take all on board and have a look at the battery and connectors. 

just a thought there is a switch on the kick stand to kill the bike if you put it down when not in neutral  and as you said it was a soggy day maybe the connections got soggy too ?

[Mark S 28]

Thanks Sparky that was my first thought. It used to happen on my Burger van 650's. All seems well now......fingers crossed.

[funkymoped 59]

had the same happen to me today... stopped for some photos of the floods. an when came to start , no gear selection an engine light.. turned off clicked kill switch, the resarted it . got gears an rode home . got home an tried the keys out an let it stand. now all good again?  my thoughts were side stand switch or sad battery. as winter is crappy an i'm not riding it as often as normal. so it stands for a while between rides .

 

[Foxy 4,410]

Could it be something to do with the wet weather? A well know water displacement  spray on the electrics might help.