Stumped by battery problem

[baz666]

Hello all,
Well, someone did say that older Suzooks have electrical issues.
My latest problem is the battery or I think it's the battery.
On the multimeter it reads 12.4 with the bike turned off
and 11.6 with the ignition and headlight on, engine not running.

The problem I have is it starts fine in the morning and a few times afterwards during the day, then once it's up to operating temp, there's a good chance the battery will seem to be flat when I try to start the bike.

I bum start it, get the bike home and once it's in the driveway, I turn it off and try it again, it fires right up.

The Reg/Rect is new, along with the solenoid and both have been tested to be fine. I'm not sure how old the battery is, it came with the bike but appears to be fairly new.

What is the correct reading I should be getting on the multimeter for the battery while turned off and while the headlight is on but the bike isn't running?

Also, could it be a short somewhere or a bad ground?
Any help at all would be much appreciated.

thanks for a great forum,
baz

[posplayr]

your battery is not fully charged. If you were to top it off on a charger (not trickle), you can get it to about 12.8-13.0V.

Turn the key on a few seconds to take off the surface charge and it should sit at 12.7-12.9V engine off.

With key on /lights on say 12.25-12.4V

What is the voltage across the battery at:

2400 RPM

then 5000 RPM

the back off.


Need all this voltages as a quick check; recond them all on one quick session.

• off
• key on
• 2000 RPM
• 5000 RPM
• off again

P.S. it doesnt sound like you are charging real well, but there is another problem when it gets hot. You should install a cheap voltmeter and you can then monitor the battery at least to see what is going on.

[jbs80106]

If the charging system looks like its putting out voltage back to the battery, can also pull your battery out and take it Autozone/Checker/etc and they can test it for you, see if it has a problem charging.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Check and clean every electrical connection on the entire wiring harness, fuse box, blinker stalks, etc. Then go through the Stator Papers and utilize Mr. posplayr's addendums. Have your battery checked (load tested) to be sure it's still good. You'll find more information on my little website in the electrical section.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[raistian77]

mine was doing close to the same thing except my voltages were better. Redid all the wiring, new battery and new grounds. Did not help. Found out the brushes were BAD in my starter, when the bike got hot the starter failed to work do to the increased resistance.

Just food for thought