8V Norge - turn key, red exclamation mark, clicking relay, no start!

I’ve just bought a 2014 8V Norge with 8000 miles on it. After riding it home from Gatwick area to Salisbury on Saturday I wanted a spin round the block on Sunday so went for a quick ride.

About a mile from home the bike stalled. Initially it turned over on the key but failed to fire then later would only make a relay click repeatedly but not turn over. In both cases the red exclamation light came on and the “ECU Unplugged symbol” came on the dash.

The battery voltage at rest is 12.8v and all the fuses I can see seem to be intact.

Before I start paying out for expensive diagnostic tests is there anything else I can check?

Many thanks and I’m sorry if this has been posted in the past.

I would start with checking all of the connectors and earth points. Also take out the fuses and clean the ends and contacts with wire wool or fine wet and dry.

If it persists post again. Best of luck :roll_eyes:

I would also get the battery tested, also worth a look on the Griso Ghetto forum to see if anything similar has cropped up before.

Hi Brian

Thank you for your suggestions. I’ve replaced the battery and it’s reading 13.6v at rest and have cleaned and/or replaced all the fuses. I’ve also swapped the 2 30A relays and they both exhibit the same behaviour. The battery earth has good continuity to the starter motor and other points around the bike.

When the ignition is on the red triangle and yellow abs lights are illuminated but not the side stand or neutral light. The dash shows ECU unplugged.

I’ll have a look in the Griso forum to see what happened there.

I suspect that you have a variation on “startus interruptus”.
That is what it has been called on GRiSO ghetto.

A variation of it affects all big block Guzzis from the T3 onwards
It got worse on the CARC bikes as the wiring is more complex due to the use of an ECU and the Dash ECU but the wires are still as thin as vermicelli.

Basic problem is that the solenoid requires a very high ‘inrush’ current of 20-40a for a brief moment to flick the pinion into mesh with the flywheel then it is held in place by a 10a current whilst the starter spins.

The standard Guzzi wiring is so thin that it ‘throttles’ that 20+a and the starter solenoid does not complete its movement to switch on the starter. While the solenoid hangs almost fully engaged that 20+a is still being drawn which drops the voltage right across the system. The chips don’t respond well to low voltage and when the dashboard can no longer read the ecu - you get the ECU unplugged symbol on the dash.

To rule out ‘startus interruptus’
(1) bolt a long battery lead (£10 at halfords) to the starter power lead (carefully) and then touch the lead to the battery positive. => If it starts then you know the problem is in the solenoid circuits.
(2) get a 1m long wire put a female spade connector on one end and plug that onto the solenoid trigger connection. Then touch the other end to the battery positive => if the bike starts starts you know that the problem is in the feed to the solenoid - that is ‘Startus interruptus’

There are known fixes to SI, in my opnion the Startus Interruptus fix 2 on grisoghetto.com is neatest -but then apparently i made that one :smiley:

Good hunting

Thank you, I’m sending the bike in to a local bike shop on Tuesday for a full service and will ask them to a) renew the earth from the ECU to the frame (which I believe is the cause of the symptoms I’ve observed) and b) uprate the wiring from the starter to the starter relays as you mention just to be on the safe side!

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@Charlesm How did it go? Bike fixed?

Hi, sorry for the slow reply.

A local garage found that the ECU earth wire had disconnected, as suggested. They’ve remade the earth point and the bike hasn’t given any issues since!

I’m very grateful to everyone who helped me and it’s meant I can get away as planned on leave. I’m currently in Schluchsee in the Black Forest with 16 other bikes, enjoying all that the local roads and the Norge can offer!

Many thanks

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