Electrical Connections / Relays (keep them corrosion free)

On my recent trip to the Alps with the Stelvio I got a chance to get familiar with the MG electrics on the top of a mountain pass when I returned to the bike and hit the start button and nothing but a click.

I tried all the usual connections at the battery, starter fuses etc. and still no joy so I decided to bump start her after all I was on top of a mountain and would check it out further when I got back to the hotel.

Bike started no problem and you should see the look of relief on my wife's face but not for long, I could feel her loosing power (the engine not the wife) and we were traveling down hill. I managed to select the voltmeter on the console before the bike cut out and freewheeled to a stop in a safe area. I could see that I only had about 7.5 to 8 volts before it stopped.

Anyone familiar with the Stelvio will know that the fuses at the right hand side under the seat are part of the charging circuit and the start up relays are behind the cover at the front on the right hand side. Under the baking sun I checked all these connections and found a lot of them to be corroded so I cleaned them with a penknife and my wife's nail file.

When all this was done I bump started the bike again and could tell from the voltmeter that the problem was still there  but we managed to limp slowly in first or second gear down the mountain until we pulled into a small car park. I checked the alternator belt and that was ok so I thought that I must have a problem with the alternator so I decided to take off the petrol tank to check the connections at the alternator (really starting to sweat now)

The connections at the alternator were fine! but in order to take off the tank I also had to remove the cover on the left hand side which exposed the two injector relays. Out of desperation I checked the connections on them and found the main injector relay connections to be badly corroded so I cleaned them up and put everything back together while praying to any Alpine God that would listen.

Bump started the bike again and looked at the voltmeter and after a few minutes was showing 13.9 volts  
I am not sure how the circuitry of the injector relay would have stopped the alternator from charging the battery but that is the only answer that I can come up with. I really enjoyed a few cool beers when we got back to the hotel and the bike worked perfect for the rest of the trip.

The reason that I am posting this long winded post is that it may help Stelvio or GRiSO riders if they have a charging problem. Check the injector relay connections as well as the other relays and fuses.

When I returned home I cleaned up all electrical connections with contact cleaner etc and labeled all the relays to make it easier to identify whats what on the side of the road.

The ironic thing is that I had done this to all the connections on the GRiSO last Christmas but of course not the bike that I was planning to travel around Europe on.

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Thanks for that Guzzi Cat, strange thing indeed I'm trying to make sense of a wiring diagram, does your bike have an Anti theft module ?

waterbottle wrote:

Thanks for that Guzzi Cat, strange thing indeed  I'm trying to make sense of a wiring diagram, does your bike have an Anti theft module ?

I don't really see the logic in it myself Waterbottle, from looking at the wiring diagram it doesn't make sense to me but then again I am not any kind of expert on automotive wiring. The pins on the two black and white wires plugged into the back of the alternator were not the cleanest but as far as I can make out they only carry the signal to the voltmeter.
No I don't have any type of anti theft module fitted.