felix42o Posted October 9, 2005 Posted October 9, 2005 Soooo- Just cleared my first 2500 miles on my first Guzzi (going nicely so far) and have but this one problem- When I first got the bike, the battery light kept coming on. Traced down to a violet wire that previous owner had just wrapped bare around a bolt. <_ checked the schematics comes from regulator. no biggie added a fresh connector and attached to thru bolt on left side of tranny just forward starter. worked fine for awhile weeks until friday night freeway ride oceanside lemoore ca. started come back way out la so i stopped after got over grapevine it. little loose retightened it was... still there. yesterday put new connecter wire soldered before heading coast. now only seems high speed burst passing during hotter part day. any ideas going try relocate groung spot frame today- thinking that since resistance makes heat maybe same stands true thoughts are appreciated...>-Brian P.S. This bike rocks!
callison Posted October 9, 2005 Posted October 9, 2005 Soooo- Just cleared my first 2500 miles on my first Guzzi (going nicely so far) and have but this one problem-When I first got the bike, the battery light kept coming on. Traced down to a violet wire that previous owner had just wrapped bare around a bolt. <_ checked the schematics comes from regulator. no biggie added a fresh connector and attached to thru bolt on left side of tranny just forward starter. worked fine for awhile weeks until friday night freeway ride oceanside lemoore ca. started come back way out la so i stopped after got over grapevine it. little loose retightened it was... still there. yesterday put new connecter wire soldered before heading coast. now only seems high speed burst passing during hotter part day. any ideas going try relocate groung spot frame today- thinking that since resistance makes heat maybe same stands true thoughts are appreciated...>-Brian P.S. This bike rocks! 62563[/snapback] Make sure your regulator is fastened tightly to the frame. Other than that, I would interpret the light coming on at high rpm or heat as a signal that the regulator is having problems at the high end of its regulation and that it might fail eventually. That's just a guess though. The next thing to check (and it's free), is to yank the tank and check the two yellow wires coming from the alternator where they join the main harness just under the left front side of the fuel tank. Make sure that those are clean and if necessary, separate the connectors and slightly crimp the female side to ensure a tighter connection before putting them back together.
docc Posted October 9, 2005 Posted October 9, 2005 Good comments from carl-the-electron-guru. Also, be sure the terminal stacks on the battery are tight . They have a habit of loosening up. If possible , check the battery voltage with a digital meter. It should be at least 12.7v and increase to around 13.5v at 2500 rpm. I'll have to look again but I don't remember a ground wire from the regulator. And the previous owner had a taped connection?What's up with that?
felix42o Posted October 10, 2005 Author Posted October 10, 2005 Yeah it was just stripped bare and wrapped around a starter bolt. Nice,huh? Well, I'm pretty sure that wire is getting as good a ground as it's going to now, so troubelshooting efforts are travelling elsewhere...I did check all the harness connections (which appear to be pretty low-end by the way) prior to finding that wire but will check again to be sure. Checked the regulator mounts and battery posts today, one was a little loose but still snug, added about a quarter turn. I'll check the voltage again... for about a week I watched it closely and it read in the normal(or what I'm used to seeing on other vehicles) range of around 12.5 up to 13.5 or so, RPM depending. It does act like a regulator, except for the randomly varying levels of intensity in which the light comes on, which got me looking for grounding in the first place. Plus nothing else (headlight, starting, etc) seems to be affected since I fixed the original wire. Is there a "main" ground strap somewhere? I haven't seen anything on the bike or the schematics-the tach bounces as well somewhat, maybe they're connected somewhere? Thanks for the advice, it's been a big help so far! -Brian
docc Posted October 10, 2005 Posted October 10, 2005 Yeah it was just stripped bare and wrapped around a starter bolt. Nice,huh? Well, I'm pretty sure that wire is getting as good a ground as it's going to now, so troubelshooting efforts are travelling elsewhere...I did check all the harness connections (which appear to be pretty low-end by the way) prior to finding that wire but will check again to be sure. Checked the regulator mounts and battery posts today, one was a little loose but still snug, added about a quarter turn. I'll check the voltage again... for about a week I watched it closely and it read in the normal(or what I'm used to seeing on other vehicles) range of around 12.5 up to 13.5 or so, RPM depending. It does act like a regulator, except for the randomly varying levels of intensity in which the light comes on, which got me looking for grounding in the first place. Plus nothing else (headlight, starting, etc) seems to be affected since I fixed the original wire. Is there a "main" ground strap somewhere? I haven't seen anything on the bike or the schematics-the tach bounces as well somewhat, maybe they're connected somewhere? Thanks for the advice, it's been a big help so far!-Brian 62609[/snapback] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brian, The main ground is the negative battery cable to the back of the gear case. All of the harness grounds go back to the stack of terminals on the battery. There is a separate ground wire for the ECU. The instruments grond through their mounting posts which have a reputation for loosening up. Per Pete Roper's (colorful) advice, I added a ground strap from the frame to the engine. If the previous owner took the regulator ground off the battery stack and rerouted I wonder if that's a sign of this having been cooking for a while? There used to be threads in the 'How-to' with pictures.
