Member Contributer RolandHTG Posted February 25, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted February 25, 2007 Mid way througha 300 mile ride yesterday I notice my battery voltage had dropped to 12.7 when we stopped for lunch. At cruising speed it was barley 13.0. Today I follwed the Electrosport Fault Finding chart. Everything checked out good until I got to the AC Stator output test: 59, 59 and 8 volts. I assume this means one of the 3 phases is just about gone, the other two OK. I thought I would ask before I order a stator: OEM or Electrosport or rewind by Ricks? OEM from Ronayers is only about $25 more than Electrosport but electrosport apparently has a warranty? I have read an opinion here that a bad stator can take out an R/R. Does this occur quickly or over time? Can I ride without risking this until my replacement arrives as long as the battery is charging? What is the advantage of a rewind versus OEM? Is there a website for Ricks? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer chris2992 Posted February 25, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted February 25, 2007 You have read my thread on the rewind from ricks, I am very pleased and they were very fast, better than stock plus a 1yr warranty. I vote ricks first, then oem. I have heard nightmares from electrosport. If you are concerned about the RR, send it in with your stator to ricks, they will test both for no cost. They also have a replacement RR that is much more robust than the OEM version maybe worth a try. I didn't go this route, I just won a R1 RR off ebay and plan to retrofit it to the bike. www.ricksmotorsportelectrics.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RolandHTG Posted February 26, 2007 Author Member Contributer Share Posted February 26, 2007 You have read my thread on the rewind from ricks, I am very pleased and they were very fast, better than stock plus a 1yr warranty. I vote ricks first, then oem. I have heard nightmares from electrosport.If you are concerned about the RR, send it in with your stator to ricks, they will test both for no cost. They also have a replacement RR that is much more robust than the OEM version maybe worth a try. I didn't go this route, I just won a R1 RR off ebay and plan to retrofit it to the bike. www.ricksmotorsportelectrics.com/ Thanks for the reply. I am in a rush. I am thinking I can get an OEM quicker than I can pull the bad stator and ship it and get it back from Ricks. I am not thinking the R/R is bad, yet. But from in a post by Cooter in the stator test thread I think he is saying a bad stator will fry the diodes in the R/R. I don't really understand why. I was thinking I would keep riding until I could get a replacement, otherwise I could have pulled the stator yesterday. However, the weather here has turned cold again I and I am not going to chance riding with electrics on. The battery was barely staying charged without electrics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer chris2992 Posted February 26, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted February 26, 2007 Doubt that you can get an oem faster, but maybe. Like stated in the previous thread, I had mine back in 8 business days from when I shipped it out. Hard to beat that. Plus as stated above, the OEM unit is not of the quality that you will get from Ricks or another re-wind shop. OEM units go to the lowest bidder, the lowest bidder is usually the lowest quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RolandHTG Posted February 26, 2007 Author Member Contributer Share Posted February 26, 2007 Doubt that you can get an oem faster, but maybe. Like stated in the previous thread, I had mine back in 8 business days from when I shipped it out. Hard to beat that. Plus as stated above, the OEM unit is not of the quality that you will get from Ricks or another re-wind shop. OEM units go to the lowest bidder, the lowest bidder is usually the lowest quality. Yeah, I should have pulled it yesterday and be shipping it now. I was hoping to save my trip to bike week but it looks like a lost cause. By the way, how much did the rewind cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer chris2992 Posted February 26, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted February 26, 2007 $140. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RolandHTG Posted March 5, 2007 Author Member Contributer Share Posted March 5, 2007 I got my new stator Friday and am tring to get it installed. I removed all the bolts but the alternator cover was not budging. I banged on it witha rubber mallet, (maybe not such a good idea) but still no budge. I got a pry bar and after a lot of study, found a way to pry without (hopefully) doing any damage and I finally got it loose. However, the dowels would not come out without using a pair of plyers. So I clean everything up and install the new stator in the cover and try to re-install the cover. Lots of trouble getting the dowels to align, you are fighting againts the magnets, but finally get the cover to where the dowels seem to be aligned. However, it won't slide on all the way, stuck with about 3.16 gap allaround. So naturally I just get the bolts started all around and start tightening a bit at a time in a criss-cross pattern. All seems to be going well, I am pulling the cover on slowly by tightening the bolts until I hear "crack"! :goofy: Well, I remove all the bolts and pull the cover