bike dies, dead battery

[99venture]

i'll try and make this short and detailed.

 

fixin my buddys venture, a 99.

 

died on the road to ny last fall, he put in new battery and didnt get to far before it died again.

 

brought it to me, charged up the battery and tested the charging system.

 

stator was 96v, ohm'd out correctly

r/r tested fine

all plugs appear to be fine.

ignition switch was bad, did the temp fix i found here with the toggle.

voltage output while running tested around 13 at idle and 14 at mid range rpm's

 

sent him on his way, figuring the switch wasn't allowing system to charge.

 

he rode it to work 2 days fine. third day he went to a store, came out and dead battery. jump started it and only made it 1/2 mile before it died again.

 

 

last night charged the battery with a charger. this morning i checked the voltage while running again, at idle right now its 13.6 volts.

 

i think i did a draw test right, and i'm getting 00.7 on the 200m scale with key off, i installed the new ignition switch last night.

 

 

i will redo the charging system test procedure with the new switch installed.

 

 

 

what am i missing? if everything appears to be correct? or are my charging values a wee bit low enough to eventually run the battery down while driving?

[GeorgeS]

OK, I assume the Same battery is still installed ---

 

Sounds like you did all the right things for trouble shooting. One more thing to consider. Is this a Lead Acid, wet battery ??? Even if it is sealed.

 

Or, is it a dry cell of some type ??

 

Either way, sometimes a battery will be in a failed condition, AND, still take a charge, or appear to, but within a day or two, it will " discharge" Internally. Due to an Internal fault .

 

I have seen New batteries, within a few months, fail in this way. The fix in this case would obviously be to replace the battery.

 

However, one more check I would do , is Charge the battery, then disconnect it.

Now, Hook up a digital volt/ohm tester, In Series between the battery, and the feed line that feeds, all the accessories on the bike, and set meter to read AMPS, and check to see is something is Drawing Current, with the Ignition in the OFF Position.

 

Its also, possible, that the Starter Solinoid, could have a High Resistance connection and be coutiniously drawing current thru the starter, when NOT in use, however this is WAY OUT, in Left Field !!!

 

At this point, I'm leaning toward, the battery itself, being Defective !!! Best replacement, would be a DEKA !! AGM type !! Contact , " Condor " !!

[Condor]

My '99's battery will last longer with the audio system off when sitting for a long period.

 

However.... I killed my AGM and then a new wet cell replacement and it turned out to be the rectifyer. Show'd volts, but no amps. Replaced it with one of those Shendengen's and no more dead batteries.

[Guest]

Check the plug going into your regulator/rectifier. I know mine was burnt and would work if wiggled back and forth. Usually one of the corner leads gets burnt, most likely the red one. GeorgeS, you were on the phone with me when I discovered the burnt plug. It was one of your suggestions while we talked. And a good one at that.....

[GeorgeS]

Check the plug going into your regulator/rectifier. I know mine was burnt and would work if wiggled back and forth. Usually one of the corner leads gets burnt, most likely the red one. GeorgeS, you were on the phone with me when I discovered the burnt plug. It was one of your suggestions while we talked. And a good one at that.....

 

Give 99Venture a call, he might have the same problem as your bike had. As I recall you had to completly rebuild the Plug on the R/R Unit. ??

[99venture]

just rechecked everything.

 

fuses good

r/r good

stator @ idle 17-19volts, got it to like 98 volts at a pretty high rev, had to be close to 4500, 5000 rpm

 

for the stator ohms test, i believe i'm doing it right, have it on the 200 ohm scale, tested at the r/r plug and its at 10.8 and 10.6 across the pins.

[Guest]

just rechecked everything.

 

fuses good

r/r good

stator @ idle 17-19volts, got it to like 98 volts at a pretty high rev, had to be close to 4500, 5000 rpm

 

for the stator ohms test, i believe i'm doing it right, have it on the 200 ohm scale, tested at the r/r plug and its at 10.8 and 10.6 across the pins.

