Electrical - Test R/R, Stator, and Battery

[HispanicSlammer]

Static Voltage Test

Remove the seat, unhook the battery cover. You will need some type of multi testing meter, I have an Equus that I bought from Checker Auto parts $79 that has Ohms, Voltage, DC Amps, Diode test, Continuity test buzzer (kind of like the old operation game), digital tach, Dwell, duty cycle its an all around testing tool.

Steps

Switch your tester to Voltage and place the positive probe on the positive (red) battery terminal, put the negative probe on the ground terminal.

Take a voltage reading it should be fully charged at 13v-13.2v mine was at 12.5v. If your battery is under this voltage then put the battery on a charger before doing any further testing. If the battery will not hold the voltage after charging then your battery is defective.

Leak testing - will indicate short circuts

Start with the key off , set your multimeter to amps at about the 1mA range. Put the (positive) +probe to ground cable, and the (negative) -probe to the battery (negative) -terminal. If you get more than 1.2mA leak then you have a short somewhere

Steps

Remove the rear Cowling 4 hex bolts and disconnect the tail lights

Remove the ground cable from the battery, switch the multi meter to amps, connect the + probe to the ground cable, connect the - probe to the - battery terminal. measure for current leaking, if it is over 1.2 mA then you have a short somewhere. As you can see below the bike is fine

Charging Voltage

Charging voltage should be about 15.5 - 13.5 volts at 5500rpm with the Hi beam lights on, volt meter across the battery with the correct probe (positive probe/positive post) on the correct post. Connect the volt meter before switching on the bike. Start it up then run to 5500rpm hi beams on. If Charging voltage is lower than 13.5 volts it could be the RR or the alternator.

You should charge your battery before performing any of this test with a battery charging device. The procedure is the same as testing the static battery charge test, however the motor is running at 5500rpm and the Hi beams are on, my battery was at 12.5v not running you must have a fully charged battery, and the motor must be at normal operating temp in order to do this test correctly, but I did it just for the sake of this post.You can see it is at 13.5v the motor was shaking so the image is blurred.

IF this test produces good voltage your charging system is fine!

Charging voltage at 5k rpm

Alternator Test

To check the Alternator disconnect the alternator RR connector and check the resistance of the 3 terminals to the alternator, KEY OFF resistance should be between 0.1-1.0 ohms and then check all three terminals for ground continuity, there should be no continuity

Steps

Find the RR wire harness connection to the stator shown here. Side note - also check the red main buss wire as well for signs of burning or corrosion, that big red wire connection above my finger this seems to be a common problem with VTEC models, the main buss wire burning up

Disconnect the natural connector #3p of the harness

The connector (natural color #3p) with the 3 yellow wires connects to the stator/alternator switch the meter to ohms and check the resistance between the 3 wires to each other should be between 0.01ohm - 1.0ohm mine was 0.3ohm which is fine with all 3 wires

Make sure you check the the resistance between all 3 wires

Now check for continuity of all 3 to a ground (bike frame)

There should be no continuity! Mine did not have continuity ( a buzzer sounds if it does ) that means the alternator has burned up the windings and is shorting out and must be replaced. My alternator checked out ok.

Check the #3P connector for corroded or gunked up wire connections.

Testing the Regulator Rectifier

This test should be done if the charging voltage is not withing spec listed above and your alternator has passed the above tests.

Now disconnect both connectors the Natural #3p and the Black connector #4p at the harness. Inspect the connectors for corrosion and gunk on the wires.

On the Battery side of the same harness the wires red/white + and Ground - should show the same as the battery voltage around 13 volts fully charged (same as the static voltage key off)

Steps

Positive probe to each of the 2 red and white wires the other to the frame, mine tested .3v less than the battery on one and the same on the other.

Ground wires green wire to the positive probe and ground the black negative probe, should have continuity. My tester buzzes and show 0.00 when there is continuity, it was good.

Testing logic

If your static battery charge is good then you need not go any further, if its low then you either have a bad battery or your charging system is not working, or it just naturally discarged over time from lack of use. Charge up the battery on a battery charger and then test the voltage again. If its good then go on to your charging system. It would be best if you could use a battery load tester to test the battery, an auto parts store will have one.

Test that your charging voltage has enough Voltage to charge your battery. If its good then you need not go any further.

Now test the alternator its its not shorted out and the resistance is good then the last possible part of the charging system must be a bad Regulator Recitfier.

Do a few further tests indicated in the Regulator section to insure its is not the harness, and then replace your RR.

My system checked out good right away with 13.5 volts charging at 5k rpm.

If you discover a bad battery and replace it - you should still continue on with the charging tests to ensure that either one of the two other componets are good. A bad rectifier regulator can ruin a battery so its best to replace the battery and then test the system after its installed to make sure you dont ruin another battery. Sometimes you have to replace both, the chances of a bad alternator are slim. But it does happen, mine burned up when my radiator fan malfunctioned. I overheated the engine and some of the wire caseings burned off and shorted out one of the alternator phases. Basically it deep fried the plastic off the wires in hot motor oil.

:: note for 6th generation owners if you have bought a used 02 make sure that the Alternator has been replaced due to a general recall on the alternators for that model year.

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RR modification

In an attempt to stop the unit from burning out I added a $9 computer 12v fan to it, I hooked it up to the license plate lighting wires that only work when the key is on it draws less power than the light did.

Steps - the idea came from AustinVFR so credit goes to him!

Drill holes in the RR to wire the fan to the fins, then I used some wire to fasten it.

Wired the power for the fan from the licence plate light