wera803 Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Here is one for you. Went on a ride today and on the way home I looked down to see the tach and speedometer at zero (found out later I had no tail light or headlights either). The LCD of the dash was still lit up, but miles were not accumulating. I looked at the volt meter and it read 8.0 volts. I was coming up to a town where I thought there was an automotive parts store so continued the 4-5 miles. I figured maybe it was the melted plug and at least I could get some sort of wires and connectors to patch it and get home. As I rolled up to a red stop light, the bike stalled so I popped the clutch and the bike restarted. The spedo and tach both came to life and the volts jumped up. Over the next 20 miles, the voltage continued to climb back to the 14.1V I see regularly. I rode the final 1.5 hrs home with no issues, although didn't stop except for stop lights. 2001 VFR with 67,800 miles, VFRness installed, computer cooling fan on the R/R, MOTY 12-cell battery, BlueSea fuse box with a bunch of accessories wired to it. Stator and R/R are still original (I bought the bike with 2900 miles and have never had an issue). When I got home I started looking things over. The negative battery cable wasn't exactly tight, although it wasn't loose either. The clock or trip did not reset at any point today. I pulled all of the stator, VFRness, and R/R connections and while they had black road grime on the outside, the connections all appear to be clean and good. So was this just a negative battery cable connection issue or something bigger? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MBrane Posted July 7, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted July 7, 2014 Check the orange grounding blocks. There is one near the R/R, and another in front near the meters. They are wrapped in electrical tape, and kinda tricky to open. Basically they are where a bunch of small ground wires come together. There is a metal bar that connects all the little wires together. If moisture, and dirt build up in there they can corrode. You'd never see it until the connectors were junk unless you unwrap 'em, and open 'em up. Bad grounds can do weird stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted July 7, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted July 7, 2014 Stator starting to fail !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer mello dude Posted July 7, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted July 7, 2014 It would have been a good idea to test the stator before pulling it. - 67k mile on a '01 5th gen? I'd say you have done pretty well with it, it just may be getting to be that time that things start to eat it. I like the ground check idea too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer CasualSwede Posted July 7, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted July 7, 2014 +1 on the grounds. And when you say you pulled the connections, I assume this was just a visual check? Checking stator output with a multimeter is something I'd look at next. Does your onboard volt meter read below 8.0 volts? Not sure if they have a min and max range that they read within. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wera803 Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 Check the orange grounding blocks. There is one near the R/R, and another in front near the meters. They are wrapped in electrical tape, and kinda tricky to open. Basically they are where a bunch of small ground wires come together. There is a metal bar that connects all the little wires together. If moisture, and dirt build up in there they can corrode. You'd never see it until the connectors were junk unless you unwrap 'em, and open 'em up. Bad grounds can do weird stuff. I'll give the grounds a good look over and check the stator output just to be sure. I left the bike apart last night hoping I'd get some ideas from you guys on what else to check. It would have been a good idea to test the stator before pulling it. - 67k mile on a '01 5th gen? I'd say you have done pretty well with it, it just may be getting to be that time that things start to eat it. I like the ground check idea too. I actually just got a spare stator rewound to have on hand and have a new battery in the box. I also have a spare R/R, but I think it is off a 600RR or something and not a VFR. I know the day is coming and figured it was yesterday. My GF has a 2000 VFR with 27k miles on it (bought 2 years ago with 13k on it), so having spare electrical parts around seems like a good idea. +1 on the grounds. And when you say you pulled the connections, I assume this was just a visual check? Checking stator output with a multimeter is something I'd look at next. Does your onboard volt meter read below 8.0 volts? Not sure if they have a min and max range that they read within. Yes, just a visual check on the connections. I did spray them down with electrical contact cleaner too. The volt meter actually was fluctuating around 8V. It dropped to 7.9 or 7.8 at one time. It is a Datel volt meter and I don't remember the exact model, but according to their website it is either the 4.5V or 8V minimum input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wera803 Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 I pulled the orange connector on the side and everything is clean as a whistle. Didn't pull the front fairing yet to check the front one. The stator seems to be putting out 21VAC leg to leg with the R/R disconnected. 0.2 ohms resistance leg to leg and all 3 legs open to ground. I'm beginning to think it was the "not so tight" neg battery cable that caused the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer mello dude Posted July 8, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted July 8, 2014 Did you do a rev up test on the stator? And it doesnt hurt to do a hot test... have seen some that are fine until they get hot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 A Jezebel Spirit. Spirit of Destruction, Spirit of Electrical Grief. Check for Byrne and Enos exorcist on Youtube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earthshake Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Probably the bad negative. But I had a stator that passed all tests only to lose one phase when it got hot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted July 9, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted July 9, 2014 Maybe also follow the negative battery cable to where it attaches to the frame - be sure it's clean and tight. Electricity will take the path of least resistance back to the battery and if it's not through the intended ground(s) it can find other pathways through where it's