| Author | Message | ||
     Jlewis |
I have read through the archives here, but haven't been able to narrow down my problem yet. I have an 08 XT that has an intermittent charging issue. I started noticing issues, so I installed the Kuryakyn Battery Gauge and here is what I have been noticing. I ride the bike to work daily and one day the bike will be fine- I will have 2 green lights on the gauge anytime I am out of idle. The next day no matter how many RPMs, it will not charge at the correct voltage and only show one green light on the gauge. Then on another day, the voltage will start dropping and I will lose one green then another and the check engine light will come on. I checked the code and it is a 16 for battery voltage. I will then stop the bike and disconnect the voltage regulator output connector and then reconnect it. I will then start the bike up and it will charge correctly for the rest of the day. A day or two later I might have the issue again. Disconnecting the voltage regulator connector and then reconnecting it seems to cure it temporarily. I read through the electrical diagnostic manual and performed the charging system tests. The battery is only a year old and tested good (took it to the dealer to be sure). The stator tests pass fine as well. Do I need a new voltage regulator or should I be looking for a bad connection or ground somewhere? Thanks for any input! The voltage regulator output connection seems fine every time I disconnect and reconnect it. | ||
| Griffmeister |
Do I need a new voltage regulator or should I be looking for a bad connection or ground somewhere? Good possibility for either one. Where did you connect the leads for the battery gauge? If you tied into a power source behind the flyscreen then you may have to check a lot of grounds and connectors as well as the VR. If the gauge is connected right to the battery, then you could probably concentrate on the main frame ground and the few connections from the stator to the VR to the battery. The charging circuit is a pretty direct route so at least you have less things to look at. Just a warning, those VR's can be real sneaky. My last one would act fine most of the time, especially when I put a meter on it, but every now and then it would spike and blow my headlight. Just my bad luck. | ||
| Motorbike |
Jlewis, I too have an 08 XT and just happened to notice the wire harness that runs down past the left side of the rear cylinder was rubbing on the cooling fins. The fin had worn a hole through the wire loom and most of the way through one of the heavy wires that come from the stator. There were only a few thins strands left when I found this, purely by chance. The pic below shows how it looks after I did the repair and re-routed the loom. I'm sorry I did not think to take a picture of the original damage. Before I cleaned it up,you could actually see arc marks on the aluminum fin where the wire was intermittently rubbing. I was concerned that this may have damaged my stator or regulator due to the direct short but it now tests out okay. The issue I found may have nothing to do with your problem but I just thought I would throw it out there in case you have the same thing. Please let us know if you find the problem. Thanks.  | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
"Just a warning, those VR's can be real sneaky. My last one would act fine most of the time, especially when I put a meter on it, but every now and then it would spike and blow my headlight." True dat. Also be aware that if your stator fails, it may take the VR with it. We ended up replacing the stator and VR on our X, and the VR only on the XT. You may do the sniff test on the stator, but before replacing the VR, make sure you walk thru the diagnostic tests step by step for the stator to better ensure that is not the root cause of your problem. FYI, it took a weekend for Mr. Twisty to replace the stator and the VR on our X. Part of the time was spent just lining up the proper tools for the task. | ||
| Jlewis |
Motorbike, Thanks for the heads up. I checked and it looks as if that wire loom rubs against the cylinder on my bike as well. I am going to look into it more, but I'm hoping that rerouting those wires will alleviate my problem! | ||
| Motorbike |
You are welcome. At first I thought mine was okay with just a little wear through the plastic loom. Closer inspection with a small mirror revealed the wire insulation was compromised and most of the strands were cut through by the cooling fin. Good luck! | ||
| Orangeulius |
Well misery clearly loves company because I took the day off to work on my 08 xt's electrical issue. Its throwing a code 16. I was talking to Etennuly about this and he told me about this post. I just got back from taking the battery to batteries plus. It tested in spec. When I got home I measured 12.34 v off the bike,I installed it and turning on the key dropped it to 11.67, I started it and it then dropped to a low of 11.41 with me holding it at 3000 rpm at which point the check engine light came on. Looks like I'm not getting the proper charge. I'll post more later. | ||
| Tootal |
Anybody changing VR's please do the stator test as mentioned. I didn't and it cost me 2 VR's! I would also look at aftermarket VR's. I just put a three phase Compufire stator and VR on my Geezer Glide. It's a smart unit as it just shuts the stator off instead of making heat. I wish they made a unit for our Buells. There are guys saying they are getting 30 more miles to a tank of gas since there isn't such a load on the stator anymore. I'm looking forward to testing that claim! | ||
| Orangeulius |
Stator test completed and passed. Pulled the voltage regulator off the bike and the back looked like the surface of the moon.Warped and cracked.Definitely not good.Ordered replacement from American Sportbike. Didn't think to check aftermarket parts but I'm ok with the purchase.I'll update after I get it installed this weekend. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Tootal, Does the Compufire VR shut the stator off or does the stator shut itself off? | ||
| Uly_man |
The Stator (stationary), in this case, is a number of Iron poles with an insulated copper winding around each one. The Stator is in a fixed position and has a rotating drum onto which are fixed individual permanent magnets. As the drum (magnets) rotate around the Stator coils it induces an AC current into the windings as the magnetic fields are cut. The VR then converts the AC output to a DC input for the bikes charge/ run system. If the engine turns, in this case, you will still get current unlike an alternator which uses a powered primary field coil to generate its own magnetic field and can be switched on/off as needed. It is a long time since I had to think about this sort of thing but I recon that is about right. | ||
| Uly_man |
Oh and by the way? The Stator test is a Ohm test IE Resistance. If you have a short between the coils then it will not be right IE Out of spec. I would do it with an overnight drained primary, disconnected electronics and at twice the maximum output IE 40v. Just me though. | ||
| Griffmeister |
Permanent magnets, boy, you're not kidding. When I was trying to pull my primary off all you can really grab with your fingers is the chain and sprocket. When things don't move right away the rotating magnets will pull out a little way then snap right back. Keep the fingers clear. The stator test is three checks, ohms to ground, ohms across the two leads, and AC voltage output. Voltage output is 20-28 VAC per 1000 rpm so you should be able to get much more than 40 volts. Maybe this is why the VR works so hard? | ||
| Reepicheep |
Good description UlyMan! The only tweaks I would make are that the full wave AC created by the stator is converted to a half wave AC signal by a bridge rectifier that is part of the voltage regulator, and when the half wave output exceeds the maximum battery voltage (about 14.6) the stator is effectively disconnected from the rest of the bike and the power is shunted to ground through the voltage regulator. I also don't see any reason to drain the primary to test the stator, seem like it would be more work to do more harm than good. | ||
| Uly_man |
"converted to a half wave AC signal by a bridge rectifier". Correct of course. "drain the primary to test the stator". This was just a thought for "insulation resistance" of the enamel coating but not needed or part of the normal tests. | ||
| Orangeulius |
New voltage regulator installed and tested. Nice to see the proper charging volts and no check engine light! It's time to ride. | ||
| Tootal |
Tootal, Does the Compufire VR shut the stator off or does the stator shut itself off? This is what their site says: Q: What is the difference between Series Voltage regulator and O.E. style shunt? A: When there is no demand on the battery the voltage is shunted directly to the ground on the O.E. style. In the Series style the voltage regulator turns the charging system off. Therefore there is no magnetic field between the stator and rotor reducing engine load and heat build up. |
