Black screen, won't turn on but signals and horn works

[new-brammo-guy]

2016 Victory Empulse TT that I recently purchased with only a couple hundred miles. Worked super great for the first few rides but this morning:

[-] Won't turn on - nothing on the screen, no noises.
[-] However the horn and turn signals work.
[-] Was on charger for a couple days.

Tests I've done:
[-] Battery voltages are good (fully charged, 100% SOC).
[-] Fuses all good (in the fuse box)
[-] Ignition relay is not receiving 12v at key-on
[-] Looked at log files (USB under seat) and no faults, odd values, etc. up until when the bike suddenly shut off ~8 hours prior to me coming to check on it.

Any advice / thoughts will be greatly appreciated!

[new-brammo-guy]

Note: It was on the charger for two days when it went black.

[new-brammo-guy]

Are there two 12v systems with one DC-DC?

These 12v items are working when the key is turned on: turn signals, brake lights and horn

However, nothing else is working including other 12v items such as hella plug under the tank and headlight. 

---------------

I read on another post that they powered up the 12v system by hooking a fused battery to the hella plug under the tank? At least to get it to boot up. Has any done this successfully?

[siai47]

If I am reading the wire diagrams right, the Hella plug goes through the F4 5 amp fuse that provides some handlebar power.  You could try to provide 12 volts to the plug and if the F4 fuse is good, you should have left  handlebar power.  BTW, did you check to see if there is 12 volts at the Hella plug?  If there is, then there is no point of going any further with this.  There appears to be left and right handlebar power (with the left side stuff powered by the same circuit as the Hella plug).  It sounds like most of that stuff is working.  The right handlebar circuit is more important and gets power from various sources including the VCU which provides dash power and dash canbus.  The kill switch also goes through this connector.  In fact the VCU connector P76 is critical to all the functions of the bike.  I would check that connector and follow the harness from the VCU to the right handlebar switches and dash to be sure there are no problems with the connectors and wires.  I would think the VCU is working to some degree as the DC-DC converter is operating as it is the only way to get 12 volt power to the accessories on the bike.

[new-brammo-guy]

Thanks a lot siai47 for the reply. All that you said makes sense.

I unplugged the horn and used its ground (GND) to measure voltages in the fuse box: I measured +12V on the VCU fuse (F1) - while I'm pressing the horn button - so the DC/DC is working and the VCU should have power.

Are you sure the that VCU needs to be working to get power to the turn signals, horn and brake light? See the attached wiring diagrams. I see that:

[1] The VCU controls the headlights, display... all the things that don't work on my bike right now.
[2] The turn signals get their power from the +12V_FLASHER (106) wire, horn & brake light from  +12V_BRAKES_HORN (089)

Oddly the Hella plug doesn't have +12V. This doesn't make sense per the diagrams - I'm going to triple check this tomorrow.

Very interested in your thoughts and others.

Thanks

[siai47]

You shouldn't need the VCU to power the left handlebar stuff only the right.  I would power the Hella plug (which is fused) and see what happens.  The purpose of the plug is never explained but because of its location, I believe it is more of a service plug than an accessory plug.  Hopefully, you have a harness or connector problem and nothing else.  You have the wiring diagrams, follow to the point at which you lose power (or ground) to the Hella and fix it.

[Shinysideup]

Is the Hella plug the one at the rear of the headlight?

If so, I had trouble early on after some water got in that plug. I took it apart, blew it out with compressed air, applied some contact cleaner, plugged it back together, and filled the cavities with dielectric grease.

Then I wrapped the whole mess in a bunch of gaffer's tape and never had any trouble with it for 40K miles.

[new-brammo-guy]

The Hella Plug is described here and I believe is only on the Victory Empulse (not Brammo):
https://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=3441.msg24661#msg24661

Summary of what I've learned so far:
[1] I have +12V on all the fuses, so the DC/DC is working and the VCU is getting power.
[2] The VCU doesn't seem to be doing its job though: the display is off, no clicking from relays or contactors (which is what I believe the VCU should be doing). None of the relay coils have +12V when turned on.
[3] The only parts working are the turn signals, horn and brake light work though it seems that the VCU doesn't control these anyway (so this also points to a VCU problem).

I'm reluctantly thinking the VCU is the source of the problem. I'm going to listen to the CAN-bus to see if there's any activity. Another possibility is the VCU is not receiving a command from the key, etc. so it's not turning on. But I would think it'd just throw a fault instead of just playing totally dead.

Anyone else have other ideas:

[4] Testing the VCU to see if it's alive.
[5] Can the VCU software be reflashed or is their likely a hardware fault in my case? If the CAN-bus isn't working (I'll know soon) this implies to me that the VCU is totally dead and needs to be replaced.
[6] siai47 was suggesting that I apply +12V to the Hella Plug. Oddly that is the only thing on the bike that doesn't have +12V; The +12V for the Hella Plug isn't shown on the attached wiring diagrams as passing through the VCU, so it should be working. I'm tempted to try this, but I don't really need +12V to the VCU since it's already there.
[7] If I buy a new VCU from ebay, is it pretty plug-and-play (i.e. is the firmware already installed)?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Polaris-ASM-FRU-VCU-2-0/332515082156?fits=Model%3AEmpulse+TT%7CMake%3AVictory&hash=item4d6b717fac:g:j6kAAOSwXsFacAGE

Thanks all!

[new-brammo-guy]

Here's the other drawing to show the Hella Plug wiring (highlighted in red)

[new-brammo-guy]

Took it to the local Polaris dealer and the VCU is being replaced. Will let you know if I find out anything else.

[new-brammo-guy]

I'm happy to report that my Empulse TT is running again thanks to a new VCU installed at the local dealer. The part # was 4015863 and the description was ASM-FRU, VCU, 2.0 (same as on eBay).

[Ultratoad]

I'm happy to report that my Empulse TT is running again thanks to a new VCU installed at the local dealer. The part # was 4015863 and the description was ASM-FRU, VCU, 2.0 (same as on eBay).

Who was the dealer ?  They deserve a shout-out....  Many Indian (Polaris) dealers are refusing to work on the Empulse TT....  Really glad you got it sorted out....  Great and fun bike....

[new-brammo-guy]

Engelhart Motorsports of Madison, WI. They were awesome and deserve a shout-out for sure.