| Author | Message | ||
     Spacecapsule1 |
Started getting code 16 yesterday during the daily commute. Check engine light will come on after while, stay lit for a while then go off. Did it again today. Whatcha think about that? Looks like I need to check some wiring and the VR. Any other ideas? | ||
| Terrys1980 |
Maybe this thread will help. http://badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/3842/64 8072.html?1318388633 | ||
| Terrys1980 |
Also this one. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/406 2/491616.html Your problem is most likely the VR or the 77 connector. | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
Excellent. Thank you. That's actually the same link I read right before posting. Just wondering if there's anything else to consider... | ||
| Terrys1980 |
Anytime a electrical trouble code presents itself your battery terminals and grounds should be cleaned and checked first. | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
well i guess it's something because i barely made it home. the bike was stuttering, the lights were flickering and the smell of raw fuel filled the air.... time to get to work. but first i'm going to have some steak and eat my sorrows away... i can't believe i have to take the car to work tomorrow. | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
as luck would have it, i've been too busy to mess with the bike. I did a quick check of battery voltage at 12.5 before starting and 11.98 while running, even through 3k rpms. Haven't been able to dig any deeper yet, but does that indicate anything useful at all? | ||
| Terrys1980 |
11.98 is low. You should see at least 14 while idling. | ||
| Froggy |
Yea you should be holding roughly 14.2v above idle. Hard to say for sure off hand, could be the stator not putting out enough anymore, battery not holding a charge anymore, and the VR over-regulating. Hell it could be something in between like a wiring issue. Low voltage will cause the issues you are having with the suttering, lights flickering, and fuel smell. | ||
| Boliver |
I bet money he is still running the original battery..... | ||
| Terrys1980 |
What's your point? I'm still running the stock battery in my '07 with no issues. | ||
| Froggy |
My 03 and 08 is on their original batteries, my 06 and 09 need a new ones badly. It is a crapshoot. | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
sorry fellas. replaced the battery a few months ago. | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
it's either the VR or the stator, just need to do the tests from the link above to rule out one or the other. at 41k miles, who wants to guess which one it will be? but with the holidays and all, it turns out i haven't had the time to do it. I promised my girls i'd finish the access to their treehouse by Christmas and dang it, I'll set aside my beloved XB for a few days to make sure I follow through.  ....blake knows what the access will be. he taught me the proper calculations for it.  you're all invited to the grand opening. (Message edited by spacecapsule1 on December 21, 2011) | ||
| Brumbear |
77 plug | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
ok finally unplugged the VR and checked stator voltage: about 25-55 from idle to 3k rpms. Looks like the stator is working ok. I ordered a compufire 38amp single phase voltage regulator (#55150) to replace the original. | ||
| Ducbsa |
What's your point? I'm still running the stock battery in my '07 with no issues. Don't you know better than to jinx it that way? I would never announce my '07 battery is the original. | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
alright the new VR is finally in. Now begins the replacement project. I'm moving it under the seat to help clean up the front of the engine some. I always thought it was too cluttered looking. I'm thinking i'll mount it to the right of the battery tray against the tab that the bungee strap attaches to with the cooling fins facing the frame rail. looks like it will just fit and it will allow me to use the stock battery too... if not i'll try facing it the other way. i'm trying to avoid cutting the battery tray and want to minimize the bracket fabricating. | ||
| Akbuell |
Were it me, I probably would not choose to put the voltage regulator under the seat. It is my understanding that the VR converts unused elec energy into heat, hence mounting on the front of the engine to get maximum cooling from airflow. Just a thought, and I certainly could be wrong ...... | ||
| Terrys1980 |
Yea you definitely want some kind of air flow moving across the cooling fins of the VR. | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
yeah i understand about the heat. i don't know if there will be enough air under the seat, but only one way to find out for sure. I'll be the guinea pig. I won't be happy unless i know for sure... i've read a bit that series regulators don't get as hot as shunt regulators. hopefully that's accurate. | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
There are easier ways but not how i'm doing it. I had to remove the shock and remove the fan for access to unwrap the wiring harness so I could figure out the positive and negative wires for the VR. There's lots of splices in there and ultimately the ground from the VR goes to the frame right beside the battery tray and the positive continues to the fuse block. I pulled the wires out of the harness to just before the splices and will splice the new vr into the original wiring from the harness. To get to the harness i had to unplug everything on the right side of the engine and and pull it through the spark plug access hole in the frame on the left. Then I was able to unwrap it and pull out the wiring I needed. This is important because I need to run the stator wiring back through the frame and removing the old VR wiring from that space will allow me room to do so... One could bypass messing with the wiring I suppose but i wanted to use the existing harness. I had to fabricate wire lugs out of copper tubing and I'm going to fabricate a small frame out of angle to sit the new battery in then strap it all down to the original tray with maybe a velcro strap or something similar... | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
Ok got it all wired up and did a test run. Stator output is the same: 25-52 from idle to about 3k but the battery isn't charging. It's running straight off the battery apparently because I can watch the voltage drain while its running. Now I unplug the regulator to see what I have. The output for the regulator is really hard to read. I've seen 9 up to 18 volts dc..... What do you guys think? Its all wired into the original wiring harness. The VR has 4 wires. 2 were routed into a 2 prong connector, which I assumed were for the stator connection and the other 2 wires were single wires individually labeled "ground" and "circuit breaker - silver post". So i wired the "stator connection" to the existing stator wires and the wire labeled "ground" into the existing factory harness (I unwrapped the harness to confirm that it was the ground wire). I wired the wire labeled "circuit breaker - silver post" to the existing positive wire from the factory harness. Did I go wrong somewhere? | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
....help. I miss my bike.  here's what compu-fire says about checking the VR: Q: How can I check the regulator? A: Follow test procedures in any Harley-Davidson's service manual. Be sure you use a test light and not a digital volt meter. Why a test light and not a digital volt meter? Regardless, I'm not getting enough voltage after the regulator. (Message edited by spacecapsule1 on February 02, 2012) | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
In my haste, I apparently failed to perform all the tests for the stator: Voltage: 25-50 idle to 3k rpms OHMS: pin to pin : .5 pin to ground: approx 1 stator shorted to ground? (Message edited by spacecapsule1 on February 02, 2012) | ||
| Terrys1980 |
The meter should read infinity when measuring the leads to ground. Definitely have a dead short. With a short like that your primary fluid probably has a nice electrical burnt smell. What brand fluid are you running in your primary? Some are not stator friendly. | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
i'm running syn3 | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
So it appears the the old stator wiring rubbed through the insulation an inch or 2 past where the wires exit the stator. The wires rest against the engine block at this point and rubbed to the bare metal it seems (just one of the wires). What can I use to help protect the wires from the vibrations? Can i wrap them in abrasion resistant tape? What will live in the primary that won't melt so i can protect the new stator wiring? | ||
| Terrys1980 |
If you can get a hold of high voltage heat shrink or the 3m rubber tape that would work good. | ||
| Spacecapsule1 |
well i finally got her all wired up (again). this time i went with the 3 phase stator from the earlier xb's and the 55402 3 phase voltage regulator from compufire. i'll get some pics next week. right now i need to put everything back together and hit the road. i used some heat shrink to help protect the stator wiring inside the primary, hopefully it'll live. |
