Speedo and tacho not working

[Gwwo]

Warning; this is a one cup of coffee long query, quit now if you're busy!
13 plate Glee (11k miles) no speedo LCD and no tacho, no ODO, no fuel display etc. Headlight warning light OK, indicator telltales OK, ABS warning light OK

The story so far:
I ride all weathers and the bike sits out at work, rain or shine. Last winter the speedo LCD started displaying random speeds unrelated to the bike speed. Other instruments OK.
Took the multi plug out of the back of the instrument unit, full of water. Dried, contact cleaner, reassembled with sealant round rubber boot. Everything now working fine. Hooray.

Several months later, same problem recurs. Same remedial process. More waterproofing, hood put over plug. Success, all working again.

Move on 2 more months; while riding whole instrument unit lights up like a Christmas tree for a second, then speedo becomes unreadable (not random numbers but random LCD elements)
Same remedial process but no sign of water and no fix.

I then followed Greywolf's advice on another string and checked all connectors from the sensor forward including the multi blocks behind the radiator, cleaning spraying and re-assembling. Nothing.

I continued riding for a couple of months using a GPS for speed information. During this time the random LCD elements started up dim and got brighter but eventually didn't come on at all.
Eventually no LCD light at all and the tacho does't move including no sweep on fuel pump priming.

This is where it gets embarrassing; I self diagnosed a malfunctioning instrument unit and bought a brand new one. I had to sell a kidney to afford it!! £466 just for the internal unit, no casings.
Fitted.................. no difference. At this point I am considering pushing the Glee over a cliff, but before I do so I thought I would ask for help here, before I admit defeat, sell another organ, and take it to a dealer
Can anyone suggest other things I can check, I am not good with electricals so be gentle with me!
If you have read this far, thank you!!

[alibx11]

Did you check the main loom,in front of and below the battery box? It has a tendancy to rub through where it dips under the frame tube.

[Gwwo]

Thanks alibx1, no I hadn't, but just been to inspect and no sign of any chafing on that part of the loom. Seems tight and no opportunity for rubbing. Found a few more connectors though and cleaned them up while I was there!

[greywolf]

It's most likely going to be something up front, like a connector behind the radiator top shroud or in the left side of the fairing. That being said, it isn't impossible for salt water to work its way into the loom and corrode crimp connections inside. That's way less likely than a problem with an accessible connector though.

[Silverback]

The instrument cluster on my 07 wee was doing some weird things,randomly and repeatedly going through start up procedure etc and various things not working correctly. The fault with mine was green corrosion on several connector pins in the large 17 way connector to the left of the bike tucked in the lower part of the tank fairing,not to sure if your model has the same connector.
Some were so bad I had to replace the pins,the rest I cleaned up with a modified nail file shaped to resemble the male part of the pin connector. You say you've cleaned them but spraying them and drying them is not always enough as they need filing to restore the connection. Mind you the bikes not that old BUT salt is bad.
Hope you sort it out.

[old git]

I'm afraid I can't be of any help with your immediate problem but when you finally get to the bottom of it, I would thoroughly dose all the connections with ACF50 and repeat it fairly regularly. It sounds like your bike has a hard life, all weather use and sitting outside, it will need all the protection you can give it. I hope you find an inexpensive solution, it's nice to retain your organs for as long as possible 

[vstroppy]

You could also check that the pins are not pushing back in the connector block, I have seen this happen, the tangs on the pins that locate the pins in the plastic outer block become flattened or broken. When you push the plug together the the pin or pins push back and do not make contact or intermittent contact. My best bet would be on a broken wire around the instrument connector, by the sound of it you have had it apart a few times, the wires are quite fine and can easily break, also motor manufacturers tend to use plated steel wire instead of copper wire it is quite common for this corrode and break.

