Gettin' pissed
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
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From: Ogden, UT
I was at my brother's house (who is a full time mechanic) and somehow we got to talking about the charging system on the bike. He said he has replaced 3 rectifiers on harley in the past 6 months. He also said that when it started going bad it would discharge the battery.
Don't know how to test it out but just something else that could be the problem.
Don't know how to test it out but just something else that could be the problem.
check for stator AC output first (which I think he did and checked good), check specs for your year, that has to work properly under load to go any further, then check for 12.75-13.50 VDC at the battery with it running, if it tests OK at the stator plug and shows battery voltage dropping instead of climbing at fast idle, suspect the rectifier/regulator
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Joined: Jun 2010
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From: Door County, WI
ok, so I went home for lunch and put the charger on. Came back out and checked-turned over great and started right up. put my meter on it at the terminals and it's only charging 12 volts and does not go up when I rev it. I had it running for maybe 2-3 minutes and the regulator was kinda warm. The bike runs great after it's started. Have not had a real problem. Could my regulateor be takin' a ****?
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2007
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From: Richmond, VA
Yes, it sure could be the regulator but since its a 15 year old bike why not replace it all. Complete systems are not very much money and piece of mind is a nice thing to ride with.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-3...item518d7da404
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http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-3...item518d7da404
.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 6,642
Likes: 48
From: Ogden, UT
Yes, it sure could be the regulator but since its a 15 year old bike why not replace it all. Complete systems are not very much money and piece of mind is a nice thing to ride with.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-3...item518d7da404
.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-3...item518d7da404
.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2010
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From: Honah Lee
Next check
Now for some more checks since you have 12 Volts when engine off and only 12 with it running. This is for my 04 88tc Softail out of the Electrical Diagnostic Manual. Unplug the stator connector plug at front left on engine behind shift lever . The plug on the engine. There are three pins lets call 1,2,3. With your OHM meter set at RX1 check for resistance of 0.1-0.3 across 1-2 1-3 and 3-2. If OK switch the meter to AC volts and with motor running at around 2000RPM do the save checks. It's AC here since the diodes are in the voltage regulator on the front that convert to DC and control voltage. You should get 32 - 40 AC volts. If its OK its probably a loose wire or regulator. The battery coming off the charger could have been at least 2-3 volts higher then normal and tricked the bike regulator in not charging. Could be the plug at the regulator is all cruded up. They are in a bad location and age gets them. More then like its just a wire. Remember a fully charge battery (24 hours on a trickle charger) after it sets about 2 hours to normalize coming off a charger and not used to start a bike should read 12.6V At 12.1 it is only at 75% charged. With the bike running at 3000RPM it should be putting out 13-15V at the battery. When I get a new battery I away make sure it got a good date and put it on a charger for a day. As a battery wears out it looses it cold cranking amperage. If you get a hesatation at startup (some is normal once in a while for a stock Harley) Put your volt meter on the battery trickler wires and check voltage when starting. Should not drop much below 9 . If it does this a lot and you are keeping the battery tender on regulary the battery is going bad. Do not start or check with tender on battery. Remember if you have an alarm it always drawing on the battery and setting a couple months without the charger on can kill a battery enough that it will not start
Last edited by Jackie Paper; Aug 5, 2010 at 01:34 PM.
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From: Door County, WI
okay, so I have a two pin connector from my stator. In a different forum I was told to unplug it, hook up a test light or meter to ground and to either pin at the connector-harness side. If there is any light or voltage, my regulator is junk. Is this true? I have light an obviously voltage. According to the forum, my reg. is junk.
Tourer
Joined: May 2010
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regulator/rectifiers when they heat up sometimes they go wacky.
check it at the battery after the bike warms up
Check stator output AC volts.
I would also check for a milliamp draw
check it at the battery after the bike warms up
Check stator output AC volts.
I would also check for a milliamp draw
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Road Warrior
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,998
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From: Central Ohio
This is from another post I responded to a few months back, the 'similar problem' was... the Check Engine & Battery lights came on as I was riding. It didn't take long for the bike to start running like s**t & then not at all...
I had a similar problem on my 08.
Got the Electrical Manual out, turned to the Charging System section.
The paragraph titled: Wiring says...
"The stator & battery connector plugs & socket connections must be clean & tight. See Figure 1-12. Check for corroded or loose connections in the charging system."
The next paragraph, titled: Voltage Regulator Inspection says...
"The VR must have a clean, tight connection for proper grounding. Check by using an ohmmeter with one lead on a known good ground, like the negative battery cable, and the other on the regulator ground lead."
So... while the battery was on the trickle charger, I started checking out the wiring.
Figure 1-12 shows the circuit running through the 40 amp MAXIFUSE. It was good, so I moved on checking the connections.
I was checking the continuity using a volt meter between the battery side of the VR plug & each battery cable. I kept getting sporadic readings so I got a small round file to clean the inside of the terminal ends. This is what I found:
I replaced the terminal connectors, reinstalled the battery & it was up & running.
The rest of the Charging System section involves testing the entire system as a whole.
The voltage regulator... "is a series regulator. It combines the functions of rectifying (changing AC to DC) and regulating."
The paragraph titled: Current and Voltage Output Test: Using Load Tester says...
“1. Connect load tester... -/+ to battery... induction pickup over the positive regulator lead.
2. Run engine at 3000rpm. Increase the load as required to obtain a constant 13v DC.
3. Current output should be 35-40 amps.
4. After removing the load read the Load Tester voltage meter.
4.a. If voltage to the battery is not more than 15v DC, voltage output is within specifications... bla, bla, bla.
4.b. If voltage is higher, voltage regulator is not functioning (regulating) properly.”
Got the Electrical Manual out, turned to the Charging System section.
The paragraph titled: Wiring says...
"The stator & battery connector plugs & socket connections must be clean & tight. See Figure 1-12. Check for corroded or loose connections in the charging system."
The next paragraph, titled: Voltage Regulator Inspection says...
"The VR must have a clean, tight connection for proper grounding. Check by using an ohmmeter with one lead on a known good ground, like the negative battery cable, and the other on the regulator ground lead."
So... while the battery was on the trickle charger, I started checking out the wiring.
Figure 1-12 shows the circuit running through the 40 amp MAXIFUSE. It was good, so I moved on checking the connections.
I was checking the continuity using a volt meter between the battery side of the VR plug & each battery cable. I kept getting sporadic readings so I got a small round file to clean the inside of the terminal ends. This is what I found:
I replaced the terminal connectors, reinstalled the battery & it was up & running.
The rest of the Charging System section involves testing the entire system as a whole.
The voltage regulator... "is a series regulator. It combines the functions of rectifying (changing AC to DC) and regulating."
The paragraph titled: Current and Voltage Output Test: Using Load Tester says...
“1. Connect load tester... -/+ to battery... induction pickup over the positive regulator lead.
2. Run engine at 3000rpm. Increase the load as required to obtain a constant 13v DC.
3. Current output should be 35-40 amps.
4. After removing the load read the Load Tester voltage meter.
4.a. If voltage to the battery is not more than 15v DC, voltage output is within specifications... bla, bla, bla.
4.b. If voltage is higher, voltage regulator is not functioning (regulating) properly.”
Last edited by 08fxdf43202; Aug 8, 2010 at 11:13 AM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 38,623
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From: Honah Lee
?????
okay, so I have a two pin connector from my stator. In a different forum I was told to unplug it, hook up a test light or meter to ground and to either pin at the connector-harness side. If there is any light or voltage, my regulator is junk. Is this true? I have light an obviously voltage. According to the forum, my reg. is junk.