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Uly_man
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 03, 2013 - 05:20 pm: | 
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I am not sure why, if they read the posts here, some do not understand that if you use logic and testing they should not trace the faults they have because if you do you will. "B" is using this and WILL find the fault sooner or later.
(Message edited by uly_man on July 03, 2013) |
Fltwistygirl
| | Posted on Thursday, July 04, 2013 - 07:17 pm: |
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""B" is using this and WILL find the fault sooner or later."
Thanks for your vote of confidence, Uly_man. I do believe we will get this sorted out. I just hope we do it while the riding season is still good in these Rocky Mountains before the snow flies.
It would have been good if we would have solved it in time for me to load the XT, "my" bike, for the trailer ride back to MN, but alas, that does not seem to be the case.
Oh well, at least I have a lower mileage Uly, "his" X, to tool around on up north. With three family deaths in the past year, and resulting unsettled family business at the forefront of our attention up north, the last thing I want to focus on is an intermittent CEL.
Somehow, mostly with the resources of badweb and other Buellers, we have muddled thru our other Uly-problems. There's a lot of collective knowledge on the badweb and we sincerely appreciate everyone's contributions. B. |
Fltwistygirl
| | Posted on Friday, July 05, 2013 - 09:56 am: |
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Finally, another clue. On his commute to work this morning, the voltage monitor showed a drop to 12.3 volts. I don't have any other details, but he is now leaning towards ordering a new VR. |
Tootal
| | Posted on Friday, July 05, 2013 - 10:56 am: |
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Before you buy just a VR please do the all the stator test to be sure it's not the stator. A bad stator will fry a new VR. DAMHIK! Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt and the video! And an extra VR! |
Fltwistygirl
| | Posted on Friday, July 05, 2013 - 01:11 pm: |
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"Before you buy just a VR please do the all the stator test to be sure it's not the stator."
Thanks for the advice, Tootal. And man, that stinks! Will make sure stator test is done before getting new VR. IMHO, instead of spending money to replace a VR twice, I'd prefer to put it towards petrol to ride these gloriously twisty CO roads! |
Uly_man
| | Posted on Saturday, July 06, 2013 - 05:04 am: |
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ALWAYS, and I mean ALWAYS, start at the base line of the problem. In this case it would be the stator as this is the base feed. Prove and confirm parts and then move forward until the fault is found.
Way to many people, but not you, just "jump in" with half anal ideas because they have no, or little, idea of what they are doing. This is not, however, just with this bike. Even at, some, dealers the "change out part" thing is normal. The problem is that they expect you to pay for there lack of skill. |
Fltwistygirl
| | Posted on Saturday, July 06, 2013 - 10:00 pm: |
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"Way to many people, but not you, just "jump in" with half anal ideas because they have no, or little, idea of what they are doing. This is not, however, just with this bike."
Agreed, Uly_man. In the medical world, that is probably one reason for second opinions. Peoples decisions are based on their experiences, lack thereof, or knowledge of others experiences, if egos permit.
A side note, the voltage monitor dropped to a steady twelve after filling with petrol today. And, tomorrow is troubleshooting day. Again. It's ok, one of our favorite local rides, Rist Canyon, was partially covered in mud and debris from Friday's flash floods anyway. We will be dragging out the service manual and testing the stator in the garage. Such is life as a couple of do-it-yerselfers. Cheers! B. |
Uly_man
| | Posted on Sunday, July 07, 2013 - 05:14 am: |
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"On his commute to work this morning the voltage monitor showed a drop to 12.3 volts." No the bike is not charging at all.
A fully charged battery should be about 13.2v and the bike should be giving, at idle, a "holding" charge of about 14.7v to cover the lose through the bikes running load ie lights, etc.
I have never checked the charging system on this bike but a normal home charger is high volts (14.7v max) with low (about 200Ma) amps, like a trickle charge, and low volts (about 13.2v) and high (max 2A) amps for a full re charge. And, of course, adjusts itself due to conditions as the bikes charge should do.
It will be either the stator, the wiring from the stator to the VR, the VR or the wiring from the VR to the battery.
If it was me, although it is the wrong way round of doing it, I would check the wiring from the VR to the battery first. Why? Because it is easier to check over the other items and a more common problem than the lose of a stator or VR. So if you were lucky it could be an easy fix. |
Fltwistygirl
| | Posted on Sunday, July 07, 2013 - 01:16 pm: |
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So, here's the update:
He checked all wiring between battery, VR and stator and it all looks fine.
The battery was a little low this a.m., twelve-ish, so is on the tender now.
He pulled out the service manual and apparently it does not contain the steps to test the stator.
If someone has those steps to test the stator, could you post those up, please?
