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No charge on a 1985 GL 1200SE

3K views 32 replies 13 participants last post by  roscoepc 
#1 ·
Hi helping a friend with his 85 1200 getting under 12volts at idle found short from stator wires by the connector next to battery. Repaired the wires eliminated the connector by battery. Checked the voltage regulator seems like the same wire that was short at the stator wire next to battery was also over heating the connector at the regulator. Cleaned it up and checked voltage at the stator 2 of three wires read 11.8 third was 8.6 he ordered an regulator but it seems that the stator needs to be changed as well. Max we get is 13.20 at 3,000 rpm. Thanks in advance for any help..
Joe
 
#2 ·
That sounds like the regulator is one of the non OEM type. Logic tells me that it's limiting voltage a little too much... However...

How sure are you of the tester's accuracy, and, could it be the battery is fully charged and therefore the regulator isn't pumping a lot of juice into it.

Do a search for a proper test of the stator, just to be sure, but the SEi and LTD stators were pretty tough.
 
#8 ·
#4 ·
I hope you are not trying to test DC volts at the stator wires, 'cause those are AC power, you might get some sort of DC reading due to the action of the regulator but it won't be representative of what's really going on.

Proper way to measure the stator is with it disconnected. measure between two of the three wires, with engine at 4000 RPM you should see between 50-70 VAC. Repeat the test between one of the wires you just measured and the one you did not. And again from that wire and the first. You should get about the same AC voltage each test. Also measure AC volts between one of the wires and the engine (ground). With engine running there should be no voltage, if you get a reading there's an insulation breakdown in the stator.

With the stator re-connected, you should see over 13 volts DC at the battery at 4000 RPM.
 
#6 ·
Here is how to test the stator per Roscoepc, one of our members here. I found this in my notes.


Stator Test - by roscoepc

1- First, put the bike on the centerstand. Cut the wires on both sides of the stator connector plug. Strip the insulation aprox. 1/2"-1" back on all three yellow wires. Label each wire A, B, and C.

2- With a multimeter, digital or analog, set to read resistance, check each leg to ground for shorts. Should have infinite resistance. If no shorts are found, (o resistance), you're good to go so far.

3- With the meter set to read resistance, check across each leg. A to B, B to C, then C to A. The reading's should be about 3 ohms. If you read infinite resistance across any of the legs you have an open winding and the stator is bad. If they read good, keep going.

4- A helper is good to have for this next step. With the battery fully charged and the three yellow wires separated so they cannot make contact, crank the bike. Have your helper rev the bike to 3000rpm after the bike warms up.

IMPORTANT!!!

You are checking for AC voltage NOT DC voltage!! Make sure the meter is set to read a minimum of 120vac!!

With the bike at 3000rpm, check leg A to B. Note the voltage.

Then check leg B to C. Note the voltage.

Finaly check leg C to A. Note the voltage.

Compare the three readings. They should be between 50-70 vac plus or minus about 5 vac per leg. If they read good, chances are you've got a bad regulator or a bad/burned regulator connector.

 
#9 ·
Mine went out on my 85 LTD and I did the alternator set up. It was easy to do and it took a couple days and under $250.00 and it was the best thing I ever did. HIGH OUTPUT AMP MINI DENSO STYLE ALTERNATOR FOR CHEVY STREET ROD RACE CAR 1 ONE WIRE HOOKUP SYSTEM 70AMP. This is on Amazon for like $115.00 with shipping.
 
#10 ·
Hello Joe! I've got a question.. Is this an '85 Ltd Ed/Fuel Injected model?? The reason I ask is that the Ltd Ed uses a different regulator than the '85 Aspy or Interstate due to the Ltd Ed having a larger stator: 500watts vs 360watts... The OEM Shindengen regulator can be found at RegulatorRecitifier.com...


I've always recommended removing/hardwiring/soldering all the connectors in the charging circuit from the stator connector all the way to the replacement of the 30amp dogbone fuse on the stater solenoid with an in-line fuse. It's what I did with my bike back in '07 and she's been good to go ever since!!


@ Bellboy40: Thanks for the Plug!! Nice to know People read my post's!!! :grin: :grin: :grin:
 
#11 ·
I did the alt. conversion, found a new chevy one wire mini for under $50 on ebay (one wire but still have to attach an exciter wire) and bypassed the regulator. I get 13.5 at anything over 2,000 rpm.

