HoggyF Posted June 20, 2009 Posted June 20, 2009 Hi guys I've got a severe lack of lighting on my XT350, they were working up until recently when both front and tail lights have failed. On this bike the lights only work when the engine is running (the neighbours love me when I'm trying to sort this out, loud pipe and ticking over for hours!!) I've checked the wiring back through the loom for continuity with a multimeter and all is ok and I also tried running a live feed from the battery to the lighting circuit and everything works so traced it back through and there doesn't appear to be any voltage coming from the lighting coil, the manual say's to check the charging coil and i get a reading of 00.4 ohms with the book saying 0.41 to 0.51ohms so i think this is OK. But when you put the multimeter across the battery with the engine running the voltage does not increase as you rev it, it just stays at 11.98V. The bike runs fine other wise so am I missing something obvious, surely the charging circuit must be working otherwise it wouldn't run? Any ideas??? Thanks Fraser
Moderator Airhead Posted June 20, 2009 Moderator Posted June 20, 2009 Hi Freaser, perhaps This might help ...Paul
HoggyF Posted June 20, 2009 Author Posted June 20, 2009 Thansk Paul, but unfortunately it doesn't help, I remember that post form Chappers at the time and felt really smug because I'd already sorted my wiring out. As i said originally the lights were working fine for a caouple of months but have suddenly stopped working. Should the voltage across the battery rise when you rev the bike up? The lights were always a bit prone to brightening when the bike was rev'd previously. Did the figure i mentioned above sound right? Thanks Fraser
Moderator Cynic Posted June 20, 2009 Moderator Posted June 20, 2009 Thansk Paul, but unfortunately it doesn't help, I remember that post form Chappers at the time and felt really smug because I'd already sorted my wiring out. As i said originally the lights were working fine for a caouple of months but have suddenly stopped working. Should the voltage across the battery rise when you rev the bike up? The lights were always a bit prone to brightening when the bike was rev'd previously. Did the figure i mentioned above sound right? Thanks Fraser The voltage at the battery doesent change, battery charging volts don't change. Coils tested ok, one quick test for you, start her up turn the lights on and disconnect the regulator. If i'm right it will bring the headlight on. VERY bright so don't rev the motor much. The regulator will be toast. Exactly what happend to me on my bike lights work then dont as it happend at the exact moment it was being MOT'd. If it had only lasted 2more minutes.
HoggyF Posted June 21, 2009 Author Posted June 21, 2009 Well Cynic, i wasn't quite ready to believe you and started re=-checking wiring and comparing the resistance on the charging and lighting coils with my spare engine, but couldn't find any faults. i then realsied that the generator puts out AC so checked that and found about 6.5v at tickover rising to 12 odd as you reved it up. I stripped the tank off to try your trick with the regulator and disconnected it first then thought it would be better to leave it connected, start her up then disconnect, lo and behold when I started it up their was light! Doh! it was just aloose connection on the regulator. I've now put cable ties round the connector to stop it vibrating loose. Cheers for your help guys
Moderator Cynic Posted June 21, 2009 Moderator Posted June 21, 2009 Well Cynic, i wasn't quite ready to believe you and started re=-checking wiring and comparing the resistance on the charging and lighting coils with my spare engine, but couldn't find any faults. i then realsied that the generator puts out AC so checked that and found about 6.5v at tickover rising to 12 odd as you reved it up. I stripped the tank off to try your trick with the regulator and disconnected it first then thought it would be better to leave it connected, start her up then disconnect, lo and behold when I started it up their was light! Doh! it was just aloose connection on the regulator. I've now put cable ties round the connector to stop it vibrating loose. Cheers for your help guys So it was the regulator, albeit a duff connection, result. Glad its sorted..
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