1982 GS400E Stator Question

[Stynker]

First off, I would really like to say how wonderful it was to find this website. This is my first bike and I just LOVE to ride; however, ever since I purchased mybike, I've had electrical issues. (original 9K on it). Battery will not charge and they main fuse will blow on occasion. <- (the plastic fuse holder melted on me).

I followed the electrical fault charge on this website as well as the one from the maintenance book I purchased off ebay.

There are three wires coming off the stator; I've check their resistance (stator disconnected). Each of the 3 combination's has 1ohm resistance, so I assume the coils are intact.

If I check the resistance from each of the leads to the engine, there is also 1ohm, so I assume there is a short/grounding out. Test Phase B on the fault chart states, bad stator. I then took the bike apart and removed the stator, to confirm that the leads have 1 ohm continuity to the center metal portion of the stator.

I found a stator that matches my bike below, there are some pictures.

hXXp://cgi.ebay.ca/1982-SUZUKI-GS400-GS-400-STATOR-ASSY_W0QQitemZ360244774407QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotor cycles_Parts_Accessories?hash=item53e0430607

I had the seller test it and he get got the exact same results. 1ohm to center ground.

When the stator was on, I got 80AC 90AC 90AC at 5000 RPM. This is the last test from the maintenance book before moving on the the regulator/rectifier replacement.

I am really confused, is my stator bad and it's just a coincidence the *used* one on ebay exhibits the same readings; or am I not understanding the diagnostic procedure? Right now I am thinking that not only the stator is bad, but so is my RR is bad because it fails the diode test with OPEN either way.

Test phase C from the fault chart, I was also getting 12.5V .

The strange thing is, the bike will run just fine; I just have to keep charging the battery every couple days. If the battery dies and the bike is still running, I can still drive it as it will sustain itself until I turn it off.

Please help. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Richard.

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. Stynker,

Welcome to the forum.

You know that the three outputs should basically be equal. A 10v difference would make me wonder about that stator. Outputs can change once the stator warms up too. There may be melted insulation causing wires to short.



Yes, I have run across a stator or two that can pass the passive tests (resistance, continuity) and still be bad. And yes, I have had to replace both the stator and the r/r unit at the same time because one will take out the other. Usually a bad r/r unit will cause the stator to run too hot and the insulation on the windings will melt. This turns your three phase inductive charging circuit into a hunk of copper.

It sounds like you've familiarized yourself with The Stator Papers very well. Nice work. There has been an addendum written by a member, Mr. posplayr, that you may find useful. Click here:>> More On The Stator Papers

If there's anything else you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", the Carb Rebuild Series, and the Stator Papers. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...

Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[teddux]

First off, I would really like to say how wonderful it was to find this website. This is my first bike and I just LOVE to ride; however, ever since I purchased mybike, I've had electrical issues. (original 9K on it). Battery will not charge and they main fuse will blow on occasion. <- (the plastic fuse holder melted on me).

I followed the electrical fault charge on this website as well as the one from the maintenance book I purchased off ebay.

There are three wires coming off the stator; I've check their resistance (stator disconnected). Each of the 3 combination's has 1ohm resistance, so I assume the coils are intact.

If I check the resistance from each of the leads to the engine, there is also 1ohm, so I assume there is a short/grounding out. Test Phase B on the fault chart states, bad stator. I then took the bike apart and removed the stator, to confirm that the leads have 1 ohm continuity to the center metal portion of the stator.

I found a stator that matches my bike below, there are some pictures.

hXXp://cgi.ebay.ca/1982-SUZUKI-GS400-GS-400-STATOR-ASSY_W0QQitemZ360244774407QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotor cycles_Parts_Accessories?hash=item53e0430607

I had the seller test it and he get got the exact same results. 1ohm to center ground.

When the stator was on, I got 80AC 90AC 90AC at 5000 RPM. This is the last test from the maintenance book before moving on the the regulator/rectifier replacement.

I am really confused, is my stator bad and it's just a coincidence the *used* one on ebay exhibits the same readings; or am I not understanding the diagnostic procedure? Right now I am thinking that not only the stator is bad, but so is my RR is bad because it fails the diode test with OPEN either way.

Test phase C from the fault chart, I was also getting 12.5V .

The strange thing is, the bike will run just fine; I just have to keep charging the battery every couple days. If the battery dies and the bike is still running, I can still drive it as it will sustain itself until I turn it off.

Please help. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Richard.

Sounds like you are another one fooled into believing that this is more than it actually is.

Have you checked/replaced your regulator/rectifier...also seen this with a bad coil.

[Jagir]

Have you checked, cleaned and greased all your grounds?

[Nessism]

Your stator is fine, good even. The charging system problem relates to your Regulator and/or rectifier.

There are TONS of threads on this issue in the archives so I'll skip this discussion and encourage you to do an "advanced search" using the "titles only" button to gleen all the info you will ever need on the topic.


