[BIJoe]

Since I got my 03 VRod back from the NY Long Island City Stealership (hate those SOBs!!!) I have been having trouble with my battery retaining charging. The replaced the battery and said everything was fine, then one day I was ridding and she didnt have enough charge to crank (tick, tick, tick...). ARGH!!!

Took the bike to New Roc City HD and asked them to look her over for a possible short. After almost two weeks, they found nothing. I let the battery charge for two days and today she died on me again.

They say they will only replace the battery if it generates error codes and of course - no codes???

One thing I noticed was that if the fan kicks in the battery light comes on so that may be a clue to where the short exists. If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[Jim J]

...

 

[BIJoe]

huh?

 

[Panman]

Are you using a trickle charger? A car charger will supply to much current and damage a good battery.

I would put another new battery in and use a tender in the future.

 

[BIJoe]

I use the tender to recharge the battery but jumper cables to jump the bike when I got stuck.

 

[vroddrew]

Assuming you are using a Batterytender, and a have relatively new battery -it sounds to me as if there is a problem with your charging circuit.

This could take the shape of a variety of different problems:

• Faulty Stator
• Loose or broken wires in the charging circuit
• Faulty voltage regulator

Double check the battery connections - but it sounds to me as if the stator itself is most likely the problem (the battery light came on when an additional load was placed on the circuit when the fans came on). In order to confirm and fix this - you will need to have a stator check done. There is a procedure for this in the Electrical Service Manual.

 

[Panman]

The fans cause a current surge and the voltage drops which caused the light. This would be a result of a low charge. If with the tendor on it for two days it doesn't take a full charge the battery is bad.

Tell the dealer you want a new battery and don't take no for an answer. If you have to pay $65 for another battery make them eat the install labor.

 

[BIJoe]

Ok cool, I will have them take a look on Monday. I also replaced the terminal cables to make sure that wasnt the problem.
Thanks for the advice.

 

[BIJoe]

BTW, what does the stator look like? Where is it?

 

[vroddrew]

. If with the tendor on it for two days it doesn't take a full charge the battery is bad..

He indicated that they've already put a new battery in there. It is possible that a new battery could go bad quite quickly - but unlikely.

To answer the question about the stator - it is located at the bottom of the engine on the left side. The big, rougly egg-shaped metal cover with about twenty socket head cap screws on it is the stator cover. A stator is basically the alternator for the motorcycle - it provides the electrical power for the bike and to recharge the battery. Stators can go bad for all sorts of different reasons - bad wiring, blown diodes, etc.

Ask if the dealership did a charging system diagnosis. If they did, and found no problems, then it is related to the battery or wiring.

 

[BIJoe]

Thank you! Decided to look it up

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...220131916564&ssPageName=STRK:MEBOFF:IT&ih=012

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/stat...ryZ35572QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem