Deja vu

[richy170]

A couple of weeks ago I washed and dried the bike and put it away. A short while later I discovered the ignition was turning on and off despite no key being present. This caused my lithium battery to be destroyed . The bike was recovered and the ignition switch was replaced ( not covered under the warranty policy). The bike has been fine.
Today ready for my day at Thruxton on Tuesday I have washed and dried the bike. I started to polish it when I heard a loud ticking/clicking noise coming from under the rear seat. A few minutes later the ignition came on and the bike was going through a cycle of the ignition turning on and off without the key.
Sometimes with the battery connected there is absolutely nothing at all happening. Turn the ignition and it’s dead, as if there was no battery connected at all. Other times the ignition just turns on and off. I am awaiting recovery again.
Was the first diagnosis of a faulty ignition switch just a by product of a more serious issue. What could be occurring with the washing and drying of the bike to cause this. I use a dog grooming dryer to blow the water away.

 

[soofsayer]

I’m wondering if there is a chaffed wire somewhere and water is causing the circuit to enable as you have described. Using a blower is a great idea, I use one, but it can push water into areas it shouldnt be.

 

[richy170]

What happens for water ingress to cause the circuit to become live. I’ve had a PC5 fitted recently, could the fitting of this maybe have resulted in a chaffed wire as mentioned. I’ve never had any problems before it’s fitting and only washed the bike twice since it’s fitting and each time had this issue.

 

[richy170]

I got my bike back from Bahnstormer today. It would appear that when the PC5 was fitted it was placed in a position that was causing pressure on the alarm wire plug, in turn this caused the wires to split and rub, thus leaving them exposed. Each time I washed the bike water would ingress and cause the ignition to repeatedly turn itself on and off, until either the battery was disconnected or it ran flat.
This poor workmanship of the PC5 was carried out at PDQ. It has cost me a new ignition switch, two lithium batteries , 5 hours of BMW labour and 2 lost track days.

 

[soofsayer]

It’s nice to know that the problem has been resolved. The overall cost for a job done poorly, not so much .