| Author | Message | ||
     Adrenaline0210 |
Hey guys, 03' xb9s. Charged battery will run fine for a few weeks and all a suddon lose charge. Upon checking the alternator wires out, when we unplugged it, there was a lot of oil seeping from the plug wires. Anyone ever seen this. We are thinking that the charging system is doing ok but once the oil heats it up it shorts everything out so the battery can't charge. Currently bike is recieving full voltage, when reved voltage increases like normal. | ||
| Sparky |
Oil by itself is an insulator so it won't short out anything in a bike. But certain types of oil in the primary can attack any exposed copper in the stator wires (there shouldn't be any unless there is a nick in the wire's insulation) or the connection to the "71" connector that mates with the wire harness. What oil are you using in there? | ||
| Terrys1980 |
Sounds like a loose connection somewhere. | ||
| Adrenaline0210 |
I really don't know what type of oil is in there. I never changed it. Only my main oil which is screamin eagle syn 3. So your thinking maybe my primary oil could be what I am seeing? Bike has 10k miles on it now anyways probably due for a primary oil change as well. What is this "71" connector you speak of? | ||
| Sparky |
My bad -- it's the 77 connector. That's the connector I referenced that you unplug to test the stator. Do a search here for "77 connector". There's a gold mine of info on the subject. | ||
| Adrenaline0210 |
Ok now why would there be oil seeping through this connector? | ||
| Rays |
This is a starting point for intermittent charging. http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AflAL-QRJACkZDRy Ynh3cl8yMGRxNWtoZg&hl=en Am I correct in assuming the oil is in the 46 connector? I have never heard of this issue with a Buell but my Kawasaki ZX12 has a problem (that is a recall issue with these) where crankcase pressure forces engine oil through the wires from the alternator into the equivalent alternator / regulator connector. Now on the Buell of course the alternator isn't subject to crankcase compression because of the separate engine gearbox so it isn't likely to be oil coming from the primary but never say never I suppose. Are there any other oil leaks in the area (primary drive shaft oil seal etc) that could be migrating to the connector area? I would do the '77 connector check as above and clean everything and keep a close eye on where the oil leak starts. | ||
| Adrenaline0210 |
I have a close friend of which is a bike mechanic for Yamaha, Kawasaki. He actually has a sporty that he rides so he knows these motors pretty well. He stated the same thing that its the first time he's seen this other than Yamahas when they had a recall with this same issue. You are correct and it's the 46 connector when unplugged is filled with oil. This is the only thing we can really think of that its not charging the system properly. We tested the voltages coming from the 46 connector when idle and when reved the voltage arose like it should. The battery showed good voltage and when reved showed the correct fluctuation. The only thing we can come up with is somehow the oil getting into the stator and shooting it upward causing a short. UPDATE: yesterday was when we tested everything. Battery had a full charge and today on my way home all electronics went totally dead and it is in fact the battery is drained.... What do you guy's think about this scenario? Anyone ever experienced this? | ||
| Rsh |
Are you saying the # 46 connector repeatedly fills with with oil, or did you notice it having oil inside during your initial inspection? When I was having charging issue's a a few years back, my # 46 connector had oil in it. I cleaned it out, it did not cure the charging problem. In my case it was the #77 connector. Inside the connector one of the terminals had melted. Same as in the link Rays posted above. When I was having the problem you could actually feel a difference in temperature between the red and black wires coming out of the #77 connector. The temperature difference was cased by high resistance from the bad connection, which caused the connector to melt, and a no charge state. A number of people have had trouble with the #77 connector, if you have the pulley cover off it is easy to check. | ||
| Rays |
As I was riding the Uly home in the cold tonight I was thinking about your issue and was wondering if a bad seal on the L/H main bearing could let engine crankcase pressure into the primary? Sounds like a bit of a wild theory and I assume you would need to have a pinched gearbox breather to compound the felony but those # 46 connectors are waterproof so the only place oil could get get in would be via the wire? As Sparky observed oil is an insulator so it could cause an issue if the pins and sockets in the #46 connector are a little loose and interfere with the alternator output getting to the regulator. You might want to check the tightness of the female sockets on the # 46 connector as they have burnt up from poor fitting in very rare situations. The oil is obviously an issue but shouldn't in itself impact the charging. | ||
| Adrenaline0210 |
Its odd because when we test the stator it was charging up voltage correctly. Maybe my #77 connector is in fact the culprit. I will have to look into that tomorrow. Next step is just to pull the stator and see inside whats going on. |
