Bad Stator and High Beams

Discussion in '6th Generation 2002-2013' started by steviee7, Jun 12, 2010.

  1. steviee7

    steviee7 New Member

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    So my Stator died again. (within a little more than a year) My mechanic R/R a new one and he noticed that the charge level when way down because the High Beams were on. As soon as he flipped the High Beams OFF the voltage went up to a normal charging. He expected that the High Bulbs were too high of a wattage. (55w) so he bought some 35w. Fortunatley he bought ones for the low beams, No big deal because the ones that I had were 55watts. But that shouldn't really matter since the charging was fine with the low beams. It's just when I turn the Highs on is when the charging voltage goes real low. I'm going to buy some 35w high beams to see what happens, could I maybe have bad bulbs? Or if anyone has seen this could it be a bad relay? wire?
    For now I'm not going to use my high beams until I fix this, I hate having to buy a new stator every year!!!

    Is there a recall for something that may be related to this? :crazy:

    Thanks guys.
     
  2. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    STANDARD wattage is 55, and anyone who would try to solve your issue by using lower wattage bulbs is a bit of a fool and you should not let him work on your bike, IMO, of course.

    Not occuring to you that we have several types of bikes here to fix, you neglect to mention the year of your bike so that we can best help you, also some slight detail may have been lost in translation.

    You should be aware that some VFRs have had wiring recalls, and yours could be one, in which case it should be rectified immediately and with all due diligence, fully allowing for both safety and caution.
     
  3. steviee7

    steviee7 New Member

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    sorry, its a 2003 (canadian model) Which basically means I went thru hell proving to Honda of America that I needed a recal done on it. Which was finally taken care of 2 years ago. I can't rememeber what the recal was but I believe it was the one that mentioned that the bike would die for no reason. I really can't rememeber. I may make a call to the dealer that was nice enough to honor the recal and see if he can tell me something.

    So the standard is 55w for lows AND highs, right? If it's standard than I'm going to put the low beams 55w back in and double check the charge voltage. As for the HIGHs I still wonder if it's bulb, wire or relay,

    I wonder if I disconnect my high beam and hit the high beam switch to see if the voltage drops wtih out bulbs. Any other troubleshooting you recoment I do first?

    thanks squirelman, :)
     
  4. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    Recall was on headlight wiring harness on your model year.
     
  5. steviee7

    steviee7 New Member

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    Well I disconnected the 2 high beams (55w) and there is no change in voltage drop with my bike running. With my lowbeams on (55w) my charging voltage was around 14.0 Volts regardless of RPM. If I reconnect and turn the high beams on, the chargeing voltage goes down to almost 12.5V. I'm guessing that is not good or correct
    Also I thought that when I turn the highs on that the lows should turn off. But mine, all 4 bulbs are on with the switch in the High position. Can somebody confirm with me that this is or is not normal. I mean, do you all see your low beams shut off when you engage the Highs?
    I'm in the process of waiting for my local Authorized Honda Dealer mechanic to call me back so I can see what I need to do and see if it's part of a recal.

    Thanks.
     
  6. Cyborg

    Cyborg New Member

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    I have the same thing happening with my 05 now, just started yesterday, the inboard volt meter showing 12.7-12.8 even at highway speeds. Turn on the high beams on, it drops to 12.6-12.1 and often lower. At idle, the voltage cycles from below 12.6- to 12.9+. I'm taking the bike for a test now, hoping it's the battery though it's only 13 months old...
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2010
  7. Cyborg

    Cyborg New Member

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    Ok, rode out with the voltmeter splitting it's time between cyclic (red/yellow/green) and normal (solid green), only to be told Autozone will test cruisers and Harleys but not "fucking sportbikes". More than a little miffed, I hit the highway. After about 20 minutes at about 5500RPM seeing red and flashing red, the voltmeter suddenly showed green and acted normal the rest of the ride, even with the high beams on. I even did downtown traffic to cause psycho mode but the problem didn't start again.

