1994 VFR Battery Problems

Hello to all

I have recently purchased a 1994 VFR in pretty good condition. It has about 68000 miles on the clock and has been well maintained and serviced throughout its life.
About 3 weeks ago, one hot evening the bike failed to start. It would turnover a few times and then only click. I know the battery had not been changed in about 5-6 years so I assumed it was having trouble keeping its charge and bought a new one.
Yesterday the bike turned itself off at some traffic lights after about 20 minutes of riding in a rainy day. It did not turn over once or click when I tried to start it again.
Well after about half a days rest I bump started it and managed to get home 45minutes later, although once turning the bike off at home it refused to start again (no turnover) - Dead battery again?

I have been told about the notorious r/r problems that plague the VFR although when i bought the bike I was told it had been changed about a year ago (2000 miles).

After having a look myself I discovered a burnt connection where it plugs into the rectifier (See Image). The burnt section is one of the three yellow wires which link to the alternator. This could explain why the battery is not charging?

I must admit I am no mechanic with basic mechanical skills so I am wondering what could be causing this problem and how to check and remedy the situation.
Could it be the rectifier itself throwing too much current around or the alternator?

Any comments or advice will be much appreciated!!

Pictures:

Burnt Connection:

Rectifier jack:

 

That connector carries the most current of any connector on the bike. Burning is caused by corrosion of the contacts. Corrosion causes resistance, resistance causes heat. Your toaster is a prime example of heat generated by high resistance wire. On your model is the male plug part of the R/R? The normal fix is to hardwire the 3 yellow wires to the wires of the R/R, however, if yours is part of the R/R you will have to clean and burnish male pins, connector looks like it is salvageable. You need to check the stator (the fixed coils of the alternator), female connector is part of stator.

 

Ally, even in the situation if the rec/reg doesn't have a tail out of it and you have to connect directly to the pins, you are better off to remove the plug and fit individual spades to it because you can ensure each spade is a good tight fit, you have no idea how tight each one is in a plug, and there is also an air gap around each pin that way.

 

replace connector

 

And down the road that will cause you problems again, you will forget about it till you get stranded by the side of the road again

 

You are right, just didn't know how much experience he has had with electrical stuff. Individual female spade connectors would be the proper way to go.

 

Thanks for your replies!

The male part of the plug is connected to the r/r. I checked the other ends of the wires which all seem fine, no corrosion or burnt areas. I will attempt to clean out that connector.
I will also look into Individual spade connectors!

The battery was indeed dead (11.3v) so after a push start to get the engine running, the voltage reading was just over 14v on idle, decreasing slightly when revving the engine - So the battery is charging!?

However another problem arised which I think was effecting the rectifier/battery charge/overheating:

I noticed there was no water in the coolant tank which is strange because I filled it up a couple of days ago yet yesterday it was bone dry. There was a minimal amount of coolant in the radiator which I presume had caused the bike to overheat (It was unusually hot when it shut down - Temperature sensor just over halfway + Loud fan).

I filled it up just over the upper limit with water and went for a short ride. The water turned slightly blue meaning it was mixing with what coolant that was left yet after about 30 minutes the water tank lid popped off and the liquid was bubbling immensely with steam leaving the overflow pipe. The liquid in the tank at this point was between the upper and lower marks. A 20 minute ride back home and the water tank was completely empty (Water cap stayed on).

There are no visible leaks anywhere so I can only assume the water is being pushed out the overflow pipe??

Any ideas on why this could be happening?