Geobob

Just thought I would post some before and after photos. Sure wish I cleaned up this good.

Got to work tonight on those pesky bolts. Cut the heads off and pulled the stater. Took the heat gun to them for a good long time before they loosened up enough to turn out. Simple job gone sideways. Then spent an hour with the heat gun working the gasket off. I have not had to do that in 30 years. Nothing like a 30 year old gasket.

The more I think about it, cutting off the head and pulling the old stater off is the way to go. I can see the problem is the threads are well below the screw head so heating from above is probably doing very little to heat the area of the case where the bolt is threaded into. Probably a big air gap. Those screws are like 2 inches. Ever other one came out tight but they did get better as they came out. Not this one. I think getting a couple of nuts on the remaining threads will give me something to turn once I get it warmed up. I will keep you all updated. By the way I do think both covers will polish up nice once I get what ever clear coat is on there. I worked on middle gear cover last night and it is ready for the buffing wheel. I really wanted to get that stater off so I could get started on that cover. Never expected to hit this road block. I find myself telling the wife things like "so far so good, at least everything came apart" Now I remember why I say that. All it takes is one 30 year old fastener. I am sure this part has never been apart since I bought the bike with only 1200 miles on in 1990. It is an 88.

Latest issue: All the dam screws came out with the impact driver and heat gun. Not sure if the heat gun is helping. I know there was discussion regarding how hot you need to get the parts to get locktight to melt. Will a heat gun do it or do I need to break out the oxy acetylene torch. I attached some photos. The one shows the last screw all boogered up. It is actually out about three turns. I tried heating it on the back side (see second photo) but I am now worried about twisting it off. Maybe that would not be so bad since then I could removed the old stater and get heat right on the bolt and hole it is stuck in. Humm something to think about. At this point I can try drilling but I don't think that will help much. So how hot can I get the aluminum case with the torch. I can get some long nose vice grips on the screw head but it still feels very very tight. Any ideas.

I am planning to make my own gasket for my middle gear cover and looked at ways of making a pattern. It occurred to me that if someone had a gasket set and scanned them we could have patterns available on line ready to print off. If you could feed gasket paper into your printer that would be even better. At a minimum having a pattern would make cutting your new one that much easier. And lets face it these gaskets are not going to be available forever. Better to have a digital copy of all of them for future use.

I was thinking about how to goop them up. I like the plan and the recommendation of black RTV. I pulled the middle gear cover off tonight and it is rather messy behind it or under it. It could be from the lower drain bolt or the wires coming out of the Stater cover. The area is enclosed so oil could make a big mess in there regardless of where it is coming from. There is the gear position sensor in there and it looks to be covered with oil and grim along with everything else under there. I also started polishing up the covers. I assume there is a clear coat of paint on them that needs to be sanded off or chemically pealed. Any experience with this other than 220 grit sand paper.

Well as far as putting the shift linkage back together I assume you are talking about the shift shaft down at the bottom left. Once the case cover is off it is just flopping around and it is not really apparent how it is supposed to sit. I am hoping with the middle gear cover off it will be more obvious how that part goes back together. As far as the little gears go. Again that is a guess since there is little in the shop manual that I can see. I looked at the gears and the shafts and the shafts can only go in their respective holes as well as the gears. The one looks like it can go one either way while the other two are machined and the small one has a lip on one side. If you don't have it on right it will not line up with the gear next to it. The larger one that shaft also looks the same on both sides. I did a little looking on line and it does appear simple enough to make my own gasket for that middle gear. I watched a video on replacing the primary cover on a victory vision and the recommendation was to get some threaded stock, cut 3 inch lengths and thread them into the block. Then slide the cover on to them and when the magnet sucks it down it will be centered on the threaded stock. Take the threaded stock out and put the bolts in. Worked great. I know because I had to do it three times. First time was when I put the new clutch in. The clutch slipped and had to take the Barnett out and put the stock back in. The third was because I did not have the rubber grommet from the stater wire seated properly. So anyone have a recommended source for block connectors. The connector for the pickup coils looks questionable.

Really, three weeks for delivery of a gasket and a washer. Give me a break. Cheap Cycle Parts should change the name to slow cycle parts. Anyone know of a better place to order parts. I will go to my local shop or make my own before willing waiting for delivery between 12/1 and 12/9. That is just ridiculous. And on top of that the shipping was more than the cost of the parts.

