Overcharging Issue

[skids]

It the last frame, it show the regulator/rectifier. The black goes nowhere on the receiving clip (not shown). At least that is how it is on the 78 through 81 models. Those units instead depend on a good electrical contact with the regulator mounting. Be sure and clean it so that the regulator works like it should.

[BigRed]

Good point - thanks. I cleaned up the ground connections... but now that I'm thinking about how long ago that was, it's probably time to do that again.

Brian

[3Phase]

Thanks so much for that very comprehensive action plan. Now I know what I'm doing tonight!

Brian

Have fun, and make sure the battery and other connections are clean and tight when you finish!


Here are a couple of important notes:

Disconnect the battery ground before you work on the electrical system.

Be very careful if you turn the crankshaft by hand when the alternator cover is not bolted to the engine. Some genius put a small aluminum plug with an o-ring in the right-hand end of the main oil gallery and that plug is held in place by the alternator cover. The aluminum plug will pop out and oil will spew if the crankshaft is turned a few times even by hand but if you press the Start button it will be even more exciting.

Disconnect the battery ground before you work on the electrical system.

It the last frame, it show the regulator/rectifier. The black goes nowhere on the receiving clip (not shown). At least that is how it is on the 78 through 81 models. Those units instead depend on a good electrical contact with the regulator mounting. Be sure and clean it so that the regulator works like it should.

The harness ground point absolutely does need to be clean and tight but the regulator/rectifier itself is potted in epoxy and none of the internal components are connected to the aluminum heatsink. Go ahead, check the continuity from the Black wire to the heatsink, then check the continuity from any other wire to the heatsink. The internal assembly is electrically isolated in epoxy and while it makes a better design on paper there is no real need for that extra Black wire in the voltage regulator harness-side connector because they are both bonded together in the harness.

Yamaha didn't design and manufacture the regulator/rectifiers, they bought them from another company like Hitachi. Those electrical parts could end up hanging in the air or mounted to a non-conductive piece of wood, fiberglass, or plastic just as easily as they could be mounted to a metal frame or bulkhead so they brought the ground wire(s) out to the connectors and allowed the customer to decide where and how to ground the system.

Yes it's dumb but the Black wire(s) are brought out of the epoxy to the harness connector, then in the XS11/XJ11 they run about a foot through the harness and loop back to the harness ground tie point on the frame right back at the regulator/rectifier mounting bolt.

[BigRed]

Just wait until I find out that the aluminum plug isn't in there, and that mess is what's causing my issue. If that's the case, I'll post a photo.

At any rate, I'll make sure it's on the side stand for this job. That should keep most of the oil away from the plug in question.

[3Phase]

Main. Oil. Gallery. It's pressurized and only a few inches away from the oil pump outlet.

If the plug was missing there would be absolutely no doubt that you would know about it, putting the bike on the side stand won't help.

[BigRed]

Right. On the side stand. With the negative battery terminal disconnected.

[3Phase]

Bingo!

The true genius of that insidious plug design is that it has a small 'handle' that sticks out and virtually screams, "See me! Feel me! Touch me!" and will be followed shortly by, "Heal me!"

Unless it's obvious that it's already been leaking and you have an o-ring kit handy then don't even look at it.

[skids]

harness ground point absolutely does need to be clean and tight but the regulator/rectifier itself is potted in epoxy and none of the internal components are connected to the aluminum heatsink. Go ahead, check the continuity from the Black wire to the heatsink, then check the continuity from any other wire to the heatsink. The internal assembly is electrically isolated in epoxy and while it makes a better design on paper there is no real need for that extra Black wire in the voltage regulator harness-side connector because they are both bonded together in the harness.

(snip)

Yes it's dumb but the Black wire(s) are brought out of the epoxy to the harness connector, then in the XS11/XJ11 they run about a foot through the harness and loop back to the harness ground tie point on the frame right back at the regulator/rectifier mounting bolt.

Thanks 3Phase (I visualize a rotating vector when I see your nickname!) I never did the continuity test but ASSUMED it was grounded via the frame at its mounting. Please explain "they run about a foot through the harness and loop back to the harness ground tie point on the frame right back at the regulator/rectifier mounting bolt." The opposing half of the clip has no wire for the black one from the VR. ?

[3Phase]

The XS11 harness grounds are more or less divided into Front and Rear halves with two separate ring terminals. The rectifier Black wire ties to the Front half, the unused voltage regulator Black wire ties to the Rear half, then both are grounded to the frame at the regulator/rectifier heatsink mounting bolt.

Here's my '79 Special harness and as you can see it's 10 inches -- about a foot -- of harness wire from the connector to the Ground terminal:



The regulator/rectifier ground runs through a series of connections:

Unknown number of tie points with the internal potted components. Dig a bad one out of the epoxy if you really need to know more, I don't.

Two external crimps and two friction connections for the spade terminals in the male/female rectifier harness connector.

One unused crimp and one unused friction connection for the voltage regulator harness connector.

Two individual tie points inside the wiring harness to the Front and Rear harness grounds: one from the rectifier, one unused from the voltage regulator.

Two crimps and two friction/pressure connections for the ring terminals at the heatsink/frame mounting bolt.

So there are multiple potential (g) trouble spots as opposed to just bonding the grounds internally to the heatsink, sealing them in epoxy, then bolting the assembly to the frame/firewall and keeping that single connection clean like an old Chrysler Type A voltage regulator.