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Intermittant Charging Problem and a Possible R/R Issues

  • Thread starter Thread starter KJL316
  • Start date Start date
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KJL316

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OK, first things first, I have a 1978 GS550 with just under 10,000 miles on it, it was my father's and he obviously did not ride it much as it only had 4,500 miles on it when I hauled it out of his garage in August of 2011. I was able to get it running with surprisingly little work - removed the carbs and soaked them in carb cleaner, new plugs, new battery, clean gas and changed the oil/oil filter, new points and condensers and after just that much, it started and ran great! Got some work done by a mechanic (new fork seals, tires) and it passed inspection and I was off and running! Fast forward to last summer and it started having problems charging, sometimes it would and sometimes it wouldn't. After poking around on here and following the procedures in the Stator Papers it seemed like the likely culprit was the Rectifier/Regulator so I bought a new one from Electrosport and that seemed to fix the problem. Unfortunately, it has cropped up again - the bike died yesterday out on the road as it was apparently only running on the battery - nothing coming from the charging system. So I charged the battery overnight - it took a charge but is a little low so I will need to replace it, but it took enough charge to at least start the bike and I started running through the Charging System Quick Test I found on here and then the Fault Finding Diagram from Electrosport. Everything (except the battery needing to be replaced) seems to be checking out! Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated!!!

One thing I found today, apparently this is an early enough model GS550 that has SEPARATE rectifier and regulator - I confirmed this by looking at a shop manual on SuzukiPartsHouse.com that shows separate regulators and rectifiers so should I remove the old voltage regulator that is still there? And if so, do I need to rewire anything?

I have probably provided too much of the WRONG information so please feel free to ask any clarifying questions and I will do my best to provide accurate information.

Thanks so much for any help you can provide!!!
 
Welcome to fun house- charging issues are ridiculously common on these guys. Yes, your bike came from factory with seperate rectifier and regulator - did you replace it with ES combo unit ( removing both the old rectifier and regulator )?Anyways, head to this link and start with fully charged battery and report your results (all 6 please) easier to diagnose this way -more clues. If your battery doesn't get fully charged overnight -it might mean it it's done!

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?p=1272192#post1272192
 
tom203 said:
Welcome to fun house- charging issues are ridiculously common on these guys. Yes, your bike came from factory with seperate rectifier and regulator - did you replace it with ES combo unit ( removing both the old rectifier and regulator )?Anyways, head to this link and start with fully charged battery and report your results (all 6 please) easier to diagnose this way -more clues. If your battery doesn't get fully charged overnight -it might mean it it's done!

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?p=1272192#post1272192
Click to expand...
Yes it's a ES combo unit so I should remove the voltage regulator (didn't know they were separate originally) but is there anything I need to rewire or can I just remove it? Could having the old regulator still there be causing any of these problems or others?

I ran the test already and that's why I concluded the battery was at least part of the problem as well. The results are

1. Key Off - 12.50
2. Key On (not cranking with lights) - 11.94
3. At Idle - 12.16
4. At 2500 rpm - 12.48
5. At 5000 rpm - 12.80
6. Key Off - 12.52

Apparently the system is charging at least a little as the final Key Off number is higher than the start and the other numbers all seemed to want to keep going up though they were slowing down as they went up so I wrote down when they seemed to steady. Thanks again for any advice you and others may have!
 
When replacing the R/R with a newer one, both units have to come off the bike. You will see what looks like five wires coming off of the stator. You will abandon two of the same color wires. If Suzuki kept consistent through the model lines they will be a yellow and a white/blue wire. What you have left is a yellow, white/blue and green/white. The green white was diverted through the headlight and returned on a white/red wire. The ElectroSport R/R is no better than the old Suzuki parts. You want to replace it with a series R/R SH-775 Polaris part number 4012941. If you use the series R/R, you can abandoned the loop through the light switch, and the three Wires from the stator go directly to the new R/R. You should run a stator test to see if the stator has been damaged.
 
I would just toss the stator and just start fresh with new everything, stator, series RR, AGM battery, cleaned and replace electrical connections all at one time. Yeah the stator might be okay for now, though later on? Yeah big question mark. Alot of problems come from dirty electrical connections including the the grounds as well. Usually it is a combination of everything. Take your time and do it right. Yup, it is gonna cost a few $$. Though when I look back at what I spent (roughly $250 a pop 6 times, yup half the cost of what I originally paid for the bike new) on fixing my system...dang where was the series RR years ago!
 
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