 

Yea, but did you inspect the plug going into the R/R? They can be taken apart and inspected. I think its a molex plug.

[99venture]

will try and take the plug apart to inspect.

[Guest]

Wiggle the plug around on the R/R while checking the charging and see if there is any differences in the readings. Since I was alone and already had my lower fairings off, I dropped the R/R from its mount and stretched the cord over to the right side of the bike and bolted it to a hole with one bolt so I could reach down and do the wiggling while I checked the meter while in a seated position. You may also be able to look into the bottom of the plug and see if there are any scorch marks or melted plastic, a sure indicator of plug trouble.

[Marcarl]

If you did a stator check when it was cold,,,,,, heat things up well into running temp, and then check again,,, you might find your problem.

[frankd]

I second what Carl said about getting it warm. I'm not trying to make this a 2nd gen jab, but do 2nd gens have voltmeters? I know there are a couple of options to change the display on the speedometer---is one of those a voltmeter? On 1st. Gens, there is a voltmeter on the instrument cluster, and on my 83 the voltmeter started dipping down for a few minutes and then jumping back up to normal many times before the stator quit for good.....over a period of several months. Finally, failure became peramanent. The stator was grounded, and at first it was an intermittent ground. Now that I think of it, it happened with 2 different stators seperated by 10 years. I bought the 83 in April of 83. Before the stator cooling oil warranty recall was performed, I was riding to work and the voltmeter went down and then back to normal 4 or 5 times before it went down for good. Then the bike went to the dealer so he could install the modification and replace the stator under warranty.

 

Also, I looked at the 2nd gen wiring diagram. The red wire coming from the regulator goes goes through the main fuse and then to the battery positive terminal. A bad ignition switch will not cause charging problems....sorry. I don't know what type of main fuse the 2nd gens use, but the 1st. gens use a replaceable fuse link that is mounted with screws. I did find loose screws on my 83 causing a voltage drop. If the 2nd gens use the same system, make sure the link is tight.

 

 

If there isn't a voltmeter option for the display, rig up a voltmeter hooked accross the battery terminals, and take it for a ride. However...be careful how you hook it up because if the lead connected to the positive terminal grounds, it will burn up and do some damage to anything it touches. Maybe you can find a safer place to connect the positive lead to (like the radio power lead or something like that). If it is charging OK (over 14V), take it for a ride and see if it quits when it gets hot. It does sound like you may have an intermittent stator ground if the the regulator plugs are not burned up. Did you check the stator for grounds? Connect one lead of the ohmeter go ground, and the other to any of the stator leads (with the plug disconnected). You should read an open circuit (NOT grounded). This test is not in the manual and it is important.

 

Frank D.

[99venture]

thanks for all the help i'm getting. really appreciate it.

 

i did test the stator to ground and had no issues. i used the testing procedure i found on this site and that was included.

 

i've got my homework to do on this bike, as in things to check, not sure if i'll get to it today. good chance of rain and dark clouds overhead.

 

 

buddy went ahead and ordered a new stator and r/r from ricks motorsports. said somethign about wanting to run some heated gear anyways. so the higher voltage would be appreciated.

 

but until that comes, i will keep on with the testing to figure out exactly what his issue is. may try to go get the battery load tested today atleast.------- done,, battery tested fine

 

 

 

and again, thank you all for the help.

Edited June 4, 2012 by 99venture

[Squidley]

may try to go get the battery load tested today atleast.------- done,, battery tested fine

 

 

 

Check all the connections, especially where the ground is attached to the frame. These bikes are very finicky with the electrical systems if they are dirty.

[RedRider]

99 Venture,

 

Welcome to VR. I am 2000RSV on AdvRider and am glad to see you come here for advise. Good luck with the troubleshooting. There are folks answering your questions that are far more qualified than me with the electrical system.

 

Now, if you have a clutch question, bring it on.

 

RR