88 FLHS running poorly when lights are on.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2006
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From: la la land jerzey
OK i have been a sleep the MOCO changed on all the Big Twins to 32 amps in 1989 all the way to 1999 that is softail 89 to 99 - FXR 89 / 94 - FLT 89 / 96 except EFI bikes and the dyna 91 / 98 all are 32 amp
in 1997 to 2001 the FLT has a 38 amp system after that they have 3 or 4 different changes in the regulators for different years
sorry for the confusion i may have caused been over whelmed with stuff, and my shop has lots of the older bikes in it and that again its all different, like generators that are 6 volt is most of them with mechanical regulators
in 1997 to 2001 the FLT has a 38 amp system after that they have 3 or 4 different changes in the regulators for different years
sorry for the confusion i may have caused been over whelmed with stuff, and my shop has lots of the older bikes in it and that again its all different, like generators that are 6 volt is most of them with mechanical regulators
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Novice
Joined: Jul 2014
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From: new jersey
Your bike will run just fine with the stator completely disconnected. For a while. Then it won't start, but if you jump it, it will still run fine for a while. The battery has more than enough reserve to run the rest of the electrical system, including the headlight, for an hour or two without being charged. A "weak" electrical system or one with excessive load, that is, one that is not charging to what is being used, will cause the battery to run down to the point that eventually, the ignition won't work anymore, but at that point, the battery will be so low that you will not get the motor to turn over. At no point in this thread did you mention having to jump start the bike or put it on a charger between every ride. If you system checks out per my sticky on diagnosing your charging system, then the charging system is not causing your problem here. However, it is your money and your bike, and upgrading the system to a 32 amp is a good idea. I plan on eventually doing it myself (I'm still running the original stator and have replaced the regulator once.) However, that's not going to fix your problem. What it will do is **** you off that it didn't fix your problem, get you pissed off at the MoCo, us, the bike, etc. It is a big job and not inexpensive. Do what you want.
I bought a meter as/per your sticky and ran the first bunch of tests as follows.
Ign. off 13.1
Ign. on 13.5
at idle, no lights (1200rpm) 14.7
at idle, no lights (2500rpm) 14.44
high beam and fog lights (700rpm... cause when the lights are turned on the rpm's drop.) 14.44
A/C volts, bike running 700rpm's cause lights on 27.7
a/c volts 2500rpm's lights on 29.9
This is as far as I got due to the time...
Thanks,
Joe
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From: Farmington ,MS
Regulator is bad...over-charging...that's what killed your last battery
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From: NW AR
Your system is looking fine, Joe. Lights on or off make no difference when checking AC volts, because the stator circuit and the rest of the bike like the lights are separated at that point. You really didn't need to go through all of it after you found 14.44 at 2500 RPM. I think I mention that somewhere. So, as I said, spending several hundred dollars on parts and a full day of wrenching, plus special tools like the clutch hub puller would have made zero difference to your problem. Now do like I suggested and check the voltage at the coil with the lights in the On and Off positions. And you might look at this:
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/elect...ts-are-on.html
where someone had the same problem and it was the switch, as I suspected above. You could probably solve your problem by putting the jumper back on your switch and running with the headlight on all the time in the Ignition position. That would be the cheap way.
And we are talking AC volts at the stator and not at the battery, right?
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/elect...ts-are-on.html
where someone had the same problem and it was the switch, as I suspected above. You could probably solve your problem by putting the jumper back on your switch and running with the headlight on all the time in the Ignition position. That would be the cheap way.
And we are talking AC volts at the stator and not at the battery, right?
Road Warrior
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,290
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From: D/FW Texas
that's what caught my eye, too. A good regulator should keep any ACv from reaching the battery; otherwise he's lost a diode?
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Novice
Joined: Jul 2014
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From: new jersey
Scale on AC Volts, generally a lower setting (might be 20V, or 100V). Check across the battery when the bike is running. If you get any significant reading, like 10V or 15V AC, the diodes in the regulator are shot. This is a pretty rare failure point, but it has happened to me. Another sign of this is a strange behaving tachometer.
Based on what the sticky said above, I was performing that step across the batt. I got 27.7 and at the batt at 700 rpms (low cause the lights were on. The bike idles with lights off at 1200.) and 2500 rpms for the 29.9
Also, I will check the switch, but I think that it has not been re-wired and that this bike came with a 4 position switch from the factory with 2 hots and the option of running w/o lights from the factory. The P.O. did nothing to this bike since new. It even had all the warning stickers still on it and nothing was touched at all until his brother sold it for him due to his advanced age. It seems odd that he would choose that to modify and leave everything else utterly alone, but I have been wrong before ! Thanks again guys !!
Based on what the sticky said above, I was performing that step across the batt. I got 27.7 and at the batt at 700 rpms (low cause the lights were on. The bike idles with lights off at 1200.) and 2500 rpms for the 29.9
Also, I will check the switch, but I think that it has not been re-wired and that this bike came with a 4 position switch from the factory with 2 hots and the option of running w/o lights from the factory. The P.O. did nothing to this bike since new. It even had all the warning stickers still on it and nothing was touched at all until his brother sold it for him due to his advanced age. It seems odd that he would choose that to modify and leave everything else utterly alone, but I have been wrong before ! Thanks again guys !!
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2007
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From: NW AR
OK, so your regulator is shot then. Replace that first.
And, as I said before, someone at sometime hacked your ignition switch. Yes, it has 4 positions. They all did. Unless your bike is from England or something, someone cut the wire.
And, as I said before, someone at sometime hacked your ignition switch. Yes, it has 4 positions. They all did. Unless your bike is from England or something, someone cut the wire.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,200
Likes: 3,089
From: NW AR
I will also add just to make sure of the diagnosis, to set the meter to AC Volts and with the bike OFF, check the voltage across the battery. It should read 0. If it still reads 25V, then the meter is a POS.
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Novice
Joined: Jul 2014
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From: new jersey
I tested at the batt. AC volts, range set at 200,( i have the choice of 200 or 500.) Bike off,28 volts. Returned my new meter and got a new one... same thing. My meter is a Innova 3306. It comes with a B.S. manual that would normally tell me nothing, but with your sticky I know that I have it set right because it has a section for AC volts that lists 200 or 500v resolution in the manual that corresponds to the settings on the meter. I am stumped at this point in the sticky/process.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,200
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From: NW AR
You put the meter on AC volts across the battery with the bike off and it reads 28? Well, that meter is a POS. And, we can tell nothing from that test because the meter is a POS. However, as I mention in the sticky, it is pretty rare but not totally unknown for the diodes to short like that. Do you have a tach? Does it behave as normal or does it say you're turning 5K RPM at 60MPH in 5th gear? If the tach is behaving normally, and baring getting a proper meter, I'd just ignore that one. All the DC tests look good. If the stator isn't grounded, I'd call it good, based on your tests and equipment limitations.
So, that puts us back to the ignition switch. You could try hotwiring the bike temporarily and see if it still dies when you turn the headlight on. Run a jumper from the + side of the battery to the + side of the coil. Start the bike. Turn the lights on. Everything OK? Switch or wires associated with it.
So, that puts us back to the ignition switch. You could try hotwiring the bike temporarily and see if it still dies when you turn the headlight on. Run a jumper from the + side of the battery to the + side of the coil. Start the bike. Turn the lights on. Everything OK? Switch or wires associated with it.