spark-z

Cy Welch, thanks alot dude. I was going to check the reg and rect next anyway but after your response I feel better about the whole situation. Unfortunately I have to back off the bike for a couple of weeks while I do a complete teardown on my friends Tecumseh snowblower engine. I will get around to checking again and tell you what I find out.

Well I got the new battery charged and put it on the bike. Got the bike started and started testing the charging system. Hooked up the battery to the multimeter to check the voltage. No matter how high I rev'd it I couldn't get it to go above 13.7volts and it is supposed to be 14.0-14.5. So I figured I start on the alternator because it seems to have a problem(or an adjustment to the voltage regulator screw, but I will check that later). Checking the leads of the alternator I disconnected the second lead block connector with the three white wires, those were supposed to give me .72ohms. I didn't get that reading and I can't remember now what the exact reading was but I think it was just over 1.0ohms. Now here is the funny part. The main lead is supposed to have 4 wires that are green, green, orange, gray (reading the haynes manual) but I have black, green, blue and yellow (which is also shown in the wiring diagram in the back of the Haynes manual) I guess that I had to take a reading between the black and green wires (the two that come from the alternator, not the neutral switch [blue] and oil switch [yellow]wires)even though the instructions say green, green. I was supposed to get 4ohms but I only got 3.3ohms. This is telling me the alternator has a problem. So now the questions; When reading the main lead wires I am checking between the two wires (black + green)coming from the alternator, as in I put a probe on the black and the other probe on the green and read the resistance between them, right? (don't flame me because I am a noob, lol) Also bike bandit doesn't seem to let me select the alternator parts for ordering, how do I find a new one if it isn't just a loose connection. To take apart the alternator housing, I guess I should drain the oil first? Thanks again, Spark-z BTW with a fully charged battery the signal keeps flashing with the brake depressed. Funny

i am hopefully going to have time tomorrow to do some testing. Did discover that my new battery will not charge. It is completely dead. I think I want to check the voltage regulator first once I get a new battery.

I also got a replacement (used) fuse box (without lid) with the cable and connector that goes.....who knows where lol. Exact same as what I already have but in much better condition. Do you have pictures of what you did?

My battery still has it's hose and it is vented properly down to the bottom of the bike. I am going to a salvage place at lunch today and hopefully they will have something for me otherwise off to 'The Source by Circuit City'. My fuse box is original as well and I would like to keep it that way if I can. We will see. The salvage place I am going to closes after today for the whole winter They were becoming my friends I was there so much lol j/k. They do have my new air filters though. That is the main reason for going today.

I am back. I discovered that the turn signal went solid when I depressed the brake so I am thinking that there are crossed wires somewhere, but let's keep in mind that I know nothing. So I finally unpacked from my move and found my Haynes book so I was going to start looking for the problem this weekend but then something horrible happened this week. The bike went right dead. The pilot box would not even light up when in neutral and the brake lights would not come on and of course the bike won't start. The first thing I did was take a reading of the battery. It showed 9volts. Then I watched some YouTube videos to learn how to use all the multimeter functions and checked it again the next day and got a reading of 1V. It was draining on it's own and fast. I checked the fuse box and the main line fuse clip was very eroded and fragile. So I was thinking okay that will need replacing but I started playing around some more and discovered there is still continuity through that clip (this is with the key in the off position, should that happen?). The voltage on both sides of the clip is steady at 1V. So I thought it would have been the fuse since there was no power getting to the lights but the fuse (and all other fuses) is fine and the continuity is fine. I am thinking there is a short between the battery and the fuse box and that is why the battery is draining but how do I explain the lights not working even when there was 9V? What do you all think? Thanks again. p.s. I don't want to take it to a mechanic, not because of cost, but because I want to learn. I enjoy the challenge and the help I get

kindest, no clicking that I can notice. When you talk about redoing the fuse panel, do you mean pulling out the wires and reassembling it? jmj166, that is an easy one to check OllieB, I have to use the kick start because even after charging the battery I still couldn't start it with the electric start. I will check the bulb first but then I think I will be getting a new battery. I kinda figured I needed to anyway so if that helps then great. If not then I get to try other things. I did order my Haynes today. Very exciting. I have one for my truck and it is ever so handy. I love Haynes. One other question, finding parts for these bikes, do I just hit the bike salvagers or are there other sources for new parts?

Just recently bought an XS400 Heritage Special. I have to pick up the repair manual still but I thought I would ask all of you a question to see if I could get started on the problem sooner than later. Firstly, the turn signal works mostly but sometimes when standing at the stop lights the signal just stays on and does not flash. I discovered that if I rev up the engine just a little bit the signal starts to flash again. Any one experience that before or have any ideas where to start searching for the problem? On a side note my battery isn't keeping a charge. I managed to give the battery a good charging from a battery charger, put it in the bike and used my multi-meter to test if the battery was getting the 13.5 volts from the bikes charging unit when rev'd to over 3000rpm and it was. I think maybe I just left the lights on and when driving in bad city traffic the battery wasn't getting enough charge to keep the bike going. Or at least that is all I hope it is. Or maybe it is related to the above problem. I don't know.