back off. No cracks that I can see. I can't figure out what made the cracking sound. I pulled the dowels and examined them. I see a bit of scoring. I try them in both the crankase and the cover and they are very hard to get them started in the bores and I cannot get them fully seated with hand pressure. I think this is not right. I cleaned the dowels up with some sandpaper but that did not help. Next I am going to work on the bores with my dremel until the dowels will slide in easily. I can't see any damage to the bores but I think I must have done some with the bubber mallet? Any body have a similar experience. When I replace my clutch I had similar trouble with the starter gear rod and bores but not with the dowels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer chris2992 Posted March 5, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted March 5, 2007 The dowls are very tight, and should be. The gap between the stator and the flywheel is very precision. Precision fittings are usually very tight, I don't recomend boring out the holes, just be patient. I installed mine by getting the dowls fitted into the cover to hold the gasket in place, then placed the cover on (yes the magnets will spook you). The "crack" you heard, was probably just the dowl's sliding into the holes, shouldn't have too much of a problem as long as you tighten in a criss cross circular pattern with about 1/4 turns at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misspent Youth Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 I'm not tooting my own horn or being critical of your work, but figured it might help you to know that mine rocked into place and seated pretty easily. I agree with Chris that you shouldn't modify the cover in any way. I wouldn't use the bolts to "pull" the cover on because that could well crack the cover. It should be seated first, then bolted on. And don't overtighten the small bolts, don't forget to use some sealant around the wire loom plug, get all the old gasket off, ensure clean smooth surfaces, use new gasket, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BusyLittleShop Posted March 5, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted March 5, 2007 Next I am going to work on the bores with my dremel until the dowels will slide in easily. In my experience working the holes would be a mistake that may require a new cover or worst yet new engine cases... best to stop now and install new dowels... Here's a BLS tip... only remove the cover after the engine is up to operating temp... that way heat has time to expanded the clearances... when it's cold things are tight... works for oil drain plugs as well... If you remove the cover and a dowel sticks... apply heat from a propane torch... that trick should allow it to start wiggling free... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RolandHTG Posted March 5, 2007 Author Member Contributer Share Posted March 5, 2007 It may have been that the magnets were pulling the cover out of alignment and and I just didn't do enough rocking. However I have worked with a lot of dowels and never had any so stubborn. I will try seating them in the cover first this time. The Haynes manual showed putting the dowels in the crankcase first to hold the gasket so that's what I tried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RolandHTG Posted March 7, 2007 Author Member Contributer Share Posted March 7, 2007 Well I screwed the pooch. :goofy: Good news is the new stator is working great. 14v at idle. Bad news is i DID crack the cover. It is seeping oil. Tried some JB weld but the oil is seeping to fast for that to work. Tommorrow I'll drain the oild and try again. The crack is not even visbile to the naked eye until the brown stuff highlights it. It is just above the forward bottom bolt hole. I had a couple of moments early in my 70 mile test ride but attributed that to the coolant I spilled re-installing the overflow tank, now I know it was oil. Should be thankful not to have crashed. Anyone have a cosmetically challenged but functional item they would like to sell? Alternator cover for 98-01 VFR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyminds Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Well I screwed the pooch. :goofy: Good news is the new stator is working great. 14v at idle. Bad news is i DID crack the cover. Ouch sux. Those cases are really really fragile and overtightening or binding them WILL crack them, as you can tell. I can't say I've ever had a case absolutely not want to go on, usually just takes a little wiggling and it pops right in. Good luck on your search. The JB wield should work, not that I recommend it but we have done it to a friends after a crash 400 miles from home and it did the job, along with soldering his clutch lever back on :goofy: , was a bad weekend for him, but not as bad as the guy he hit that was with us that had to ride the 400 miles B#$@% on the back of my bike :P Its funny to look back on it now, but not at the time. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RolandHTG Posted March 19, 2007 Author Member Contributer Share Posted March 19, 2007 UPDATE The JB Welded alternator cover is holding up so far after about 500 miles, no sign of a leak. The new stator seems to works better than the old one ever did, more volts at idle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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