Having an issue with my PCIII

[hefdukes23]

First of all, my battery isn't holding a charge right now (time for a new one of those)... Second of all, after a small bit of riding, my Power Commander is omitting an absolutely disgusting odor (smells of rotten eggs/stink bombs that you set off in Jr. High School).

Could the issue be that I've had to jump the bike twice and the computer inside the PCIII is all messed up and frying every time I leave the bike on?

I'm going to take the bike to a dealership on Thursday to have them take a look at it but would like to try and gain some information on my own to potentially fix the issue myself.

Thanks.

[GixerJockey]

You jump started the bike? Hopefully not from a car... And hopefully not with said car running...

If the answer to either of these questions is "yes"... Then you fried the PCIII and probably the regulator as well. These small charging systems can not handle the amperage that a car alternator produces. Bad things happen when you overload the motorcycle charging system.


I'm thinking it went this way...

You're battery got low. So you decided to jump your bike off of the car to get it going. By doing that, you took out the voltage regulator. Now the charging system isn't functioning. So you continued to jump start the bike. Now you fried the PCIII... AND... Now the stator is dead too, from trying to work without a functioning voltage regulator.

In any case... You now need to replace the PCIII, the stator, and the regulator/rectifier.

[hefdukes23]

Never jumped it with a car. Just a jump pack with the same voltage as the battery so that shouldn't have made much of an issue. The charging system seems to work fine as I can fo for rides, shut the bike off and re-start with no problem. It loses it's power overnight when nothing is on.

[j4eric]

the only time i encountered rotten eggs smell is with my toyota 4runner, it was the catalytic converter, the material inside caused the smell, nothing to be worried about they say....true enough, it had no effect on the performance, just the inconvience that your car stunk LOL......in your case, i would assume if your PCIII is fried, then the performance will be affected.....then again, the smell of fried wires is very distinct....try changing the battery first, specially if it is 3yrs old or more.....maybe its the battery that smells? battery not charging is either the connections or the battery itself or the stator..i'd change what cost less first and work your way up.

[butcher bergs]

let's start with the easy stuff:

how old is your battery?

did you unhook the PCIII and see what happens?

burning electronics don't smell like rotten eggs (sulfer) however, some batteries can smell like sulfer if they get too hot.

Fix the first problem you stated, the battery is not *holding* a charge. Assuming your charging system is good, I suggest getting a new battery before worrying about anything else.

[j4eric]

let's start with the easy stuff:

how old is your battery?

did you unhook the PCIII and see what happens?

burning electronics don't smell like rotten eggs (sulfer) however, some batteries can smell like sulfer if they get too hot.

Fix the first problem you stated, the battery is not *holding* a charge. Assuming your charging system is good, I suggest getting a new battery before worrying about anything else.

....exactly

[hefdukes23]

Buying a new battery tomorrow... Now, my question is, what are the odds that's going to stop the PCIII from smellin like sulfur?

[butcher bergs]

If it smells like sulfer then it's not the Power Commander you smell. 100% sure of this.

[hefdukes23]

We narrowing it down to the battery and the battery only?

[butcher bergs]

One step at a time grasshopper.

If you're certain the charging system is in good working order and you're certain your battery is NOT maintaining a charge no matter what, it's a good place to start....the battery, I mean.

What I'm thinking is your current battery has, over time, either boiled the acid out of itself or it somehow was tipped over at some point in time which drained some of the acid out. Only you know the details of the situation.

The sulfer smell is being detected as a result of low acid level in all cells or perhaps only a few cells still contain acid but are being overheated. It's likely the plates have sulfated which renders the battery generally useless.

All of this is IMHO.

[j4eric]

come back to us after you've replaced the battery.....as butcher berg said and i've experienced this myself, once the battery acid leaks, the battery is suceptible to overheating and will smell like sulphur which is commonly compared to the smell of rotten eggs. Your battery is toast, this is begining to sound like a bad breakfast..lol

[butcher bergs]

Anything?

[hefdukes23]

Not only is the bike giving me problems, but the bank account as well. Direct deposit tonight and battery pickup in the morning as my local parts store is graciously charging it today for me. Will update when I get out of work tomorrow night.

[hefdukes23]

It was officially diagnosed as a battery issue. Replaced the battery, rode many many miles. No smell. No loss of charge.

Thank you all for your help. Much appreciated.

[Jim]

who would've thought a gixxer had a smelling issue

[hefdukes23]

Normally I'm the one with the smelling issue but once I smelled the bike overpowering MY stench, I knew there was a problem.