Good luck

[Stynker]

Sorry for the delay in responding, my wife's GZ250 is leaking gas into the oil. Taking the carb out this aft, again...

I know for sure that the RR is defective, was struggling to find a replacement. It fails the diode tests, all are open.

I haven't greased all of the grounds, but will take the electrical apart and go through all the connectors.

I read on another site that if a stator is grounded, it will blow the RR. I am getting 1ohm to ground, so is the stator ok? It passes AC test as well as each coil is 1ohm. I'd hate to blow another regulator rectifier.

I'll do some advance searches on this forum, I can't believe how many posts there are in a day!!

Please advise,
Richard.

[mauricio]

GS twins are notorious for eating regulator/rectifiers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Usually they are housed in one of the plastic side covers... this is the root of the problem - they don't ventilate very well, overheat, crap out, and then you overcharge the system, cook batteries, and so forth and so on.

Buy a new one and install it somewhere with better ventilation than in the side cover. If you put it back in there, it will go again in a few months.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

There should be no continuity between any stator leg and ground, no connection, infinite resistance. There can be .5 to 2 ohms resistance between the stator legs themselves, but no more and no less.

See: http://www.thegsresources.com/garage/gs_statorfault.htm

The Stator Papers: http://www.thegsresources.com/garage/gs_statorfacts.htm


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Stynker]

Thanks again for the reply.

I kinda figured the stator was shot, it shouldn't be grounding out. I followed the guide rather well, the only thing that confused me was trouble shooting guide in the Clymer gs400-450 service manual. It does a no-load test then skips to replace the regulator without measuring the coils to gnd.

I'll pick up a regulator, can't seem to find one for my bike; but this looks like it will do the job. It's off a GS500E early 80's.

http://www.oldbikebarn.com/Suzuki-GS-Rectifier_2;jsessionid=0a010b421f43fd376743996a4782aac1e8ac1e279634.e3eSc38TaNqNe34Pa38Ta3aNahr0?sc=2&category=93

As for the stator, this is the closest I could find, cheaper on eBay.

http://www.electrosport.com/products/product-detail-410.php

I am considering rewiring it, it will be frustrating, but sooo statisfying if it has a happy ending.

As for GND on the RR, seems by looking at the threads I should be running ground to the battery, correct?

Thanks everyone,
Richard.

[ame541]

Same Problem

This site rocks by the way, just found it. I have the same bike and am in the middle of fixing a simular problem. My stator was shot, replaced with a new one, it tests out good. When I started it up I was not getting the full charge back to the battery and I noticed the wires off the RR were quite warm as were the stator wires and the single fuse wire. I kinda assume my RR is fried, but noticed when I turn the ignition on only, the + wire from the starter relay to the 15amp fuse going to the RR was getting hot. I'm guessing something is not grounded well enough or shorting out, any ideas? I also noticed that the B/W wire off the RR didn't show continuety to ground, nor did the frame to the engine block. Sorry for the long post, any advice would help.
Dave.

[chef1366]

This site rocks by the way, just found it. I have the same bike and am in the middle of fixing a simular problem. My stator was shot, replaced with a new one, it tests out good. When I started it up I was not getting the full charge back to the battery and I noticed the wires off the RR were quite warm as were the stator wires and the single fuse wire. I kinda assume my RR is fried, but noticed when I turn the ignition on only, the + wire from the starter relay to the 15amp fuse going to the RR was getting hot. I'm guessing something is not grounded well enough or shorting out, any ideas? I also noticed that the B/W wire off the RR didn't show continuety to ground, nor did the frame to the engine block. Sorry for the long post, any advice would help.
Dave.

Ground the R/R to the frame and battery and clean or slolder the connections from the stator to the R/R.

[ame541]

Thanks for the advice. I did what you said as well as replaced the fuse wiring and some connections. I took the tail light apart to find one bulb blown and the other had melted the plastic around it. My lights are on all the time, there is no switch. I am now getting 13.8 or so at idle, but it goes down as I increase RPM, but not below 13. Is this possibly because the third phase is already being used for the lights and it just regulated at a lower voltage? The wires off the RR are still quite warm, even after swapping it with a new one. Any ideas or is it fine? Thanks.

[Stynker]

It has been a while since my last post because I've been too busy riding!! Thank you all for your help fixing my bike.

I purchased a new stator and regulator. I used the stator pages guide to test the regulator before installation and got the same readings as the original, so I didn't need it. Diodes only flow one way, but the document suggested it should have voltage both ways.

The battery was dry (stator grounding out boiled it dry I assume) and I added distilled water and trickle charged it over night. Bike hasn't had any issues since. Lubricated everything, tightened the chain and OH MY, soo much fun.

At any rate, I thought I share a picture of my baby this site help me save.

This picture was taking at the floodway in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada.

Ame541 - be sure to use dielectric grease on all contacts. Any contact that looks sketchy, replace it.

Thanks,
Richard.

[donimo]

nice bike, wish I had you exhaust and paint quality.