| Author | Message | ||
     Ochoa0042 |
if you were on the other thread about the brake light, i brought the bike to the dealership.... Now on this problem... the first kick of the day i planned to go to the dealer to fix the headlight stuff... well the bike didnt want to start, so we had to jump the bike, it started no problem and went on with ease... On the way over to the dealer my bike at the last signal-light started to die on me! The oil pressure light came ON and OFF, the idle crapped out and i had keep revving the engine to keep it alive, and as i revved it the oil light came off but soon came right back on and still wanted to die on me. It just didnt want to live. Well i end busting it to the finish, cut through cars and ran the light to get there before something worse could happen. OK so then we have that stupid safety talk, bla bla blah. Afterwards we left discouraged, but the bike didnt want to start?? So we took the battery out and went to autozone... The battery was dead out of juice, two hours later we came back to pick it up with a FULL charge (i had a 2nd battery at the house that we traded out to charge it too, phew) so we take the charged battery to the bike that is sitting in the dealers parking lot, put the battery IN, And it started right up??? Now today that fully charged battery died on the bike, and when it happened the same simptoms occured, "oil pressure light, wanting to die, revving..." So we went to autozone and got that other spare battery, put it IN ,and it started right up, and i ran home.... What does this problem sound like?? a) oil pressure light freaks out b) wanted to die if left on idle c) stayed alive if above ~2k revvs (~about) d) with a fresh battery if runs fine The alternator apparently works... the fact that the bike stayed going when i revved it means the alternator does indeed work..? i know bikes dont have alternators they have 'rotor and stators' or whatknot... but thats my guess and both batterys are working good, so what can it be..? | ||
| Froggy |
Sounds like the stator is failing and not putting out enough juice. As RPM's increase they put out more power, so by revving it you were able to bring it back up to normal levels, but odds are output is still alot lower than what it normally is. Is this your 2005 XB12R? | ||
| Ochoa0042 |
Is this your 2005 XB12R? uuh... yes... why do you ask? | ||
| Froggy |
Mostly because the 2006 Uly seems to eat stators, but that is result of a bad connection to the voltage regulator, making the stator overcharge and burn out. | ||
| Darthane |
I'm with Froggy on this one. Sounds like your stator is on the way out and isn't charging the bike properly anymore. If you have a voltmeter, the simplest way to check would be to turn the bike on and check the voltage across the battery. It should probably be at least 12.5V while the bike is running and will increase slightly with increased RPM. If the stator isn't kicking out the juice the voltage will steadily drop as the bike pulls the battery's reserves away to keep going. There is a procedure in the service manual that's a bit more in-depth that will tell you specifically whether or not the problem is your stator, or the voltage regulator. I had to replace the stator on my 2003 XB9R, a likely failure point is where the wires that run out to the voltage regulator are physically attached to the stator windings. The replacement procedure itself wasn't too complicated, but you'll need a really big breaker bar, torque wrench that goes up to 250ft/lbs, and something to lock the primary gears while you loosen/tighten. | ||
| Skully |
Bryan, I usually see 12.6-12.8 volts engine off and over 13v with engine idling. As I rev the engine, the voltage increases to around 14v. Keith | ||
| Darthane |
Thanks for the numbers - I haven't looked since my stator went and I'm getting old, my memory ain't what it used to be! =D | ||
| Ochoa0042 |
I did a three test runs to see how much the numbers bounced around. First when everything is off, then when i turn on the ignition, then run and start it.... on the run it dipped about that low and after it was goin what the volts were, was never steady... TEST 1 - idle, no excess revvs off - 12.41V on - 11.99V Run - ~5-12V TEST 2 - Revved to see gains off - 12.35V on - 11.66V Run - ~5-12V revved - ~13V @ 4k rpm TEST 3 - idle, no excess revvs off - 12.19V on - 11.33V Run - ~5-11V , never made it to 12 ~~concluded, stator need to be replaced (Message edited by ochoa0042 on July 30, 2008) | ||
| Ochoa0042 |
Can I get a second ? | ||
| Darthane |
I should have said this before, but make sure your battery connections are both free of corrosion and are tightened down properly. I don't think this is the issue, though, or you'd likely see complete intermittent failures of the electrical system (odo reset, gauges do their 'sweep', lights all die, and then the bike goes right on about it's business). The fact that you're able to sometimes see a voltage increase makes me think that you've got a loose connection/broken wire somewhere in the recharge loop. There are two primary culprits, in my opinion. One is pretty damned simple to get to and thus I'd check it first - the big honking black, 2-pin connector under the pulley cover on the right side of the bike. This is the connection between the stator and the regulator and it's somewhat prone to being a trouble spot. Take the pulley cover off, disconnect this connection and take a look at it. Make sure there is no evidence of it overheating or otherwise being loose. ...that was the simple one. The other likely place is where these wires actually attach to the stator windings, which, for obvious reasons, is much more difficult to get at. | ||
| Ochoa0042 |
already been done (the first part you said), all the connections behind the pulley cover are good and have no sign of damage. and the battery terminal connections are fine I'm thinking about another day not too far away.... we were at the drag strip one night racing eachother. This time I put in a higher octane than last time, 110 this time. OOoooh it was nice, got a new personal best, 12.3 @112mph... well anyways the idle was being thrown off by the higher grade it was running idle at about 2k. So then I got the idle back to normal with the high grade... drag night over and back to town. Now with regular gas in it, the idle mysteriously jumpped to 2k for the rest of the night and through the next day till i fixed it.... Now what I'm thinking... since someone said that the ulysses fried out stators a bunch. Could I of fried my stator for those few hours with it idleing at 2k ???? | ||
| Darthane |
Not unless your voltage regulator wasn't doing it's job. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
I thought I needed a new stator, because my battery wasn't charging. I decided to install a new voltage regulator at the same time, as they often die together. I installed the voltage regulator first, because it is a lot easier. My buddy Gerry suggested we test the bike again before jumping into the stator. Turned out that it did not need a stator. just a new voltage regulator. From what I understand from this board, this is not at all unusual. Make sure all the VR connections are tight after install. (Don't ask how I know:-). | ||
| Darthane |
Jon speaks the truth. If you don't have the service manual to do the test to verify whether it's the stator or the voltage regulator that's bad, let me know and I'll post the procedure. You definitely don't want to go to the trouble of replacing a stator just to find out the problem was actually the voltage regulator. | ||
| Ochoa0042 |
IT'S ALIVE !!!! IT'S ALIVE !!!!  it was the voltage regulator thanks a million  | ||
| Ochoa0042 |
alright thus officially sux harry nipps on a fat chick my bike has done it again and died on me, once on a ride, and another time with a fresh battery that wasnt even ran. the first time on the ride it had the same simptoms. then i replaced the battery and let it sit for a few days. And without it being turned on or ridden with that other battery, it didnt want to start!!! So... something is taking the juice out of the battery when it shouldnt be doing so... WHEN ITS OFF doing nothing what's the deal !!! | ||
| Froggy |
Mine doesn’t like to start if I don’t use it for a week. That’s the bikes way of protesting me going on vacation without bringing it. Still, it sounds like your stator is still at fault. | ||
| Darthane |
Check the procedure in the manual for parasitic draw, as well. It's unlikely, IMO, but you may have a small short somewhere that's leeching juice from the battery, but with too much resistance to ground to blow a fuse. I'm inclined to agree with Froggy. The pair often drag one another down. I lucked out and 'only' had to replace my stator, but a good number of people with a dead charging system have discovered that both the stator and the VR were toast. >.< |