felix42o Posted October 10, 2005 Author Posted October 10, 2005 I'll take a look. Thanks for the help! I'm definitley going to add a motor-frame ground strap- that couldn't do anything but help. I'm heading back down to San Diego this morning so we'll see how it goes. -Brian
callison Posted October 10, 2005 Posted October 10, 2005 The wavering tach is frequently a symptom of the case mounting stud breaking loose. It's a pita to fix if that's the case, but it isn't impossible. A search of the forum should turn up my approach to repairing the problem. If not, I'll dig them up from one of my computer archives.
felix42o Posted October 10, 2005 Author Posted October 10, 2005 Thanks, I'll take a look-see. I was just out looking around before I start to head home and found that- A: the previous owner had installed a battery tender or accessory-type lead off the battery, B: he had it routed under the tail section and, C: it has, for who knows how long, been rubbing against the tire and who knows what else, as the protective cap is long gone as is alot of the plastic around the connectors. Checked it with the voltmeter and it's hot alright. Just disconnected it, I'll bet that wasn't helping anything! I'll let you know how it turns out, but I'm thinking that might be it. Ahh the joys of used toys.
felix42o Posted October 12, 2005 Author Posted October 12, 2005 Well, in the 300 miles back to San Diego, I only saw the light once right as I pulled over at a rest stop, 10 miles from home. I'm going to call that good enough for now- and will plan on further investigation this winter. For now, I'm packing up- I'm finally done down here and head back home to Nevada on Thursday. Thanks for the help, everyone! -Brian
felix42o Posted October 17, 2005 Author Posted October 17, 2005 600 miles to Fallon, no problems, and no light(included an hour and a half at 100-mph-plus from Adelano to Lone Pine . Talked to a Guzzi tech in San Diego-his guess is the crappy Siemens relays. Makes sense, if the relay doesn't kick when it tries to charge, I think it's good for now, but I have the newer relays on order.
jrt Posted October 18, 2005 Posted October 18, 2005 http://www.dpguzzi.com/ Dan sells (good) relays for about cost. Buy a spare...just in case
Guest ratchethack Posted October 18, 2005 Posted October 18, 2005 Talked to a Guzzi tech in San Diego Felix, I'm curious. AFAIK, there're less than a handful that even remotely resemble this description. Who and what shop?
felix42o Posted October 18, 2005 Author Posted October 18, 2005 The name escapes me at the moment... The shop, however, was GP cycles in San Diego, on 16th&G. He had a cool guzzi patch on his shirt and everything!!!
Guest ratchethack Posted October 18, 2005 Posted October 18, 2005 Was it Holland or Dave? How 'bout Isaac?
felix42o Posted October 18, 2005 Author Posted October 18, 2005 Was it Holland or Dave? How 'bout Isaac? 63720[/snapback] That's the one! I believe Isaac was the name. Seemed to know the bike well enough, got some good info.
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