XJ1100: Melted Stator R/R connector leads to no start..

[knitt31]

Hey everyone,
First post here. Working on my friend's 1982 XJ1100. We had gas leak down into the case and eat the seal on the ignition side crankshaft seal, so it ended up dropping all of the oil. (in the driveway, not while it was running). We pulled and dipped the carbs, new orings, and rebuild the petcocks so the gas leak has been solved. Tonight we were syncing the carbs in high hopes of having it back on the road again. During this, I noticed smoking from a connector above the airbox. Turned the bike off to find out the connection was pretty melted. We had the tank sort of propped up in order to adjust carbs, so there's a chance it pinched and shorted something, but I can't figure out what. After trying to start the bike again, we're getting nothing but lights. No started, no solenoid click. I believe the melted connector in question is the three white wires between the stator and R/R. In my mind, this would kill the charging, but this shouldn't keep the starter from turning?? Not sure where to go from here. Any wisdom is appreciated.

Also, there was this strange wire hanging (not connected) down behind the rear master. I have no idea what it's for??

[BillyRok]

The strange wire plugs into the top of your battery, senses water level. The current battery may not have a hole for it to plug into, you can buy them either way. My replacement battery for my XJ has the hole, and I would think the "battery" indicator light on the display would stay on without the probe plugged in...but I could be wrong as I've never unplugged mine to see.

As for the 3 white wires, looks like someone did a poor job splicing. While I've been fortunate to avoid this issue, it's a known trouble spot.

The 3 white wire take the AC to the rectifier part of the reg/rec unit and put out DC by way of the red and black wires.

The connections get bad, resistance increases so the current draw does as well. Then you get bad things like smoke and melting plastic I'm sure one of the electrical experts will tell you where to get parts to fix things, and they will also tell you to buy some Deoxit and clean ALL the electrical connections as there is no telling what other problems you may encounter.

Good luck getting the bike up and running, I love mine.

[DiverRay]

I'm sure one of the electrical experts will tell you where to get parts to fix things, and they will also tell you to buy some Deoxit and clean ALL the electrical connections as there is no telling what other problems you may encounter.

OK, I'll play expert this morning.... Here is a link for parts to repair the wires correctly:http://www.oregonmotorcycleparts.com/ Tony is the owner, and a member here. I use the crimp pliers and connectors from him all the time. He also has a replacement reg/rect that works better than the stock one.
And yes, when you are done with the repair, clean ALL the connections and use anti-seize or de-oxit on all the ground connections, and dielectric grease in all the connectors to keep water out.