Bike is a 2004 vfr 800 abs. My battery suddenly died 2 days ago and I replaced it. Today I decided to check if the charging system was good and…apparently not? each yellow wire from the stator only gives me 6.1x volt at 5k rpm. The stator was replaced 2 yrs ago…by an original honda. Is this supposed to be normal-ish? also, in the service manual they say to check the rectifiers on the harness side. I get nothing when checking for battery voltage. Red with black…should I assume a harness problem as well? at 5k rpm battery stays at 13,6v with only the dash cam on. I’m looking for opinions and ideas where to look next. I’m currently going to get a new stator…but I’m guessing i also have a harness problem. Thank you
I'll put money on that its not just the stator.. Putting a voltmeter on your bike should almost be considered essential on these years. Might want to look elsewhere too.
always test the charging system output whenever you think the battery might be getting weaker as it might not be the battery at fault. inspect the connections at the starter relay and at the plug between r/r and stator. when testing stator was your meter on AC volts ?
In short the charging system(Loom, Battery, RR, Stator) on your bike is a "system" where a fault in any one component can cause damage in some or all of the others. You may have more than one fault to resolve so please see post #9 here.. https://vfrworld.com/threads/how-to-fix-common-regulator-stator-failures.39277/ My guess is your RR is also defective and has wrecked the Stator but before throwing money at parts do the drill TWICE. Also make sure you inspect the charging system wiring for defects and charring. If you need replacement parts the OEM stator should be fine but consider upgrading to a decent Shindengen RR. If you want to stick with OEM then there have been reports that people have successfully used the 8th Gen RR on earlier VFRs. Too often people forget that the Drill needs to be done twice - once with the bike cold and then again after taking the bike for a hard ride on a hot day as that is when any heat related issues in the charging system are revealed. There have been plenty of examples of VFRs stranded after connectors in the loom have melted or insulation on the stator windings has started to breakdown when it gets hot, so instead of charging the battery the stator can suddenly start to drain the battery. Likewise diodes in the OEM RR just do not like heat and especially if they have to dissapate a lot of energy on a really hot day, sadly diodes can begin playing up when they get too hot. Depending on the faulty RR diode, an overheating RR could suddenly see the voltage fed into the battery rise or fall alarmingly and worse still, you could even see AC volts fed into a system designed for a nominal 12 DC which is definitely not good. Hence the value of fitting a volt-meter. OK It won't prevent problems, but it allows you to monitor the charging system whilst out riding. Then if you see the volts suddenly rise or drop alarmingly it may give you a fair chance to reach a safe place before the energy left in the battery is drained away the clocks reset and you are left stranded at the roadside. PS was there not a wiring harness recall on early Vtec North American models? Was it missed? Take care - let us know how you get on. SkiMad