[bradlad67]

I sold my 2013 DL650 on tuesday, had nothing but electrical problems.
First started whilst under warranty pretty much like yours.Mine just displayed certain lcd display that was fixed.Told the dealer it was the clock so the just replaced the speedo and all was fine until.....
Four months out of the bikes warranty whilst the bike was at work it wouldn't start.Had to get a dealer to pick it up from work,it was nothing but a blown fuse,but was costly.
A few weeks later 2nd clock decided to exactly show the same weired display .That was january 2015 and since that date I was riding wothout in effect any speed indicatieon or FUELLLLL !!!!...
Around march this year going home one night most my commute is motorway riding by the way,there was a weired stop start type ride.I know that sounds daft imagine your engine stop starting.I knew it wasn't the fuel as the tank had been filled the night before.That happened a few weeks later,my fault one very embarresd biker waiting over 2 hours for green flag to show up...
So june comes and here things took a turn for the worse,riding to work the bike just died on me luckily I was near a junction on the m62.Replaced the ignition fuse bike started set off went again,replaced same again.Green flag once again to the rescue.Got them to drop me off at a local garage that alledgly specialises in auto electricals.They said the wires had rubbed and they had just taped them up mmmmmm maybe not so specialst after all.
Now we come to the final straw ,on thursday last week  she blew a fuse again this time on a slip road leading to the m62 woth no hard shoulder.Not a nice experiance wathching artics coming around a corner ,then having to pull out to avoid my bike for two hours.I had replaced the same fuse but the same happend.This time the green flag bloke put a higher rated fuse in and gave me some spares.So off to work I went all OK ,but by now id decided to get rid off the bike...
And the very next day on my journey home whilst in the outside lane of the motorway luckily m621 and not thank god the more busy m62.It went again,tried 5 differrant fuses and nothing.Green flag yet again came ,turns out it was a total of 3 fuses had blown,one of them was a big one ,the one that sits on its own to the side if that makes sense.
I'm now without a bike as I've sold it and the money from it is going to be put down as a deposit on a versys 650 .Zero percent finance and extended 4 years warranty being the deciding factor.I'm gutted as I loved the vstrom.
As for Suzuki they didn't want to know.
I

[vstroppy]

Also I would suggest a using an auto electrician rather than a dealer if you can't get to the bottom of it.

[Plumbit101]

As alibx11 has said check the bottom of the wiring loom next to the battery as it passes over the frame, I had the very same instrument cluster issues as you describe and after buying a second hand cluster had the same result  so I bought a second hand wiring loom and got stuck in, this is when I found the problem.
Next to the battery the thick wiring loom passes over the frame and over the years had rubbed through causing several wires to melt together. New/old loom fitted and everything now works as it should. Its not the easiest place to get into and have a look, but that's where I would suggest checking.

[greywolf]

Putting a piece of plastic between the loom and frame and apply a bead of silicone seal to keep the plastic in place on the frame will head off any future trouble with the wiring rubbing through to earth.

[Gwwo]

Thank you all very much. Some good advice and I feel energised to have another crack. I'll have a much closer look at the loom and also physically clean the connectors.
Sorry to hear your woes bradlad, very frustrating. Hope you enjoy the Versys 650, I had one and it's a lovely bike very similar to the VStrom.
Share your pain Plumbit101 - unfortunately if it's the loom I will have to sell an organ and find an auto electrician. Thanks again, I'll update asap.

[UK_Vstrom650]

This may help?

[Gwwo]

Just wanted to thank everyone again for the help and to end this thread. I garaged the bike over the winter and have now finally sorted the problem with the help of a friend who understands auto electrics.

The issue was a corroded live cable in the block connector behind the speedo unit. I had cleaned all the pins and sockets but it turns out the water ingress had corroded the wire inside the connector. I replaced the front harness (all the wires in the block connector showed signs of corrosion) and everything worked once again.

I have also made a rain hood to cover the block connector so that water cannot get to it again. I think the drain holes in the cockpit immidiately above the speedo are the root cause of the problem

Thanks again