    Signal Dynamics Voltmeter

    Flashing Green: 15.2+
    Green: 12.9-15.1
    Yellow: 12.7-12.8
    Red: 12.1-12.6
    Flashing Red: -12
     
  8. ZEN biker

    ZEN biker New Member

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    some theory:
    The charging system uses a delta wound three phase alternator, this is fed into the r/r which rectifies it using 6 large diode and a limiting circuit. If one of these 'legs' from the alternator has a break or short in it your voltage will drop. a touching break will allow full voltage but as soon as the current demand goes up the break can not support the load and acts as if there is no connection.
    the regulator rectifier must have a good ground and a great connection to the battery + terminal on both its feed and sense wires. the voltage drop should be less than 200mv from the battery to the rr on the sense line, lower is better.

    now to test my theories:
    get some sewing pins, some electrical tape and a good (read fluke 75(3) or 115) multimeter.
    push one pin through each stator wire and tape them in place and so they cant short out(warning very high current available here, do not touch pins together.)
    now set your meter to ac and check the voltages on pins 1n2 1n3 2n3, write them down, dont be suprised at having 20Vac or more.
    now turn on your hi-beams, and recheck the voltages, these will vary a bit but not more than 10% from the "unloaded" readings and should not be more than 5% out from each other.
    take pins out and tape over the holes 1 inch past the holes on each side
    this is a basic test and will tell you if the stator is putting out properly, this does not mark it as being good though.

    to do that you will be taking the rr off the stator and measuring resistance, write down the reistanced for each pair of leads.
    1n2 2n3 3n1 then subtract reading 1 from 2, 2 from 3, and 3 from 1. this will give you the difference between stators and should be less than 5% difference.
    now check each lead to frame, they should read infinite resistance.

    if you have a meter that reads capacitance the check the stator again using that feature and write down the readings, do not do the subtraction work, they should be the same give or take 1microFarad. any great diferences means a damaged stator. (read touching break that does not show on a resistance check)

    now you need to begg borrow and provide beer,
    using a megometer (megger) test the leads to frame on 5KV setting this will prove the insulation.

    if all passes, look to the R/R as the culprit,

    changing the bulbs to lower than factory will not solve any thing and reduces you forward visibility and kills night riding, besides the lows are plenty bright enough for most night riding.

    zen
     
  9. steviee7

    steviee7 New Member

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    Wow thanks ZEN, I really appreciate the info. I'm sure I will find it with the instructions you've given me.
    Now would any of these things be part of the recal ---"(SUB-HARNESS. and/if found bad; THE MAIN WIRING HARNESS.)" I'd hate to come across something that I had to pay for when Honda could foot the bill.
    It seems that this isn't part of a recal but possibly another poor design. My mech says that there are wires that go places that he says are different to other manufacturers. He only replaced the bad stator and didn't dive into other issuse since the new stator was charging fine. After we found the high beam issues he was a little dumbfounded. I think he meantioned that there were 2 higher guage wires going to the same place rather than one using on lower (thicker) guage wire. (I could be wrong, I can't rememeber if that's what he explained to me)
    Anyways thanks again, Zen.
     
  10. ZEN biker

    ZEN biker New Member

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    as far as i know there is no recalls for any 6th gen in regards to the charging system, though the number of ppl blowing R/Rs says it sould be a recall, but alas, not yet.

    Post your test results, that way we have the info to help and maybe others are having similar issues

    zen
     
  11. xlr8r

    xlr8r New Member

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    When the Gen 6 was released there were some problems with dying bikes and dead batteries at the shop where I worked in Baltimore. Honda eventually provided an upgrade but until then their advice was not to run high beams when stuck in traffic. I don't recall the specifics but stopping by a service center and asking about service bulletins would be interesting and maybe helpful.
     
  12. Cyborg

    Cyborg New Member

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    Ok, things just got interesting. According to the tests the battery and charging system are fine but today when I came to a stop the bike died, I could smell something electrical burning and see smoke coming from under front right end the fuel tank. Got the bike back to her parking area but during the trip she stalled and smoked every time I stopped. I've checked the connectors on the right side (handlebar, RR and so on), every one is fine, no sign of wire damage so it's got to be under the airbox. She's boxed for now but any ideas what I've got here?
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2010
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