imported post
oharaLTD wrote:
It has been said that the acid build up in oils is harmful to the stator casing on the 1200s. Do certain oils develop more or less than others?
This was sent to me from a Honda Mechanic friend, I don't know if he wrotethis, but he was on aninvestigation team looking into Honda stator failures years ago,so take it for whatever it is worth to you.
I did not write this, it was sent to me last year- OK
About the Honda GL1200 Stators
In 1984, Honda Motors began selling the GL 1200 with fancy new electronics. As new things go, they inherited a boat load of problems with the new electronics. Honda is in the mechanical business, and they produce the best engines and mechanical systems on the face of the earth. They outsource their electrical and electronic systems to other manufacturers and thats where the failures start.
The most famous was the 1200 stator failures that often occurred around 40,000 miles. The fancy new Panasonic Stereo/CB combos were plagued with electrical noise, squealing in the intercom and poor CB performance due to bad wiring in the charging system and radio systems.
The 1200 stators fail due to chemical attack from motor oil which is aggrivated by engine overheating and excess electricaloverloading of the stator. The 1200 stator gets soaked with oil from a small hole in the bottom rear of the engine block. The 1100 stators come out without oil-
the same stator in the GL1100 rarely failed. The chemist I spoke with back then suggested that acids in the motor oil were attacking the stator windings. Sulfuric acid is often found in used motor oil and is a by-product of combustion when sulfur in the gasoline combines with H2O (water) produced during combustion. This acid is carried by the oil through the engine. In addition, heat makes
the windings expand and press together and if severe enough, a short is the result.
Defective wiring does not cause stator failure, but does cause low charging voltage and weak spark that lead to engine overheating. Ive seen 1200s with engine cylinders destroyed due to this problem. The stator is sealed inside the engine with no cooling so excess engine heat adds to the heat from excess electrical loads in which overloads the stator.
Poor electrical connections cause low voltage (or intermittiently, no voltage) to the ignition coils. I have used an oscilliscope to measure as low as 6 volts DC on the ignition coils of a GL1200 due to bad wiring. This caused weak spark and incomplete (or intermittiently, none) combustion of the air/fuel mixture in the engine cylinders and in some cases, severe engine overheating. I have measured idle temperatures on GL1200 exhaust manifolds over 500° F they should be about 240° F in a perfectly tuned engine. Poor spark leaves unburned gasoline in the oil. Overheated and dirty, acid contaminated motor oil attacks the stator windings. Excess engine heat and electrical overloading heatcauses the stator winding insulation to crack which leads to shorts in the windings.