[onewizard]

Ok, I know this is an old thread, but curious of any result in this problem... I am currently dealing with the exact same thing, down to every detail.... Failed headlight, starter clunk when turning the bike off, etc. My stator failed in November of last year, which was proceeded by a headlight failure.... I replaced the stator, and the r/r . Now, Tuesday afternoon, I pulled up behind a car at a stop light, and noticed my headlight wasn't working. Got home and started running some tests... The stator shows passing on everything except the coil/ohm test, which my tester doesn't read below .4 ohms, and the manual gives a .0125-.25 service limit.... I am assuming it is still good since the wattage reading at 4000rpm's is dead on, and not showing any readings on the dead short test.... The r/r is not reading as it should in the test, but the old one I took off the first time around is... I tried it for testing purposes, but still only getting 12.2 volts at the battery around 4000rpm's wich is way low... Battery is good... Will hold a continuous 12.6 volts when not running.... I am lost here... I am afraid that whatever caused the first failure is at it again, and I need to figure out what is going on....
Hoodlum

Actually this subject is quite active : http://www.kawasakiversys.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16774&page=12

However to save you some time, a very simple test to start with is to hook up a charger or other reliable 12VDC source to run your bike.A very accurate test to see if you have shorted turns, is to measure the three phase voltage at idle with the regulator disconnected. Measure A to B; B to C; C to A , last measure A to ground, B to ground and C to ground.

Best place is to disconnect the plug from the alternator output near the throttle position sensor, only drawback is you need very small probes on your meter, plus you don`t want to short these out because you could have 15 to 20 amp available. The second place which is easier as to size of probes is the plug at the regulator, measuring here the only drawback is the headlight relay circuit is partially active if you have a grounded turn on the stator. In either location you are looking for 36 to 48 volts AC, what is important is to have the bike warmed up and at idle, also you are looking for the exact same voltage on all three phases.
Word of warning, if using the regulator plug location for measurement, the voltage to ground may be a bit weird as the headlight relay uses a half wave rectification referenced to ground to pull in the relay on only 1 phase, this connection is in the harness , after the TPS plug, but before the regulator plug. Most important is the phase to phase voltages.

FYI the regulator plug has three black wires entering I think on the bottom of the plug, that is the test point if you aren't comfortable with the plug near TPS, this is also shown in the manual under regulator testing.

:goodluck:

 

[hoodlum]

I checked the current via the manual, phase to phase at 4000rpm's... Manual stated 42v minimum and the stator was putting out 45v ac on 2 phases and 46 on the third, at the alternator plug.... My headlight relay is not working at all, even with a fresh battery and everything plugged up, which I think very well could be caused by the r/r if it's fried...I'm not an electrical guru by far,but I did see in the manual diagram that one wire from the stator goes to the relay, as well as a wire from the voltage regulator, so it would seem to me that both would need to be working correctly to activate the diode in the relay box....
I have a new stator, r/r, and relay box on order just in case... I just know that this should not be happening once a year, and am very curious as to what is possibly causing it... Could be a sour part, who knows... I just know that it will be quite some time before I get very far from home on this thing.... It's gonna have to rebuild my faith in it....

 

[onewizard]

A quick test for the headlight relay, disconnect the plug at the R/R and also the plug near the TPS. You can take either a battery charger or tender , connect negative to frame ground or battery negative, take the positive end and connect to any one of the three wires at the TPS that goes to the regulator, with the key in run position, ( motor doesn't need to be running) the headlight should pull in, if it doesn't, there is a good chance the headlight relay is defective. I looked at the electrical drawing, for some reason they have a third blocking diode, possibly for voltage drop, in any case the diodes are most likely part of the headlight relay. The way it works is once the phase going to the headlight produces voltage, it is changed to DC at the headlight relay, once the relay pulls in, a second diode latches the relay in, so under normal running conditions, if the bike stalled the headlight would remain on.
Hope this helps, feel free to ask away.

One thing, you didn't mention measuring voltage to ground on the 3 phases at the TPS plug, it is possible that you have a grounded phase, so you need to measure from each phase to ground with the motor at idle and regulator disconnected.