If you are getting over 13v at the battery, then all three wires from the stator must be okay. I was getting 4.8v on each of two yellow wires and 0 on the third. Not skilled enough to pull the engine so I opted for the alt conversion.
 
#16 ·
Yes fuel injection model ok I took a closer look at the wiring after receiving the regulator. It seems that 2 of the three stator wires were wired directly to regulator the one final wire left in the plug at the regulator was bad so I wired that one directly and presto the bike was charging once again. Thank so much for all your help guys!!! Alls well that ends well!!!
Joe
 
#17 ·

With the bike at 3000rpm, check leg A to B. Note the voltage.

Then check leg B to C. Note the voltage.

Finaly check leg C to A. Note the voltage.

Compare the three readings. They should be between 50-70 vac plus or minus about 5 vac per leg. If they read good, chances are you've got a bad regulator or a bad/burned regulator connector.

This is awesome, someone else that realizes that all your dealing with here is a 3 phase generator.

My way is exactly the same but instead of volts, your checking for amps. Doing this years ago enabled me to know my alternator was good, and then it took me from 80K to 140K.

The picture is of my trusty Amprobe, turn it to A/C amps and clamp it around each alternator wire in turn, (whatever color they are,) and if they are within + or - 5% of each other then that alternator is good to go.

I do wish I remembered what numbers I read back then but it was a long time ago.

I'll say this though, get rid of that plug set up anyway, it's gonna give you trouble down the road.
 

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#20 ·
The new RR that you have installed is for an '85 or '86 fuel injected GW? I ask this because the stator on the fuel injected models puts out a max of 500 watts compared to approx 350 watts for the carb models. This means a different amp rating. May not be of concern, but over a prolonged period could cause the new RR to fail. Agree with Don, keep the old one just in case.
 
#22 ·
My bad - sorry.
 
#23 ·
What you might wanna do next is a bit of "PM": There's a second 30amp inline dogbone fuse located behind and to the right a bit that, if it's still there, solder in a new 30 amp fuse holder because that'll go bad eventually.. It feeds the extra's on the bike like the CFI, Auto Level, etc....


Good luck with her and hope to see ya around sometime as we're only about an hour apart!!
 
#27 ·
I bought my 1200 used with 26K miles on it in 1995, in about 1997 with about 37K showing, stator went bad on one leg during a ride. Noticed that while voltage dropped in town idling at lights, etc, suddenly 10 miles out of town, volts still low on my SunPro DC-V meter I had installed, so I knew.


Got her home, found the three yellow wires already toasty and poorly soldered and heavily taped up, I separated wires and did stator testing each pair at 3K+ RPM with AC-V meter, one leg of three was dead.

I ordered new Honda Stator from Schroeders in NC, put it in next week myself, installed a new plug after carefully taking it apart and soldering each crimp, I check it often. I was thinking new life warranteed stator had a blue ring, but I forget and it's not important enough to go look. I also looked and saw where Reg/Rec plug looked toasty, so I used brass tubing, inserted wire ends, crimped and soldered and shrink wrapped those wires from stator bypassing the connector.


Sometime shortly afterwards, my main 30 amp fuse developed a crack across the narrow part and when hot, no make a connection as solenoid body is plastic with a higher rate of heat expansion (my theory), so I used a 30 amp glass tube & holder with 12 ga wires and ring terminals to bypass it, all connections crimped & soldered.

I also updated the plug at the solenoid with an updated HONDA kit.


All this in later '90s, and I used her regularly up into 2016, no more issues.
 
#28 ·
All bikes of the era suffered from stator failure and and going by the 84 1200 ignition switch recall bulletin, Honda listed 28,000 might be effected, which means they sold a lot of them vs the other brands listed. I do recall the first life time 84 1200 stator had a blue band, might even have the bulletin still here ?

So CP, your saying your 26k oem 1200 stator had already been hard wired previously and was replaced with a life time stator, which came with a new end plug, so you had to replace the upper plug only ? I lost my 81 interstate stator @ 99k- 84A 45k-85 ltd 25k.
 
#32 ·
DOGPILE!!! I agree to leave it alone until it malfunctions or gets so hot it has to be replaced. In roscoe's defense, he likes me, so he's already working with a handicap......But more over, I think he was trying to point out there are TWO 30 amp main fuses on the LTD/Sei. I suspect if the main one has been replaced, the second one probably isn't too far behind.
 
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