Look what I found

Honda VF1000R chopper

I was working on my exhaust brackets today doing some clean up and simplification and noticed a white electrical connector with a small hole in it.
Then I saw that there was this whit paste like stuff all around it, and paint was missing from the steel motorcycle frame.

It was so corroded I could not get the plug apart.
I had to cut it apart with snips.
It was ugly.

The plug connects 3 wires from the alternator to 3 yellow wires from the rectifier.


The corrosion cell connected the white plastic plug (copper connectors) to the steel frame.


I cleaned the connectors and wrapped them.
One of the three wires was black and looked burned the connector looked redish copper NOT brass looking like the other two connectors.

When I tried to start up the motorcycle it would not start.


i then tried manpulating the wires while turning the engine over. It started.
One of the wires felt warm.
Tomorrow I will take them back apart and cut the wires back, and install a brand new connectors.

And I just thought this happened to someone else. LOL

 

Forget my comment in the other thread w/o the picture...

Pretty ugly allright! Better to find it at home than halfway to nowhere on a three day weekend, though.

 

Yes... it ate away the black paint AND the primer coat.
I will get it fixed though.

 

Well I went back in today and cut off all of the old factory crimped on connectors and lengthened all of the wires. all soldered and shrink wrapped and put on all new push together connectors.

Buttoned it up with nylon ties.

Started right up.
Now worries now about THAT anyway for a while.

Made me think though that if you were out in the middle of nowhere and you found that problem, that you could possibly switch around the 3 yellow wires of the rectifier with the three yellow wires of the alternator and get home.

BTW...Those three yellow wires all being together in close proximity inside that plastic factory connector was not such a good thing .now that I am thinking about it all.

 

Good thing you did not get too wanged out about the other thread, with no photos and start calling me names! LOL Just joking!!!

Guess I will take er out for a ride , get a burger and forget about the whole episode. ...laughing

 

I didn't want to jinx anything, so I was reluctant to mention the stator might have gotten pretty hot... Glad it's all working! Plus, I figured you've repaired enough charging systems that you hardly needed my input. :biggrin:

Have you tried "Boon Eat + Drink" for a burger? A little pricey, but good.

 

I have not had a lot of experience with charging systems.
Matter of fact this is the first time I have seen this type of problem.
The motorcycle seems to be running fine and the lights work fine.
Battery stays charged. I do not think I need to look for other problems.
Is there a check I should be doing on the stator connections inside the case?

I still have not been to the town of Cazadero.
I will do that this summer.
Thanks for the tip on BOON's

 

It's the stator itself that should probably be looked at visually. The copper windings have a thin insulating coat of special varnish. If the windings have gotten hot, you'll see a dark brown color instead of a reddish-orange color. Typically, it will only be one section. When you first reconnected the wires and said that one felt warm, it sounded like a potential problem, but the wire splicing you followed up with sounds like it was just a bad connection.

Slight discoloration is not too big of a concern, but a dark brown color with crispy varnish is. Over time, the windings can start shorting together as vibration and heat start removing the insulation.

 

I had this same problem on my '99 15 months ago and spliced out the oem plug (like 10K other VF/VFR's). The repair lasted until about 2 weeks ago then looked like yours, just fixed it again and running fine now. It wouldn't hurt to go through this chart and test the components. http://www.electrosport.com/technical-resources/library/diagnosis/pdf/fault-finding-diagram.pdf

 

I looked at your PDF chart, wow it was confusing. Too many brands and models mixed together.


i will just use my Honda VF1000R shopmanual.
Much simpler.