Hello everyone, I have a 2006 HD Electra Glide Classic that I just purchased. It has only 4,800 miles on it. The bike sat for a while but it was often started and driven for a short drive. Upon driving it the first few times it started and ran great. While driving it the other day, the voltage meter dropped below 12 volts and the battery and check engine light came on. Once I arrived home, I took the battery to the local auto parts store and they conducted a battery test and it was determined that the battery was good with 577 cold cranking amps and under load it showed to be good as well. I checked all the connections from the battery, voltage regulator and fuses and all were okay. I charged the battery back up and drive the bike around and the same thing keeps happening. Is there anyone that can point me in the right direction on some tests that I can perform to narrow down what this issue may be? I am mechanically inclined but new to the HD community and motors. From my understanding it can possibly be the stator and/or the voltage regulator?? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

 

get a volt meter and see what the charge rate is on the bike running, take it up to 1500-2000 rpm and should be around 13.5-13.7 volts if not you have a charging issue. take the neg terminal off, (bike not running) hook up volt meter (in amps mode) to one lead to batt neg and one to free batt terminal, should read after about 2 minutes around 20 MILLI amps if you have a lot more than that, you have a draw. get that far and lets go from there. if theres a charging system problem can easily wind up being both regulator and stator, but there are ways of testing each. if you have a shop manual the tests are in there, and you can do a search here for the same tests. don't necessarly trust the bikes charge gauge, that why an accurate meter.

 

Okay I am getting 12.4 - 12.5 volts when it is running across the battery. When I rev the motor, it drops dramatically but it goes back up to 12.4 - 12.5 volts. That is per my battery charger/tester. My meter is not working for some reason so I'm off to get one. But that's what is going on for now. The bike only has 4,800 miles on it. Would this be just a freak issue for either the stator or the VR to be bad?

 

the stator is tested by pulling the plug from the front of the left motor case.


this is a cut and paste from Peppi: ( cause i am too lazy to type, but enough energy to search)

Start by sniffing the primary oil, if it smells burnt, it's probably the stator that is bad but you're better off changing the regulator too because they usually go belly up shortly after replacing the stator.

# Unplug the regulator plug from the stator
# Start motorcycle and change Voltmeter to AC volts.
# Probe both stator wires with your meter leads.
# The motorcycle should be putting out approximately 18-20 ACV per 1,000 rpm. (Reading will vary depending on system, check service manual specification)
5. Generic Specs:

* 22 amp system produces about 19-26 VAC per 1,000 rpm
* 32 amp system produces about 16-20 VAC per 1,000 rpm
* 45 amp system produces about 19-26 VAC per 1,000 rpm


Stator Resistance Check:

motor off

1. Switch your multi meter to Ohm x 1 scale.
2. Probe each stator wires with meter leads and check resistance on meter.
3. Resistance should be in the range of 0.1-0.5 Ohms. (Reading will vary depending on system, check service manual for specification)
4. Generic Specs:

* 22 amp system produces about 0.2 to 0.4 ohms
* 32 amp system produces about 0.1 to 0.2 ohms
* 45 amp system produces about 0.1 to 0.2 ohms

remember that the stator puts out AC voltage- the VR converts to DC and keeps under 14.8 volts.

it is possible that you have something draining power ( even an internally shorted light bulb, it happens--- here's good one, my pal lowered his road king, the tire ate through the wiring insulation inside the rear fender--- when it got moist power would trickle from the chewed wiring through the dirt inside his fender...and his battery would drain while riding- the stress on the charging system caused it to fail_)

so check the charging system first, if that is all fine then it's going through the loads ( various circuits)

the meter in the dash, like all the lighting up front, runs through the ign. switch.
the switch can be a weak point esp. if high wattage bulbs have been used up front- the contacts can burn, pit, arc.

on my evo bagger the voltage drop to the dash was about 1.2 volts with everything on.

because of that I ran new 10 ga wiring up front for the lights and used the stock wiring just to activate relays on the hi beam/ low beam/ each spot and the accs.

so 5 relays all together, i figured if I was in there I mights as well go all the way- and there was room for 5 relays on top of the radio


when figuring out electricval problems, I would sometimes tape the meter to my bars - the trickle charger plug can be used for an adapted plug to the meter


Mike

 

Great accurate advice from the 2 guys above.

I went through 3 stators in the first 50,000 miles on mine. Bought a new 3 phase charging system from Compu-Fire almost 3 years and 51,000 miles ago and it's still running great.

The 3 phase systems are much more reliable and just came out on Harleys in ( I think,) 2007.

The 3 phase systems for the older bikes are offered by Compu-Fire and Cycle Electrics, ( among others.) Both are good companies btw.

Fix it once with a good system and forget it.

 

Okay I started up my bike tonight and I had a meter on the battery. I was getting 14.24 - 14.25 volts for about 3 minutes then it just dropped and my check engine light and battery light came on. The battery is good. Not sure what to do from here as I can not figure out how to check the stator other than smelling the oil in which it does not smell burnt. I'm leaning towards the voltage regulator, however this is blowing my mind that a bike with such low mileage is giving me these problems. Any further help is appreciated. Thanks

 

It sounds like the voltage regulator.... but do the resistance and bike running voltage tests described above. It still could be either....

The older stators are a weak link..... The newer 3 phase are the way to go if you need to replace it.

I have always replaced voltage regulators and generators (called the stator in this case) at the same time...... One usually causes the other to go out or the one that failed weakened the other and it will fail soon.....

Check this thread for step by step stator replacement with pictures....

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...need-help.html

 

Okay guys, I charged the battery up to full. I set my meter to read OHM's and ohm the stator ohmed out at .3-.4, therefore eliminating a ground. I started the bike up and pulled the stator plug from the voltage regulator. With the bike running, I conducted a check of the stator and got a reading of 18-19 VAC while idle. Upon throttle to around 2,500-3,000 rpm it shot up to around 50 VAC. At that point, I plugged the stator back into the voltage regulator. I removed the two prong connector coming from the voltage regulator while the bike was running. I switched the meter to volts DC and placed a volt lead on each prong on the voltage regulator. It was only reading around 3-4 volts.

Does this pretty much determine that the issue is in fact the voltage regulator?

Thanks for the help so far guys!

 

I have the same problem right now. 06 Eletra Glide Classic with 10k miles. Rode it to work and lunch and it was fine. Left work and made it about 2 blocks and got a Check engine and battery light. No loose connections so I took it to a buddy that works at the dealer and its a bad stator.

 

I would say it's the voltage regulator. As you stated the primary oil smells like oil so a baked stator is not likely.

Change the voltage regulator and ride......

If you are mechanically inclined and are planning on keeping the bike for years you might want to concider upgrading the parts now if you can do the labor. I am not sure if a the new voltage regulator will work with the newer 3 phase stators should the stator fail in the future. You may want to price out doing the upgrade vs just a new voltage regulator that you may have to change again if the stator goes out (which seems to be a problem) and you end up with a heavy duty charging system.