| Author | Message | ||
     Darthane |
I am at my wits end. I give up, and thus I come to you seeking help. My Uly has always been a really hard starter, and it stranded me last year due to a fault in the charging system. Since then I've barely ridden it as I have no faith in the bike and I have had no luck figuring out what in the hell is wrong with it. I can make it to work and back on just the battery as long as I had a decent charge to begin with, but I dare go no further. Sometimes I can make it there with no evidence of any problem, sometimes the check engine light and the low voltage code trigger almost immediately. I haven't made it to work and back without the light coming on all year. There is definitely a charging issue. I finally managed to actually catch the bike in a fault state and slap a voltmeter across the battery and it clearly was not charging. This has happened twice. However, by the time I can get access to the voltage regulator/stator connections it is, inevitably, charging just fine again. I have inspected, sanded, and reapplied all the grounds I could get at (the main engine ground and the various chassis grounds in the tail section. I even added a secondary ground from the top tie bar mount to the battery ground point on the chassis. Since I had to change fluids anyway, I just finished opening the primary and inspecting the stator and the wiring within the transmission. It passed the sniff test and looks brand-spanking new in there. I can find no visible damage to any wiring that I've been able to inspect short of dropping the engine. The main battery fuse is fine. The VR shows no visible signs of damage. Any ideas? I seem to recall a service bulletin about Uly grounding, but I haven't been able to find any information on that. So frustrated. | ||
| Darthane |
Oh - not sure if this is relevant or not, but just now after getting everything back together the voltage across the battery was 14.0+, maxing out at 14.15V or so at higher RPMs. This seems a bit high to me, but not overly so. | ||
| Reepicheep |
That's a good voltage. What year? Do you have a 77 connector? Have you checked your stator (static resistance tests with bike off)? Have you sniffed your primary fluid? Sounds like a fairly classic failing stator. | ||
| Ishai |
Also have you done a load test on the battery? just voltage MAY appear good but load test is what counts....Good luck Ishai | ||
| Hughlysses |
According to his profile, his Uly is an 08XT, so he shouldn't have a 77 connector and that can be ruled out. | ||
| Luftkoph |
I had a lot of charging problems,1st regulator crapped out on vacation left me stuck in beautiful flint Michigan,got her home and the regulator failed the test so put a new one on,then a year latter more of the same,at least I was at home,but the reg and stator both past the test,it was intermittent,but it was way overcharging and not charging at all back and forth,I could watch it on my volt monitor. I said to hell with HD and put a cycle electrics stator, regulator and new HD battery,works great now some times a stator will test ok but once warmed up good and shaking down the road they will act up | ||
| Darthane |
Reep - Yeah, it's an 08 XT - no dreaded 77 connector. I had the primary open last night. It smelled fine and I inspected the stator. It looks brand new. I toasted a stator on my XB9R years ago and replaced it. Ishai - I have not load-tested the battery yet. I know for a fact that I have an intermittent charging issue (I have caught it not charging twice now, and given how often my light comes on, it happens very frequently), so whether or not the battery is good is kind of a secondary concern (considering I've ridden to and from work several times now on presumably just the battery, it seems safe to say that it is fine). The stator leads showed 1.1-1.3 Ohms to one another yesterday when I read across them, and open (no continuity) to the chassis, though by the time I got around to testing that the bike was once again charging normally. Is there any way to test the output of the VR, specifically, when it is disconnected? I am assuming from looking at it that the VR is NOT case grounded, is that actually true? If it is, I can easily see that being the problem as there's no way the bolts that mount it would provide a solid path as-is. | ||
| Griffmeister |
The 08 DOES have a 77 connector unless somebody has hardwired it in which case there will be a splice where the 77 was. The VR case does not need to be grounded. There are already two output wires going through the 77 connector/splice. One goes straight to the frame ground and the other goes through a 30 amp fuse to the battery positive post. So basically the VR is reading the battery and trying to maintain a state of charge with the engine running. If you disconnect it then it has no basis on which to set an output. It would be better to be sure there is no issue with the wiring between the VR and the battery, then you can check the VR output at the battery. The only way to really test the output is with a load tester. This system is supposed to be capable of supplying 30 amps of power. The manual says to check this at 3000 RPM so you may not have that available at lower engine speeds. Intermittent problems can be fun, not. Take it one step at a time. | ||
| Uly_man |
Good call Griffmeister. "It would be better to be sure there is no issue with the wiring between the VR and the battery". If it does have a 77 or join check that they are good. Otherwise I would cut the VR wires, about 6 inches from the VR, and run both the wires direct to the battery. You should fit a inline 30 amp fuse as well. This would prove any possible fault of VR to loom wiring. If you still have a problem add a "tap" to each of the stator output wires and rig them to a volt or mulimeter mounted on the tank cover to test while running the bike. Again fit a inline 30 amp fuse. If the volts are as spec then I would say that your VR is at fault and maybe inside the unit. You can check the amps with a amp meter INLINE on the positive wire or with a DC clamp meter if needed. "I seem to recall a service bulletin about Uly grounding, but I haven't been able to find any information on that." That was for the battery to sub frame Earth, paint on the Earth post face, on the 06 bikes. | ||
| Claybobber |
I can give pretty good advice on how to incorrectly trouble shoot an electrical system on an 06. (this is how not to do it) 1) Always replace battery first, if its dead must be bad right.... continue riding. 2) Bike wont start, call friend with trailer to come and get you. 3) Test voltage across battery Hum, must have been a loose terminal... over 12 volts so must be putting out... continuing riding. 4) Call friend with trailer to come and get you. 5) Read previous posts concerning electrical problems. Perform stator test. Discover 2 legs grounded out. File/remove paint and corrosion from grounding points last, just for good measure. 6) Order CE stator and Mosfet V/R (thanks badweb) 7) Continue riding while waiting for parts. Seriously, glad i found this website, as I'm running out of friends, so thanks. What's surprising, is since the grounding system has been dressed up, the charging system seems to be keeping up with demand. How can this be, on 1 leg? I'm Just careful where i shut it off now... hopefully parts will be here in a day or two. } | ||
| Darthane |
Sorry, I was imprecise in stating that there is no 77 connector. There is an inline between the VR and the bike, but it is in a different location and is a different connector than the troublesome one found on earlier bikes behind the pulley cover. I may have to try the taps. Every time I can dig in enough to test the stator output the problem has disappeared. | ||
| Darthane |
Finally managed to get the bike to cooperate a bit. The stator was outputting ~28V (checked between the terminals) while the bike was not charging (voltage <12V at the battery). Seems to me the VR is definitely the culprit. The only question is, is it completely toast or does the intermittent nature of the failure indicate something else is at fault, like a bad ground? Considering running fresh lines from near the VR directly to the battery posts and seeing if I can still replicate the fault. Thoughts? | ||
| Luftkoph |
http://roadstercycle.com/ A lot of your questions can be answered here,call and talk to jack he's a good egg |