not wanted, sometimes causing the craziest problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer gmtech94 Posted July 9, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted July 9, 2014 Where are the fuses for these items located it would seem that all are connected ,I am having a very similar problem with an 05 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MBrane Posted July 9, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted July 9, 2014 +1 on the hot stator. I don't even bother to check them cold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wera803 Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 I wasn't able to ride it, but warmed it up to 210° in the garage. Of course that is water temp and not oil temp. Still showed good voltage at idle and 57 VAC at 5k RPM's. Before disconnecting and checking the voltage, the wires on both sides of the connector seemed awfully warm along with the connector. I've never felt them before, so not sure if it is the normal temp or hot. When people hardware the wires together, what do you use? It seems like if you cut the wires flush with the connectors the wires would be too short to connect together. Is there some slack somewhere I'm not seeing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted July 9, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted July 9, 2014 Extend the wires by soldering them and these ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MBrane Posted July 10, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted July 10, 2014 I wasn't able to ride it, but warmed it up to 210° in the garage. Of course that is water temp and not oil temp. Still showed good voltage at idle and 57 VAC at 5k RPM's. Before disconnecting and checking the voltage, the wires on both sides of the connector seemed awfully warm along with the connector. I've never felt them before, so not sure if it is the normal temp or hot. When people hardware the wires together, what do you use? It seems like if you cut the wires flush with the connectors the wires would be too short to connect together. Is there some slack somewhere I'm not seeing? It's normal for those wires to get hot, but not too hot to touch. If they're that hot they will fry the connector eventually. The heat cycles, and vibration is what causes the stock Hitachi connectors to become loose on the contacts, and melt from the additional heat of the poor connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wera803 Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 It's normal for those wires to get hot, but not too hot to touch. If they're that hot they will fry the connector eventually. The heat cycles, and vibration is what causes the stock Hitachi connectors to become loose on the contacts, and melt from the additional heat of the poor connection. I could still touch them, so I guess that is normal. Extend the wires by soldering them and these ! Those connectors go to a Mosfet R/R, like what the R1 uses. They don't connect together. Guess if I wanted to change the R/R, I could go to something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted July 10, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted July 10, 2014 Yep .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MBrane Posted July 11, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted July 11, 2014 Or you could simply re-tension the Hitachi connectors, treat them with some DeOxit, zip-tie them together, and to the subframe. It's worked for me for 4 years, and 50K miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wera803 Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 Or you could simply re-tension the Hitachi connectors, treat them with some DeOxit, zip-tie them together, and to the subframe. It's worked for me for 4 years, and 50K miles. I tried to get the pins out of the connectors on my GF's 2000 and didn't have much luck. I checked hers a couple of months ago and they were nice and clean too. Apparently I don't have the release tool or just wasn't doing it right. When I pulled mine apart this week, I had apparently zip-tied the connectors together several years ago when I installed the VFRness. Went looking for DeOxit at Advance Auto and couldn't find anything except Dielectric Grease. Where do you buy DeOxit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted July 11, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted July 11, 2014 Connector has melted together ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wera803 Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 Connector has melted together ? Sorry, I made my post a little clearer. The connectors came apart, but I couldn't get the pins out of the connector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer huntinggunns Posted July 11, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted July 11, 2014 Best place to get de oxit is at a music store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNRabbit Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Best place to get de oxit is at a music store. You can get DeOxit 100% solution & fader lube concentrates at Parts Express online: PartNumber 1 341-220 CAIG DeoxIT D100L-25C Needle Dispenser 25 ml $18.35 $18.35 1 341-256 CAIG DeoxIT FaderLube MCL100L-25C Needle Dispenser 25 ml $26.98 $26.98 Cheapest place to find the 5% spray is Sweetwater Sound. Talk to Paul Allen. They have THE BEST customer service on the planet. Free shipping which is what makes them the cheapest even though price is a little higher than some that charge $15 for shipping~ Paul Allen 800 222 4700 260 432 8176 voicemail/extension 1318 fax 260 432 1758 email: paul_allen@sweetwater.com Sweetwater Sound Inc. 5501 US Highway 30 W Fort Wayne, IN 46818 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted July 11, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted July 11, 2014 Best place to get de oxit is at a music store. You can get DeOxit 100% solution & fader lube concentrates at Parts Express online: PartNumber 1 341-220 CAIG DeoxIT D100L-25C Needle Dispenser 25 ml $18.35 $18.35 1 341-256 CAIG DeoxIT FaderLube MCL100L-25C Needle Dispenser 25 ml $26.98 $26.98 Cheapest place to find the 5% spray is Sweetwater Sound. Talk to Paul Allen. They have THE BEST customer service on the planet. Free shipping which is what makes them the cheapest even though price is a little higher than some that charge $15 for shipping~ Paul Allen 800 222 4700 260 432 8176 voicemail/extension 1318 fax 260 432 1758 email: paul_allen@sweetwater.com Sweetwater Sound Inc. 5501 US Highway 30 W Fort Wayne, IN 46818 +1 PartsExpress is good . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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