85 spree electrical questions

[kennedy759]

on my spree I put just put together the head lite does not work. so the yellow wire supplies power to the light and its not getting power from either the alternator or rectifier. I can unplug it at the rectifier and using a jumper wire from the battery, hook it to the yellow wire in the 4 pole plug and the light comes on, also I can provide bat power to the yellow wire that comes from the alternator and the light works.

first I put a volt meter on the battery and its 12.07 volts then rev the engine and the volts do not go up, so is the rectifier bad?
second, while the engine is running I can remove the battery cables and it continues to run, so the alternator must be providing juice.
any ideas what to do next?

[patthesoundguy]

ok do you have the manual with the the wiring schematic, if not go get it, youll need it. Next dont jumper anything. go tnrough the harness and make sure all of the plugs are where they are plugged where the belong. Also the battery has no connection to the headlight circuit. A non working headlight can be as simple a problem as dirty and corroded high low beam switch. I have had that problem before. start at the headlight and confirm both the high and low beams work in the bulb. then confirm with the wires for the headlight are connected to the right places then go clean the hi lo switch then follow the harness all the way. clean the ground connection for the regulator. the regulator is the black box on the side of the frame under the left side just under the seat. the headlight does not utilize the rectifier it gets ac current. that should be a good start. im going to have a look at the schematic myself

[patthesoundguy]

ok I knew you were right about the yellow wire feeding the head light. the yellow wire then feeds the instrument cluster and the hi low switch which in turn runs the headlight. the head light needs ground on the green wire as well. so check the hi lo switch and head light ground. I bet you will get the head light working. next if you want to see if the battery is getting voltage just disconnect the pos wire from the battery and see if you get voltage from the pos wire and ground. double check the fuse as well.

[kennedy759]

thanks guys, but, already check ground at head lite, its good, already cleaned the hi lo dimmer switch, it works, all the connectors are good on the yellow wire, I think the light coil on the alternator is bad that the yellow gets it power from. going to do a voltage check between pos bat cable and ground, good idea, thanks. does the bystarter also get power from the yellow wire? if so and its dead, how does that effect the way it runs(so far it starts great and runs great)

[patthesoundguy]

check for power with the motor running at the yellow wire at the hi lo switch. if you got power on the yellow wire at the regulator then the regulator and magneto are working.

[kennedy759]

check for power with the motor running at the yellow wire at the hi lo switch. if you got power on the yellow wire at the regulator then the regulator and magneto are working.

I have no power at any part of the yellow wire with engine running, If I jump it and apply power directly from the bat to yellow wire, the light works, so yellow wire connections are good.

[patthesoundguy]

OK so maybe you just need a new regulator. They are easy to come by.

[kennedy759]

ordered a regulator off of ebay($10) see what happens, I do have a donor spree, and will take off its alternator and try it if the new regulator does not fix it.

[Johnniespeed]

If you unplug the stator, you can simply test the alternator/stator with an ohmmeter.
Hook your ohmmeter between yellow wire and ground, the reading for 1985 should be 0.3 to 2.0 ohms. ( I suspect yours may be open circuit, infinite resistance) this is the AC headlamp source it also supplies ac voltage to the bystarter, most people don't realize the Bystarter is AC.
Hook the ohmmeter between white wire and ground, the reading for 1985 should be 0.5 to 3.0 ohms. This is the AC charging system source it goes into the rectifier to change to DC.
Just remember that battery voltage is Direct Current and alternator voltage is Alternating Current. The rectifier changes AC to DC.


Another check would be to measure DC voltage at the battery with engine off, compare that to the voltage with engine running at 5,000 RPM, the voltage should now read between 13.5 and 15.5 volts DC, I usually perform this test on all of my scooters, while not actually related to your problem, it is good to know if the charging system is working.

[kennedy759]

If you unplug the stator, you can simply test the alternator/stator with an ohmmeter.
Hook your ohmmeter between yellow wire and ground, the reading for 1985 should be 0.3 to 2.0 ohms. ( I suspect yours may be open circuit, infinite resistance) this is the AC headlamp source it also supplies ac voltage to the bystarter, most people don't realize the Bystarter is AC.
Hook the ohmmeter between white wire and ground, the reading for 1985 should be 0.5 to 3.0 ohms. This is the AC charging system source it goes into the rectifier to change to DC.
Just remember that battery voltage is Direct Current and alternator voltage is Alternating Current. The rectifier changes AC to DC.


Another check would be to measure DC voltage at the battery with engine off, compare that to the voltage with engine running at 5,000 RPM, the voltage should now read between 13.5 and 15.5 volts DC, I usually perform this test on all of my scooters, while not actually related to your problem, it is good to know if the charging system is working.

I checked the dc voltage at battery with engine off and while running reved up and no change.

[tazland001]

If you rev the bike and it doesn't blow your rear tail light bulb then the rectifier is prob good. Usually if the rectifier is bad it will blow the light bulbs out. Do your dash lights come on by the speedo? If so it is an easy fix. Just splice and jump. I have done this a ton of times.

Taz

[Johnniespeed]

I suspect a stator issue, what are the resistance readings of the two stator coils ?
Measure the white wire to ground and the yellow wire to ground, engine off, stator unplugged.

[kennedy759]

If you rev the bike and it doesn't blow your rear tail light bulb then the rectifier is prob good. Usually if the rectifier is bad it will blow the light bulbs out. Do your dash lights come on by the speedo? If so it is an easy fix. Just splice and jump. I have done this a ton of times.

Taz

no dash lights

[Johnniespeed]

Of course you dont have dash lights, they are also AC current and it is supplied by the yellow wire stator coil.
The tail light is DC voltage and it is suplied by the battery voltage.

[kennedy759]

what all does the stator do and what does the pulser do? what provides spark, since it runs with out the battery hooked up?