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Replaced stator, now bike won't start

  • Thread starter Thread starter me850l
  • Start date Start date
M

me850l

Guest
I have an 82 GS850GL. Bike wasn't charging so I went through the Stator Papers and replaced the R/R. Charged as expected for a year, then no more. Did the Stator test again and found the stator was bad. Bike still started and ran fine but wouldn't charge. Replaced the stator but now the bike won't start. Starter cranks, plugs spark, fuel in the float bowls but no ignition.

Anyone have any suggestions for next steps?

Thanks,

Mike
 
did you unplug the igniter? Blow the ignition fuse? Fire Air Fuel.
 
me850l said:
Wouldn't either of these cause the plugs not to spark? All 4 pass the spark test.



Seems like all are there and I didn't mess with any of that prior to replacing the stator, bike started fine before then not after.
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If you have spark and the bike cranks you probably wont have an electrical problem other than running the battery down. Did you put the petcock on prime from off?
 
posplayr said:
If you have spark and the bike cranks you probably wont have an electrical problem other than running the battery down.
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Doesn't seem like there's an electrical problem. And yes, running the battery down has been an issue. Good thing I have a charger.

posplayr said:
Did you put the petcock on prime from off?
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Petcock only has ON, PRI, and RES. Changing its position doesn't make a difference.
 
Check the plugs to see if they're wet or dry. Are you sure you didn't reverse the plug wires?
 
JTGS850GL said:
Check the plugs to see if they're wet or dry.
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Wet and slight smell of fuel.

JTGS850GL said:
Are you sure you didn't reverse the plug wires?
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If you mean the spark plug wires, then no, didn't even touch them other than for testing after the stator was replaced and they were only disconnected one at a time and plugged back in correctly.

If you mean the stator wires, I thought it didn't matter which wires on the R/R they went to.
 
If you're sure that the plug wires are on right, unplug the stator and r/r from the harness and see if that awakens it for some reason. Did you wire all 3 stator wires direct to r/r (to bypass headlight loop) ?
 
Amazing what revelations the light of a new day will bring. I got up this morning and over coffee got out the shop manual and started looking over the Electrical System section again. This perusal got me to thinking over all the steps I took in the stator replacement process. Eureka! I remembered a step I had totally forgotten - before working on the stator I checked the contact breakers. So I went back out to the bike, took the cover off, inspected everything and realized I hadn't properly seated the advance governor. I put it back together correctly and it started right up.! :clap:

Now I feel a little foolish but no worries, back on the road again.
 
me850l said:
Amazing what revelations the light of a new day will bring. I got up this morning and over coffee got out the shop manual and started looking over the Electrical System section again. This perusal got me to thinking over all the steps I took in the stator replacement process. Eureka! I remembered a step I had totally forgotten - before working on the stator I checked the contact breakers. So I went back out to the bike, took the cover off, inspected everything and realized I hadn't properly seated the advance governor. I put it back together correctly and it started right up.! :clap:

Now I feel a little foolish but no worries, back on the road again.
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Exactly what did you do to the contact breakers when "checking the contacts" that allowed you to have spark but didn't allow the bike to start?
 
The breakers were fine, but the somehow since the advance governor wasn't seated properly it wouldn't start. I guess I don't fully comprehend how all of this functions.

The outer section of part 4 in the pic below wasn't fully seated. I had to spread the two spring loaded arms apart, press it in all the way, then the nut (part 7) could fit in the tabs.

After doing that and putting it back together she fired right up. Went for a non-stop 50 mile test ride and checked the charging after and it's right where it should be.

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OK so, as I thought, you don't have contact breakers. That is the input to the signal generator for the igniter. Still odd that it wouldn't fire a all but maybe it was just timed too far out. Glad you have it up and running.
 
Now that I check my manual again I realize the mistake - it's for a 79 850 which probably does have contact breakers but my 82 does not. So opening that up was useless and caused me problems later as I didn't put it back together properly. At least I'm learning. Thanks for setting me straight.
 
me850l said:
Now that I check my manual again I realize the mistake - it's for a 79 850 which probably does have contact breakers but my 82 does not. So opening that up was useless and caused me problems later as I didn't put it back together properly. At least I'm learning. Thanks for setting me straight.
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I have been reading this trying to figure out the "moral of the story". I think using the factory manual and reading it before jumping in to anything is wise. Over the years there are plenty of mods that have come about especially in the electrical charging, but it is still good to just get you head wrapped around what is in the FACTORY manual (specifically not the other help guides).
 
Agreed. I think the problem was reading the WRONG factory manual. Good thing I didn't do anything much more than look. If only I had just left it alone I'd have been fine.

The only mod I've done is relocate the R/R up front and run its ground directly to the battery

I'd say the moral is if it ain't broke don't fix it.
 
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me850l said:
Agreed. I think the problem was reading the WRONG factory manual. Good thing I didn't do anything much more than look. If only I had just left it alone I'd have been fine.

The only mod I've done is relocate the R/R up front and run its ground directly to the battery

I'd say the moral is if it ain't broke don't fix it.
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Well those two things are probably in combination worse than what you needed to do. Are you using 10 awg wire at least?

Longer wires between the battery and the R/R makes the voltage drop higher(probably 4:1).
Connecting the R/R(-) to the battery(-) makes the voltage drops higher(probably 3:1).

So figure your expected voltage drops are 10 times worse (assuming 14 awg wire) than what they could have been. With 10 awg you could have limited that to perhaps 2-3:1 increase.

I assume you never measured your voltage drops , so most of this you would not be aware of.
 
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Looking back did did you do a SH-775? or stuck another SHUNT R/R in?
 
posplayr said:
Well those two things are probably in combination worse than what you needed to do. Are you using 10 awg wire at least?

Longer wires between the battery and the R/R makes the voltage drop higher(probably 4:1).
Connecting the R/R(-) to the battery(-) makes the voltage drops higher(probably 3:1).

So figure your expected voltage drops are 10 times worse (assuming 14 awg wire) than what they could have been. With 10 awg you could have limited that to perhaps 2-3:1 increase.

I assume you never measured your voltage drops , so most of this you would not be aware of.
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I used 10 awg. It'd be easy enough to relocate it back under the battery box.

posplayr said:
Looking back did did you do a SH-775? or stuck another SHUNT R/R in?
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It was from a totaled 82 GS 850 wrecked with 1000 miles on the clock. Maybe to be on the safe side I'd be better off getting a new one and putting it in the stock location.
 
me850l said:
I used 10 awg. It'd be easy enough to relocate it back under the battery box.



It was from a totaled 82 GS 850 wrecked with 1000 miles on the clock. Maybe to be on the safe side I'd be better off getting a new one and putting it in the stock location.
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The predominate reason that stators fail is because of the way the SHUNT R/R design.

The predominate reason you need to cool your R/R by mounting it up front is because it a SHUNT R/R and it is going to kill your stator.

If you get a SERIES R/R, you would have much lower possibility of a failed stator, cooler running R/R and lower voltage drops and better charging all with the R/R in the stock location and not having to oversize beyond 14 and 16 awg wires.

There are links in my signature if your want to read about it.
 
So, after reading some of your post, you're basically telling me that my current shunting R/R will probably fry my new stator.
 
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