Battery or Stator or Voltage regulator

[dwhite]

bought a brand new battery for my buell yesterday morning. Put it in, buddy took her out riding. About 1.5 hours into the ride the check engine light came on, the instrument panel went dead and the bike ran for about another mile then bogged and just quit. The bike would not register anything afterwards when turning the key. Was able to jump it and then it would run for a minute and die again.

So, I believe the battery to be good as it was new and terminals tight. That leaves me with the Voltage regulator or the Stator or maybe a short (checked most visible wiring for defect and didnt see anything).

If the stator is bad is it feasible that the bike would run for 1.5 or more on just the battery alone? If not then maybe it is the voltage regulator?

Any thoughts?

 

[anrkizm95]

If the stator is bad is it feasible that the bike would run for 1.5 or more on just the battery alone?

yes it is

 

[twisted]

Dwhite, what year bike? If its 07' and before they're is only one plug to check. If is 08' to 10' it has two plugs. First get multimeter, then charge your battery to full charge then wait about hour then check charge on the battery to make sure its not the battery. Second start the bike then check to see if its charging, rev engine about 3500 it should be charging between 13.5 to 14.5 volts. If it doesn't its the regulator. If its charging turn bike off. Disconnect the plug or plugs, on the multimeter there is a connection setting that beeps if the the prongs touch. Place one on the primary case touch the prong on the pins in the plug if beeps the stator is grounding out. To be honest if either one is out change both because the other will go out soon. I'm having to do it right now with my bike.

 

[dwhite]

it is an '04. Most of your direction is clear but I dont understand when you touch the prong on the pins?

thanks

 

[TheyCallMe]

I think hes talking about the Stator, your stator will have one plug. Touch multimeter to casing of the stator and the pins in the plug.. if beeping you have a bad stator.. Is that what your saying twisted? (by prong you mean the two probes of the mulitimeter.. by pins you mean the contacts in the plug from the stator?)

 

[07Bolt]

regulator; 03-07 had old style, 08 & up have updated plug. the old style 03-07 have tendencies to melt.

 

[Cataract2]

Simple way to test the stator. Open the primary chain inspection cover and take a wiff. If it smells like burnt popcorn, your stator is done.

 

[jimijeans]

dwhite ,I have a post on here that has the (voltage regulator/Stator)check that Stevenc150 made a link Or it could be in his assortment of links . I made it Very Detailed so it should be pretty easy to follow.Charge up the battery [Slowly] so as to get a Better Charge.It was discharged pretty good from riding till it died so thats step one.Un plug the regulator and check you plug for damage. The new one has the updated harness. The stator will need to be checked independantly of the regulator.A simple Digital multi-meter will do whats needed.More than likely the Charging system was on the way out when you replaced the Battery. Once you FULLY charge the battery.Try to start the bike,and with the Meter on the battery check the Volts on the Battery 12.6 at Idle 14.5 or so at above 3100Rpms.

 

[dwhite]

hey all, I havent had a chance to really dive into the problem with my XB. I pulled the cover off to expose the wiring and connectors for the voltage regulator and alternator connections. My meter has went kaput so I need to go buy a new one. The one thing I did notice was a ever so slight wear/rub mark on one of the wires that connects to the alternator connector. The wire was worn down by rubbing on vent oil line. Anyone think this is the cause of my problems or merely a potential problem in the making?

 

[07Bolt]

yeah, its probably grounding/shorting ur stator out almost all the time. especially when it is touching metal/frame/steel/bolts etc

 

[dwhite]

ok, while the rub wear mark may be a problem, the problem is not isolated to that. wrapped the wire in electric tape, took it out for a ride and the same thing happened again....
Rode well for a min then check engine light came on then the electronics went out. I got her back before she started to bog down and quit on me.

 

[07Bolt]

Rode well for a min then check engine light came on then the electronics went out. I got her back before she started to bog down and quit on me.

thats ur regulator; its bad. ur stator is good because u r able to start & run it. battery is drained b/c the regulator is not sending elec to it from the stator.

charge ur battery out of the bike, replace the regulator, with an updated one, and also check for codes pertaining to ur ecm. make sure it didnt get damaged

 

[madisonm55]

i tried the dual headlight mod where u switch the yellow and orange wires in the headlight harness and it allows u to run the low beam when on low and both when on hi....99.9/10 of others who have done this say there are no issues but no more than a half hour after switching the wires and having the bike off it dies...could this be a stator issue?

 

[nikfleisch]

VR same thing happened to me.

 

[Doc13]

For what its worth, pull your primary apart and Inspect your stator, if it has **** on you you'll know it because your coils will not all look the same. Itll cost you an oil change and time. Could also save you $$$ on a vr that works fine. FTR my Stator went bad and ran fine minus throwing high volts at higher rpms.

Doc

 

[pixelronin]

I have just gone through this...my voltage regulator went bad and my #77 connector plug was toasted. I went ahead and had the stator replaced as well.

I get her back tomorrow...hopefully this will keep her on the road for a long time to come.

Another reason my bike tried to shut off at times was my bank sensor was missing its original mounting hardware and was just strapped onto the bike.

Hope you get it rolling again.

Cheers

 

[madisonm55]

ok so my problem lies in the vr most likely?

 

[Theycallmecrash]

No

 

[bigmoe]

With out testing any thing on your bike, buying parts is just throwing money randomly at it! You need to test the vr and the stator before doing anything else. Other wise you might as well just cross your fingers and buy both and just hope that the $500 in parts fixes your problem! Just sayin. Btw I'm a student at wyotech in daytona beach and I do know what I'm talking about. Good luck.

 

[Theycallmecrash]

Btw I'm a student at wyotech in daytona beach and I do know what I'm talking about.

Not to call you out or anything, so dont take offence, youre a student and dont know exactly what youre talking about. His issue happens when its off, there for is not a charging system problem, and a different approach at diagnosing the issue is needed. Telling him to test his VR and stator is no more informative than telling him to drink a beer and stare at it. Madison i posted in another thread for you on how to diagnose this issue have any questions PM or post there.