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I'm hoping someone can help me. I have an unusual problem with my Sportsman that my dealer cannot figure out. My dealer says they cannot duplicate the problem. Here are the symptoms and they happen to me "EVERYTIME" I'm out riding:

WHEN RUNNING ABOUT 15-20 MINUTES, AT 20 MPH VOLTAGE WAS 15.25 ? 15.50 VOLTS. THEN SPEEDOMETER WOULD QUIT, LIGHTS WOULD GO DIM AND VOLTAGE WOULD START DROPPING. WHILE STILL RUNNING AT SAME SPEED, VOLTAGE WOULD DROP, LIKE IT QUIT CHARGING AND RUNNING OFF OF BATTERY, TO ABOUT 12.5 ? 12.9 VOLTS THEN SPEEDOMETER WOULD START WORKING, LIGHTS WOULD BRIGHTEN UP AND IT STARTED CHARGING AGAIN. VOLTAGE WOULD GO BACK UP TO ABOUT 15.25 ? 15.50 VOLTS. ALSO, WHEN SPEEDOMETER QUIT AND LIGHTS WOULD GO DIM, AND I WOULD COME TO A STOP, SPEEDOMETER WOULD REGISTER 10 MPH, AGAIN, UNTIL VOLTAGE WOULD DROP TO ABOUT 12.5 ? 12.9 VOLTS THEN THINGS WOULD GO BACK TO WORKING NORMALLY.

ANOTHER STRANGE FACT: WHEN SYMPTOMS START TO OCCUR AND I COME TO A STOP WITH THE HANDBRAKE, ALL LIGHTS WOULD FLICKER REAL FAST UNTIL I LET OFF OF HANDBRAKE.

WHEN ANY OF THIS OCCURS, ENGINE DOES NOT MISS A BEAT AND RUNS GREAT EXCEPT IF YOU TRY TO REVERSE, THEN IT SPITS & SPUDDERS UNTIL YOU ENGAGE THE REVERSE OVER RIDE.

I have given this to my dealer 3 times and they tell me....DUH we don't know what's wrong. I suspect the charging system but I do not understand how that works. Have 25 years in the automotive biz, on the service side, so I'm not too ignorant of the matter. Just don't understand how the charging system works. Can someone - anyone shed any light on the subject or what might be the suspect cause? It would surely be appreciated. Thank you

 

first welcome to the forums. have you tried to make sure all the grounds are good. ive read a few post where bad grounds were causing some weird things in the elec. system. other then the recfier being bad i couldnt figure it either. the voltage is kinda of high where it shouldnt be above 14.5 volts. im suprised that it doesnt blow lights at that high voltage being close to 16 volts. just a thought.

 

I have seen lots of wires broken in the harness that comes from the pod along the steering post. On one machine six wires were either broken all the way or chaffed to some extent. Is that the year they used the slider switch on the left for starting? That was not a good setup that could cause problems. There are circuit breakers in sealed plastic pouchs that sometimes leak and could be corroded, if you are in a wet area. Lots of possibilities.

 

Hey Guys, thanks for the advise. I will take a look at those things. One thing I did fail to mention is that the rectifier was replaced and lasted almost a year with no problems, then the same problem existed again.