Thanks a bunch! B. |
Closetbueller
| | Posted on Sunday, July 07, 2013 - 02:16 pm: |
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did a search for stator test, and it checks out fine on continuity and voltage tests. refiled and tightened the ground while i had everything apart. time to ride and see what its doing, but am beginning to think its time to order a new VR |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Monday, July 08, 2013 - 08:44 am: |
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Have you been in the primary? Any funny (really bad) smells? |
Fltwistygirl
| | Posted on Monday, July 08, 2013 - 10:22 am: |
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Reepi-
Yes, he checked fluids (oil and primary) and did not notice any funny smells.
He rode it for about 20 miles yesterday after putting it back together with no changes in voltage.
He also rode it to work today with no issues. |
Fltwistygirl
| | Posted on Monday, July 08, 2013 - 10:12 pm: |
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So, another day, another day of watching the voltage.
On the way home, voltage dropped to 12.75, then spiked to 15.25 ish, then normalized and stayed put for the remainder.
Just strapped the X on the trailer and I think we will be ordering a new VR this week.
Will keep y'all posted. B. |
Tootal
| | Posted on Monday, July 08, 2013 - 10:15 pm: |
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Mine was spiking up to 17 volts and blowing headlight bulbs! Since the stator tested all good then the VR should cure it. |
Fltwistygirl
| | Posted on Monday, July 08, 2013 - 10:23 pm: |
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"Mine was spiking up to 17 volts and blowing headlight bulbs! Since the stator tested all good then the VR should cure it."
Yowza! Mine had a rather costly bout of bulb blowing a few months back. Not sure if it was related to impending VR failure, or if the bulbs I was using were just not the best pick for this paint shaking bike, but (knock on wood), that seems to have ended with the eleven dollar wally world bulb fix.
Hope the VR takes care of things. I miss "my" bike and have way more new-to-me mountain roads that need to be explored before snow flies. |
Uly_man
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 09, 2013 - 09:14 am: |
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"On the way home, voltage dropped to 12.75, then spiked to 15.25 ish, then normalized and stayed put for the remainder." Yes it sounds like the VR is breaking down. It should NEVER go past about 14.7v and given your lamp blowing history this seems to confirm the problem.
Just as a side note? The OEM VR looks like the finish on the heat sink is powder coated. That is great to stop corrosion but I am not so sure it is a good idea for heat dissipation, which is vital for the VR, as a powder coat is a form of plastic and therefor an insulator. Just a thought and I could be wrong of course.
It may be worth looking at one of those aftermarket VRs as an upgrade. |
Fltwistygirl
| | Posted on Sunday, July 14, 2013 - 09:08 pm: |
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So, another day, another voltage spike to 15.5, another blown head light, another sign that hopefully points to a failing vr. The good news is he did order a replacement. It should be here Tuesday and maybe then we will be able to put this thread to rest. Will keep you all posted. B. |
Fltwistygirl
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 17, 2013 - 10:16 am: |
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New VR is in, and he is taking it for a test ride. Fingers crossed that solves the problem. |
Fltwistygirl
| | Posted on Thursday, July 18, 2013 - 11:27 am: |
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Well, he rode it 150 miles yesterday with no issues. It cranked right up, the voltage slowly climbed to the mid 14s and stayed in that range the entire ride.
But now I have a new problem: he said he had so much fun twisting away on those mountain roads on the lower bike that I am going to have a hard time getting "my" bike back from him. Maybe, just maybe if we get the EBR ecm upgrade for his bike, the "x", he will change his mind!
Thanks for everyone's imput on this. I'm looking forward to getting back to Colorado so we can start piling on the (s)miles. |
Uly_man
| | Posted on Friday, July 19, 2013 - 02:14 pm: |
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"It cranked right up, the voltage slowly climbed to the mid 14s and stayed in that range the entire ride." Yes that sounds about right.
"Maybe, just maybe if we get the EBR ecm upgrade for his bike, the "x", he will change his mind!" I would be wary about doing that, EBR ECM, because the 06 bike DOES run right if all things on it are working right. |
Buewulf
| | Posted on Friday, July 19, 2013 - 02:31 pm: |
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"I would be wary about doing that, EBR ECM"
I concur. I have an EBR ECM in my 06 and am not all that pleased with the result. It was better with the stock ECM.
Glad you got your bike rolling again! |
Fltwistygirl
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 23, 2013 - 08:51 am: |
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He rode it for six hours on Sunday with no voltage spikes or drops, and no other issues. As a bonus, he averaged 66 mpgs. Not that the mpgs are related to a new voltage regulator, but we have not seen that kind of mpgs since interstate riding a couple springs ago in florida.
In any event, its a huge relief that it seems to be sorted out. B. |
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