Issues with Starting my 03 VFR

Discussion in 'Anything Goes' started by arichins, Apr 9, 2009.

  1. arichins

    arichins New Member

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    I am a new motorcycle owner and rider, my 03 VFR is my first bike owned. I purchased the bike about two months ago and I have had a few problems when starting the bike. Once the bike starts it runs great. The first time the bike would not crank over, I jumped it with no problems and the bike turned over and ran without issues for about a month until the same thing happened again. This time I figured the battery was at its end of life and that I needed a new battery. So last week I shelled out and picked up a new battery (YTZ14S). The new battery has now been in the bike for a week and this morning on my way to work, the same thing occurred, the battery did not have enough juice to crank over. This time I was able to push start and get on my way to work.

    As I am just starting to trouble shoot this issue, I am look for any insight anyone may have here.

    My assumptions, the battery is fine, so I am thinking it either has to be the connectivity to the battery that is not allowing it to recharge properly or the recharger is not working.
    Planned test when I get home today.
    - check the amperage on the battery
    - check the amperage on the wires leading to the battery to see if it is sufficient to recharge the battery. Does anyone know what it should be?

    After this I don't know what to test or look at. If anyone can advise and either give me a better trouble shooting method or additional steps please do.

    Thank you,
    Aaron
     
  2. Cundalini

    Cundalini New Member

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    You need 13.5 volts to charge a battery. If your down in the 12's then you are running off the battery and not charging it as fast as you are draining it.
     
  3. 02 VFR Rider

    02 VFR Rider New Member

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    how long was bike sitting before being started?
    If my 02 sits for more then 3 days batt is dead.
    could be RR issuses there are a few threads on it in mechanics garage section.
    there was a recall and if your bike had it done it should have a punch mark on ID tag on left frame rail between tank and fairing.
     
  4. 02 VFR Rider

    02 VFR Rider New Member

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  5. arichins

    arichins New Member

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    I rode my bike to the store last night right before I went to bed. so I would say it was sitting 12 hours max, but I think I noticed a hesitation when attempting to crank over last night. what is the rr? I am not familar with this term I am assuming recharge? I will check the bike tonight to see if it was stamped, I am assuming the stampe will be obvious.
     
  6. 02 VFR Rider

    02 VFR Rider New Member

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  7. arichins

    arichins New Member

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    Thanks for the link I will go throught the fault finding flow chart this evening.
    If it is my RR, anyone know the best place to pick one up on the internet?
     
  8. arichins

    arichins New Member

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    ok, I got home tonight all set to do some serious triage on my bike battery charging system, only to become quickly overwhelmed. So I quess that leads me in two possible directions 1. get some more help here if available 2. take it to a shop and get them to look at and fix.

    If I were to get some more help here, I guess I would need some basic instructions like. Test the RR while engine is running / not running etc... If someone can walk me through these basics, I would be forever grateful, as I would much rather learn to work on my bike instead of not knowing anything about the bike.

    If it is better that I take it to a shop, please give me some pointers when I take it in so that I don't get taken to the cleaners.

    Thank you,
    Aaron
     
  9. arichins

    arichins New Member

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    what is the link for the recall on this bike, I don't see any stamps where you said I would find them.
     
  10. karazy

    karazy New Member

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    Transport Canada Recall # 2007268 / Model Year(s) Affected / 2002 2003 2004 2005

    On certain motorcycles the front fairing wiring harness connector ground terminals may overheat and melt. This may result in a loss of lighting or engine power which could cause a crash. Correction: Dealers will affect repairs as necessary.

    For a quick basic check, check the battery DC voltage with the bike off (12-13V). Then check the same voltage with the bike running at around 3000 RPM (14-15V). This checks the regulator side. To check the rectifier, simply change the meter to AC and there should be very little, if any, voltage here.
     
  11. TOE CUTTER

    TOE CUTTER Mullet Man

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    bubba

    Other Bubba's bike has had recall but if he runs his high beams and the fans are running (heavy traffic riding) it will drain the battery in about an hour and will not start after shut off.He stopped running around with his high beams all the time and has been fine since.
     
  12. 02 VFR Rider

    02 VFR Rider New Member

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    There were 2 recalls one was for harnes ( link above ) but before that was the charging system R/R and should have been resolved before 03's came out.
    but what the dealers did ( or should have done ) was to take a punch and mark the ID tag on frame. If so there would be a dent in tag just infront of the year on tag.
     
  13. CRAZY K

    CRAZY K New Member

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    check you stator the battery needs to be charged while the bike is running, and the charging system on the bike might be bad
     
  14. arichins

    arichins New Member

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    update.
    Found a local bike tech that works as an AMA mechanic and tinkers in the garage on the weekend. He walked me through all the tests and confirmed it was the RR. I am now ordering my RR and should be on my way once I get the part. Thanks everyone for you input I really appreciate it.
     
  15. arichins

    arichins New Member

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    update again:
    Got my Electrosport RR and installed, I can see the battery is getting a charnge but it is lower than expected. DC being sent to battery is in the 11.9 to 12.3 range depending on RPM of bike. Returned my bike to my mechanic to investigate further. Upon digging deeper into the bike and actually looking at the Stator instead of the just testing, it looks like the Stator is Fried, causing degraded / reduced AC generation capabilities. Just ordered a new Stator today should get in a couple of days.

    Here are some pictures of my Stator

    Stator2.jpg

    Stator1.jpg
     
  16. soundmaster31

    soundmaster31 New Member

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    The charging voltage is around 4k or 5k rpm if I remember right. Check it out in the Honda manual.
     
  17. arichins

    arichins New Member

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    yep figured it was around 4k to 5k for charing range, in current condition 5k RPM was maxing out at 12.3 DC output. I am expecting it to be in the 13.5 + range or atleast that is what I have been told to expect.
     
  18. soundmaster31

    soundmaster31 New Member

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    Yup... I'd say it's your stator then. She does look pretty well done that's for sure. Should be able to pop up to 14 volts easy.
     
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