Lets talk electric

[HolyHarris]

My Headlight, Tach and turns are not working. At first it was my headlight not coming on with key but would when engine was running. After some searches it lead me to check my alternator / stater connections.

From Green to Brown I measure about 4 Ohms; slightly above normal. From The 3 whites I do not get a reading (measured from male ends?). When key is on but engine not running I measure 12 volts from both green to ground and 12v from brown to ground.

Does this point toward the voltage regulator being bad? Hopefully not the stater as well... I have cleaned all my connections, without luck. Is there any other tests i should do before tearing out/buying spare/new parts?

[natemoen]

Well, your headlight is not supposed to come on until after you start to bike (or at least until you have attempted to start the bike enough for the headlight relay to receive enough of a signal to latch).

[crazy steve]

From Green to Brown I measure about 4 Ohms; slightly above normal. From The 3 whites I do not get a reading (measured from male ends?). When key is on but engine not running I measure 12 volts from both green to ground and 12v from brown to ground...

Your field coil reading is slightly high as you noted. The green/brown voltage readings are normal.

As for the stator reading, make sure you have a meter that reads low resistance accurately; on analog meters, you have to be on the right scale and even then it can be hard to see meter deflection. And where you take your reading makes a difference; if you're checking at the regulator, this is probably telling you the first plug from the stator is bad, a very typical problem. You'll find this plug behind the fuse panel, and don't be surprised if it's melted.... this will also account for your tach not working.

[HolyHarris]

I use a digital meter that measures to the thousandths. I took my readings from the plugs behind the fuse panel where the the 3 whites connect and the yellow wire from the stater stops

[crazy steve]

Well, no, your meter doesn't read to thousandths.... unless you have a big $$$ lab-grade meter. While the display reads out that far, hand-held meters typically can only resolve down to .1 ohm at best. Some of the cheaper ones won't go that low.

So what reading are you getting? If you're getting an 'open' reading between all the white wires, I'd suspect the meter or damaged wires from the stator. Also check each to ground; if any read to ground, you'll need to pull the stator and check the wiring for damage. Also check between each white and the yellow; you should see about .2 ohm.

If you're reading straight continuity through /between all the whites, you either have a bad stator or you're measuring a resistance below the resolution of the meter.

[HolyHarris]

your correct i meant it read to .01 (its currently 3 am here and im a bit tired). When i measure between each of the white wires I get 0.L, the open reading for this meter .Unfortunately, id suspect the wires or stater before the meter. Its a mid-dollar Fluke. I will however use another meter as well to be sure. Ill check again as well as between the yellow and whites when i get up in a few hours.

[bikerphil]

Harris, you didn't mention if you had replaced old style glass fuse panel with the newer blade type, it is prone to failure. Anyhow, check your 20A fuse which controls the tach and the turn signals. The headlight relay might also be at fault if the headlight does not come on after start-up.

[crazy steve]

You might want to read this.....

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35338

[fredintoon]

Be sure of the scale

I use a digital meter that measures to the thousandths. I took my readings from the plugs behind the fuse panel where the the 3 whites connect and the yellow wire from the stater stops

Hi John,
I think you mean thousands, not thousandths.
My digital multi-meter has several resistance ranges.
It takes the lowest setting (my lowest is 0 - 200 Ohms) to measure the alternator windings low resistance and not confuse it with the zero Oms of a dead short.
Mr. Stupid goofed the other way checking my thermistor fuel level sensor's continuity. The 200 Ohm scale read an open circuit. The correct 2,000KOhm scale read the correct 1.8 KOhms.

[HolyHarris]

OK so I've read over how to use a multimeter...

Here are the readings i have now.

Resistance

W1-w2 .5 w1-w3 .5 w2-w3 .5

brown - green 3.2

Voltage

Ignition ON Engine OFF

Brown-ground 11.4v
green-ground 11.4v


According to this it would seem my regulator is bad. Thanks for the multimeter link Crazysteve.

P.S. would a regulator from an 82 xj maxim work on an 80G xs11?

[crazy steve]

Before you decide the regulator is bad, make sure you have good connections. If you tested at the first plug from the stator, plug that back together and unplug the regulator and do the same check there. If you get the same readings, the connection is good. BUT if you checked at the regulator, DO check at the first plug. Again, you're looking for identical readings or less. If you now get a lower reading (closer to the 'correct' .4 ohm), that connection is still bad and that 'only' .1 ohm 'extra' is enough to reduce your charging voltage to where it won't charge the battery. Clean/replace the connections until there's no loss though them. This can be a PITA, but there's no cure for it.

If the issue isn't there, there is a procedure in the service manual for testing the regulator.

The XJ regulator can't be used, as the XJ uses a different design alternator.