I dug into my stater replacement tonight and learned a few things. The link to the old tech post http://www.venturers.org/Tech_Library/index.php?action=article&cat_id=001007&id=415 was helpful but need a few notes attached. First off the wires are now so hard that casing just cracked and were really difficult to get out from behind the middle gear cover. It is also a mess back there so I am now waiting for a gasket since I think the cover needs to come off just to get the two lead routed properly and the area cleaned and inspected. My oil leak could be coming from someplace back there or one of the rubber grommets that the wires leave the stater cover through. Getting the stater cover off after all the bolts are removed was no simple task. I ended up wedging a screw driver behind the engine stay that leads from the front to the back. That put it right up against the block. I then took a tire iron and pried out on the upper rear both housing that has a small tab on it. It is the only place you can do this. I took a hair drier to it because my heat gun probably burned out years ago and the torch seemed like a bad idea. With the middle gear cover off the wires will be free and the stater cover should come off easier. I had all the gears fall out into the oil pan along with one of the pins. I also found the gear shift lever just floating around so putting it back in place should be easier with the middle gear cover removed So what ever the other wires are coming out of the cover they are pretty stiff. I think the six pin plug goes to the Pickup Unit. The plug looked like it should be replaced (any suggestions where to buy good gang plugs. There seem to be a bunch out there. So any suggestions on where to order a gasket. I think I have used "Cheap Cycle Parts" Any better ideas. Last thing is that if you free up the wires by taking the middle gear cover off first it will make pulling the stater cover off easier and maybe some of the gears will stay in place. I am pretty sure I got them back where they belong. Forgot the most important point was the stater looked burnt if you ask me. Stay tuned

Thanks so much Cowpuc. Yes there appears to be many places for a leak. I think I posted some photos on anther thread. I am starting with the middle gear cover lower bolt copper washer thanks to anther posters comments. I heated it up and quenched it hoping to soften it and get it to seal as it should. I spray down the area and see if that was it before moving on. The location of the mess suggest something in that area. I was hoping there were not 1/2 dozen possibilities but we don't really have a choice. Here is what I was really interested in asking. While looking for a video on replacement or removal of the Stater I ran across this http://www.venturers.org/Tech_Library/index.php?action=article&cat_id=001007&id=415 It is from the old Ventures tech pages. I understand the club and forum are not longer active but it appears we still have access to much of the data. Are there links on this site to those old tech pages. The page I found was exactly what I needed before digging into my Stater replacement. Additionally, I could not find anything in the shop manual on this. I suspect it is there but I have not found it yet.

I did ended up ordering both the stator and the regulator. I put the stator in first since it looks like less work than getting to the regulator. I can probable test run the new regulator with out actually installing where it belongs. Might be hanging off the bike or on the back seat but it should make for some interesting data. I have tired cleanup the contacts from the stator to the regulator and I tested the regulator. I can't say I remember testing the ground wire or even if there is one to be honest. I will have to look into that. i suppose before I put on the stator I should try taking the connector out all together the stator did show a low voltage while running when I tested each of the leads by pairs so I do think the stator is seen its better days

well talk about learning something new every day. I did not notice a leak but after looking at the manual and seeing no other place back there where a seal could be leaking I went back out to the garage and mess is really under that bolt and not so much the rear end of the "Middle Gear" where it exits the back of the motor. Could it really be this simple. I try the anneal process. Sounds simple enough and worth a try. At least if I clean up the area I can then watch for evidence of the new leak

Developed an oil leak that I am not sure where it is coming from. This is an 88 with 90k on it and this leak just showed up this summer. See photos. I started taking things off and got to the "Middle Gear Bearing Cover" and took the bolts out. The cover is till glued to the block but as I took out the lower bolts a small stream of motor oil began running out. So far only about 3 oz have drained. Clearly this is a gasketed surface so where did this oil come from. None of the bolts had oil on them. I just looked at the photos again and it looks clear that the oil came running out the lower center bolt. I did have the drive shaft and differential off but did not look at the rear drive seal. I am thinking that is good possibility also. That is going to require a bit more disassembly to get a look at. That is where I at for the next few days. Any thoughts?

Hay Cowpuc got a question. I know I will be in the area of a suspect oil leak while doing this repair. I keep finding a fair amount of oil on my lower left saddle bag and I am actually getting a very slow drip as evidence by the small puddle on the garage floor. Curious where it is likely coming from. I think the drive shaft comes out right there and the shift shaft. Any other likely sources? And the big question how easy is it to replace either of these seals.

After getting home from a cold ride this evening and not being able to run my heated jacket and hand grips while the wife was nice and toasty on her ride I broke down and ordered the HO Ricks stator off of Ricks Electronics site and a Shindengen FH020AA Mosfet R/R from Roadstercycle. I will post a follow up once I get the parts and install them.