 

[hoodlum]

I did check continuity between each phase and frame ground... Would this not show a grounded coil? Should I be getting the same volt readings with a phase to ground as the phase to phase? I will try this... I currently have the tank off because I went ahead and checked the valves, which are all in spec, while I had it that far apart...

 

[versys_rider]

Just curious but do you have a rear tire huger? I have an unproven theory that crap on the cooling fins of the regulator/rectifier/voltage regulator causes it to over heat and fail which will also ruins the stator.

You can download the service manual from the tech section of this site. It shows you how to perform various tests on the regulator.

 

[onewizard]

I did check continuity between each phase and frame ground... Would this not show a grounded coil? Should I be getting the same volt readings with a phase to ground as the phase to phase? I will try this... I currently have the tank off because I went ahead and checked the valves, which are all in spec, while I had it that far apart...

The idea of putting 12 volts positive to the headlight relay is to simulate the alternator outputting voltage. A few people have had burnt stators and then found the headlight relay defective later, expensive to change out parts that aren't defective.
As to measuring to ground with the bike running, it is possible to have insulation breakdown at a voltage higher than what your meter uses-------------although with the history of Versys stators, once brekdown occurs, in very short order burnt poles occur and it is then directly shorted to ground. I would place a bet on the relay being defective.

 

[hoodlum]

Just curious but do you have a rear tire huger? I have an unproven theory that crap on the cooling fins of the regulator/rectifier/voltage regulator causes it to over heat and fail which will also ruins the stator.

You can download the service manual from the tech section of this site. It shows you how to perform various tests on the regulator.

No, I do not have a hugger, but other than maybe some road grime, there was no trash on the r/r.... I do have the manual, and have performed the ohm test on the r/r, which failed on the one that came off, but passed on the one I had left over from the previous failure, but it still doesn't charge any better with the old one on..... I do not have 3 12v batteries to perform the other test outlined.... Going to let it set until new parts get here and I can do some trial and error testing.... I will report back....

 

[hoodlum]

Turned out to be the r/r..... Replaced it and it's charging as it should... Put in a new relay box as well.... Installed a volt meter to keep an eye on things....

 

[glock19]

Voltmeter is just a "feedback" tool. It might help you to detect the problem but it's not a solution. Frankly many people says it like you did but if you want to be proactive, go with the series R/R. If you want to change your ride in time to come, the series R/R is transfereable.

 

[thiyagarajen.r]

re: Stator issues?

Hi there fellow Versysians... about 4 months ago on a country ride - my battery died and found that the Stator had died - and hence the battery not getting a charge... bought a new Battery, a new Stator and as a precaution changed the Rectifier too and fitted a voltage guage indicator too BUT after a while notice that the indicator showed the battery wasn't getting it's full charge - I did the check (via the service manual by checking the voltage output) and found that the new Stator wasn't charging - so under warranty it was changed - I just fitted the new in (today) and it still doesn't charge as high as what the service manual recommends @ 14.2V (I'm getting only max 13.5v @ 5,500 rpm and around 12V at idle) but now I hear a whistling sound coming from the altenator cover and when I switch off the engine - the starter seems to clunk pretty heavily BUT when I disconnect the Stator/Altenator plug from the wiring loom - no whistle and no drama sound with the starter?... I've taken off the cover again to check if something is a miss - but can't see any drama.... the only thing that did happen was the 2 gears (for the starter motor) kinda came off their shafts when I took off the cover but I just slide them back on to where they were located - could I have mucked up something here?.... any ideas? would appreciated any information that would help here thanks..... regards Andreas ( I have a 2008 model)

HI sir, im facing this same issue now with my Kawasaki Versys 650 2014 model. May i know what is the solution for this problem? Thanks alot

 

[Fastoman]

re: Stator issues?

re: Stator issues? Hi there fellow Versysians... about 4 months ago on a country ride - my battery died and found that the Stator had died - and hence the battery not getting a charge... bought a new Battery, a new Stator and as a precaution changed the Rectifier too and fitted a voltage...

www.kawasakiversys.com

Pls go through what Invader has written. Good luck.