Not Charging?

BadBrad · Jul 27, 2012

Good choice. By the way, I have done the Drag Specialties batteries and they absolutely suck. The first one lasted about 3 months, but since I had a year warrenty, I got another one for free. Lasted about a month. But hey, it's still under warrenty! Screw that. Not trying a third time. Getting left on the side of the road or anywhere other than home sucks and the Drag Specialties battery just ain't Big Dog material.

BadBrad · Aug 1, 2012

Did you ever get a votage meter? Checking the stator is easy. I know there are several methods, but I just unplug the VR from the stator plug. Put your volt meter so it's reading AC voltage. Charge your Braille and crank your bike. Using your volt meter, place your probes on the 2 plug pins coming out of stator plug from the motor. It should read between 15-20 VAC at idle. Now, rev up the engine (better to have someone to help) and take readings again. It should read around 60 to 70 VAC. If your readings are close to this, then test the Voltage Regulator. You stated earlier that you were getting between 13-14 VDC. That's enough to charge your battery and if you're getting that voltage on the battery, then your circuit breaker is obviously working. Sometimes, bikes will give different readings after the engine has been run and is hot. Charge up your Braille, take the bike for a 20 minute ride, then come back and take voltage readings on the battery again while running at idle. I know you said your plug looks good, but mine did too. It would work fine while sitting idle but work it way loose when riding. They make a clip that holds that plug in place using the engine bolt just behind the plug on the side of the motor. Take some readings of your stator and then from a hot motor (battery) and let us know what you find.

Chippy Chad · Aug 2, 2012

I just went through something very similar, I put a new battery in that I didn't need and a new starter in that I didn't need. If your main battery cables get warm when it won't start you probably have a bad ground. Just for shits run a 4 gauge wire from your - post to one of your starter bolts. This may save you a lot of money and frustration.

Nukeranger · Aug 2, 2012

:bang

on't give up. I am sure you are going to fix this. It can be frustrating but hang in there.

Nukeranger · Aug 17, 2012

Did you consider sending your starter to Raywood and KaptinAmerika? Just a thought.

BadBrad · Aug 17, 2012

If it's only your outer primary seals, you can replace that in less than an hour. If you're replacing inner and outer primary seals, it takes a little longer and you have to pull the clutch pack. Still not a major deal and should cost less than $100 for all the seals. Just the outer primary seal is the most common seal to leak. You just drain your primary fluid, unscrew the 13 bolts holding it on, put on new gasket and replace cover using the proper sequence for installing the 13 bolts. Let me know if you don't have that diagram and I'll send it to you. Kinda like changing a tire where you tighten bolts in a certain pattern to ensure a proper fit. Also, check to see if you have a local starter shop. They may be able to rebuild your starter.

Fibersnake · Aug 17, 2012

Choppergirl said:
Ok so I finally took the bike to the shop last week. They said my starter crapped out, go figure I just had it put in last year in July. So it lasted 1 year almost to the month. I also have an oil leak I had them check out to see where it was coming from while they had it. They said it is the primary seals. All together it is going to run me about $875.00! Now here is my question how hard is it to replace the primary seals? Is there a how to on here? I am not paying 875 for all this. I am going to do the primary myself if at all possible. I may need to call on you guys but I think I can do this. Any help or pointers would be a great help.

Is the leak on the primary cover or is it a leak on the jack-shaft going to the starter and thus letting the starter get saturated with oil. If it just the outer seal, easy to change yourself and not very expensive even with all of the gasket. If it oil leaking from the primary through the jaskshat to the starter, little more of an issue. They did have a re-build kit for that that imporved the seals, not sure if you can still find one or not. I know I bought one years agao when my first starter had those issues, and still have it. Going on 6 years, never had another issue.

Kapt America and Raywood may be able to do the starter rebuild allot cheaper and even may have a mod for the oil leak through starter. Also anohter idea is to find and old time starter alternator shop and take ti to them. They can pretty much fix any of them for more than a reasonable price.

Good luck and like your determination

Devone · Aug 17, 2012

Choppergirl said:
All together it is going to run me about $875.00! Now here is my question how hard is it to replace the primary seals? Is there a how to on here? I am not paying 875 for all this. I am going to do the primary myself if at all possible. I may need to call on you guys but I think I can do this. Any help or pointers would be a great help.

I agree with Brad. You can do it, save a lot of money and learn a little bit while you're at it. My brother-in-law would rather pay someone to change his oil ("I might break something") than do it himself.:bang:

Me I figure what the hell it's broken now what do I have to loose? You can get all the help you need right here on the forum. :2thumbs: I'd still do a good check on the voltage regulator. My Mastiff was doing exactly the same thing and thats what it turned out to be. I know some shops are better than others, but I've never been in one that didn't mind spending money trying things out as long as it was your money and not theirs.

Raywood · Aug 18, 2012

Choppergirl said:
Ok so I finally took the bike to the shop last week. They said my starter crapped out, go figure I just had it put in last year in July. So it lasted 1 year almost to the month. I also have an oil leak I had them check out to see where it was coming from while they had it. They said it is the primary seals. All together it is going to run me about $875.00! Now here is my question how hard is it to replace the primary seals? Is there a how to on here? I am not paying 875 for all this. I am going to do the primary myself if at all possible. I may need to call on you guys but I think I can do this. Any help or pointers would be a great help.

Nukeranger said:
Did you consider sending your starter to Raywood and KaptinAmerika? Just a thought.

Fibersnake said:
Is the leak on the primary cover or is it a leak on the jack-shaft going to the starter and thus letting the starter get saturated with oil. If it just the outer seal, easy to change yourself and not very expensive even with all of the gasket. If it oil leaking from the primary through the jaskshat to the starter, little more of an issue. They did have a re-build kit for that that imporved the seals, not sure if you can still find one or not. I know I bought one years agao when my first starter had those issues, and still have it. Going on 6 years, never had another issue.

Kapt America and Raywood may be able to do the starter rebuild allot cheaper and even may have a mod for the oil leak through starter. Also anohter idea is to find and old time starter alternator shop and take ti to them. They can pretty much fix any of them for more than a reasonable price.

Good luck and like your determination

Choppergirl said:
Thanks guys for all the feed back. The leaks are the inner and outer primary seals so this should be a fun first for me lol! I should hear back from the shop today about the warranty on my starter. I will go from there.....

We just rebuilt an 03 starter here that we picked up from a good friend. It had a broken armature in it, we replaced it with a 2.0 kw armature so it's good and strong now.
Let us know if we can help you out.
Ray and Curtis
www.wildsteedworx.com

pknowles · Sep 15, 2012

Good news, time to get out and ride:2thumbs: mind sharing the cost of all that work.

Nukeranger · Sep 15, 2012

Congratulations. This is good news. Money is just money. But life and experiences are priceless.:2thumbs: :whoop:

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