losing cold cranking amps???

I will try to keep this as short as I can. I have a 98 vfr. I replaced the battery in oct 11 after the other battery lasted about 3 years. So I figured it was due because the other one was bad. It had very low volts. I think around 10 and wouldn't take a charge. So I bought a new battery from batteries plus a x2 power with a 2 year warranty. Well in dec 11 I had to return it because the cold cranking amps were so low it wouldn't turn over at all. The volts were up at 13.0 and all lights and fuel pump would prime but dead as can be. So I returned it and they of course tell me this never happens etc. Nd itmust be a bad battery from the factory. Well the new one has done it again just yesterday. This one didn't last as long as the first one. With the same problem cold cranking amps were down to 100 cca. It has a rating of 180. Also same thing with the volts being up at normal around 13.0. Well they said at the store that something must be pulling the battery down. I do not hve any accessories on the bike and have never seen this before where the volts stay up but you lose cranking amps. Sure would appreciate any ideas on where to start looking. Thanks

 

Check your charging system, if it doesn't have parts from ricks motorsport and wiremybike.com its probably not working right. The OEM rectifier/regulator is a paper weight and the stock main harness is wired arse backwards. It could be undercharging, overcharging, or allowing to much AC current ripple past the rectifier and toasting your battery.

 

Thanks for the reply. I will check the output at 5k and post what I have this evening.

 

Wow, it is putting out 17.8 at 5000 rpm and at 3000rpm close to 17. While idling at around 1200 rpm its at 13.5. And this is with the temp showing 175 degrees. So I assume this means my regulator/ rectifier is shot? Like I said I bought the bike from the original owner back in 2008 and have not had any problems up till now other than just batteries going out from my own neglect of ot taking care of them during the winter or from not riding it for long periods. The original owner did put a little fan on the regulator and I'm guessing it is not the oem regulator because it does not look like the one pictured in the service manual. The one on my bike is bigger and shaped differently. But either way I'm sure I need a new one. I have read several different ways to fix this, which way is the best and not going to cost to much. Would like to say money is no object but it is. Thanks a lot for the help. I would not have thought it would have been the charging system as the volts were fine. But I guess I see why now.

 

Wow, your lucky that didn't kill any other components. You should see 13.5 to 14.5 volts. Go to wiremybike.com They sell the ricks motorsport R/R and the VFRness main harness upgrade. I have been running that setup with a small computer fan on the R/R for about ten thousand miles now with no issues at all. Their wiring assemblies are top notch, very well constructed with heat shrink tubing and everything. The VFRness is very easy to install too, my stator connector(three yellow wires) was starting to melt from resistance in the connector caused by the corrosion that builds up due to the connectors not having seals. I just soldered the wires to the VFRness. Hopefully your stator isn't fried from pumping out that kind of juice, but if that's the case, wiremybike.com has those too. Good luck with the fix.

 

Well I just now got my new regulator from rick s motorsports and am getting ready to hook it all back up. I was reding some of the other threads on this and was wondering if I should put 20amp fuses in place of the 30 amp ones?

 

I didn't do any changes to my fuses, if the regulator is working correctly this shouldn't be necessary. I do highly recommend sabotaging an old desktop computer for an approximately 3x3 inch fan and strapping it onto the R/R. I spliced my fan into the license plate light as it only draws 0.15 amps. It dropped R/R temp fro 150 degrees to 100 degrees as measured with an infrared thermometer while idling for several minutes with the high beam on. I keep thinking the little cpu fan will die eventually and I'll have to replace it, but a little over 10,000 miles later and its still working just fine.

 

I have one of those little fans on mine already from the previous owner. But thanks. I read somewhere about the 30amp fuses being a problem because they will let the wires melt before the fuses will ever blow? Reason I'm asking is looking at the wires coming out of my new regulator they are so much bigger. It makes me worry about the puny stock wires I'm wiring them up to. Thanks again for your help

 

Honda used fatter wires until they downsized on and after gen 4s, coincidentally (?) when alot of wiring problems began........