Anyone know if you need the adapter plate that Jack sells with the Mosfet Rgulator for the early model Ventures

Thank Wiz, so you found a used or new stock stator or did you have your old one to put back in. Speaking of putting stock parts back in. I am about to put my stock clutch back into my Victory Vision because it was working fine but had 85k on it. I had to get into the cover so I thought why not put the barnett pack it. Well the dam thing in slipping. Turns out that others have experienced the same issue. I just read about R/R on roadstercycle site and feel convinced the FH020AA is the way to go and his kit is looks like a good idea. Now what about that stator?

Ok this thread seams to be close to my question. I am thinking of replacing my R/R and stator. I am going to guess the Shindengen Mosfet FH012AA is what guys have found to work best and a High Output Stator from Rick's Electornics. Fist question is I have done the typical search for the R/R and seen one for $22.99 and one for $129.95 (it is listed as FH020AA and says it Genuine). So the obvious question is are we looking at two identical parts or not. The second question is the stator cost. Again on Ebay you can find one listed for $50.85 or $56.24 with the gasket. The one on Parts Giant sells for $147.95. Earl tells me they stopped making the High Outputs units due to heat build up but I did just see a post on Racing Moto's page under the Ricks unit suggesting it will put out 480 watts or 40-45 amps calling the unit "a higher output stator" Has anyone tried these lower cost items and if so how did they work out.

Ok this thread seams to be close to my question. I am thinking of replacing my R/R and stator. I am going to guess the Shindengen Mosfet FH012AA is what guys have found to work best and a High Output Stator from Rick's Electornics. Fist question is I have done the typical search for the R/R and seen one for $22.99 and one for $129.95 (it is listed as FH020AA and says it Genuine). So the obvious question is are we looking at two identical parts or not. The second question is the stator cost. Again on Ebay you can find one listed for $50.85 or $56.24 with the gasket. The one on Parts Giant sells for $147.95. Neither suggests High Output and Earl tells me they stopped making the High Outputs units due to heat build up. Has anyone tried these lower cost items and if so how did they work out.

I got through the trip without any trouble. I did have to bump start it one morning after running with the vest and grips on for the last hour or so of the ride the day before. It is clear the system is not keeping up with more than running the lights and the bike and charging the battery. I put the new battery in yesterday and ran it with the grips on. It did not kill the battery but I still have only 13.89 volts while running at 2500 to 3000 rpms. I am convinced that a new R/R is in order along with the stater. Earl said his high out put modified stater got too hot and failed so I assume we are all back to just picking up one of the standard aftermarket ones. I looked up a site that sells Rick's electronics and the stater's are about the same price. His R/R is like $100 more than the units sold on ebay ect. I am undecided on the R/R. I kind of like the idea of the alternative ones others have used. Anyone have a good argument for either, I am listening. Also notice a more significant oil leak under the left side of the motor. I suspect it is the output shaft seal or something under there. That is subject for another thread.

Maybe i missed the tips on a higher out put stater and or R/R. Earl pointed me to Rick’s electronics stater and a new R/R but Ricks R/R was $100 more than the one he showed me off of ebay. I am doing this swap after my trip so I have time to do some looking

Thanks guys the video was very helpful. I am going to be close enough to Pinwal's cycle salvage today to stop by. Obviously I can just get a back up used R/R and stater from a Venture but I was curious if parts from another Yamaha would work better or might be more readily available. Any suggestions.

I ran through the test procedure and unfortunately my digital meter must not be able to measure these readings because if they were I don't think the system would be working. The diode tests showed no reading open or low resistance on the 2K scale. When I put it on the 20k or 2M scale it showed something 127 but on the lower settings is showed nothing. Not open or any reading. Even on test 6 where is should have read "open" I got reading with out testing across the R/R so the meter does work but it again showed nothing across the R/R. The stater test showed .8 ohms across all leads. I either need a new meter or a new R/R. I think I will order the new R/R and see what happens. If that does not improve things I try a new stater or rewinding this one or some other replacement. For now it is working just not as well as I think it should and at 92k miles maybe it is best just to replace and rebuild the critical components. And now that I have my new windshields I think I be riding one of these bike for a while.

Thanks this is just what I needed. Couple of questions. Where are guys finding new voltage regulators and is Buckey performance still rebuilding staters or are they still in business. There is a local shop that I think will rebuild many alternators. Are used ones easy enough to find. I checked Pinwall and could not get search results to pull up anything. I suspect I will have to call them monday if I need something.

According to this post can I assume my stator and regulator are good. I pulled the plugs apart and tried to clean up contacts with cleaner and a dental tool. They did not look that bad. I guess I could try to check resistance across the block connector?