The battery for my '03 Baja keeps going dead. It's 72 deg out right now, I just rode it yesterday and there isn't even enough juice to make a clicking sound to get it started. I put it on charge and th charger says about 90% charged. That should be enough to start it right? The lights are very dim. I pull the key every night so I know it's not that I left anything on. Anybody else have this problem?

 

If the battery does indeed have a decent charge on it, then your problem is most likely a bad connection. Check the ground connection where negative battery lead connects to the frame. Next check the connections on the starter solinoid (sp) under the seat and of course the connection on the starter. Also you might try to clean the battery terminals and the the connectors and try again.

If that's not it, the battery is probably bad and will need to be replaced. But just remember, very rarely does a battery go bad by it's self. It is usually caused by excessive discharging/overcharging of the battery. There could be a problem in the electrical system causing a draw on the battery. The most common problems I've seen are a bad voltage regulator/rectifier and a badwater temperature switch.

Make srue you visually inspect all the wiring for any worn/unsheilded wiring.

Mine had the same problem a week after I took it home from the dealer. They wanted to just replace the battery and send me on my way, but I knew better. I ended up diagnosing the problem myself (bad temperature switch) and took it back to the dealer, showed them exactly what was wrong, made them fix it, and gave the shop foreman a good, somewhat polite scolding for all my waisted time, fuel etc...

let us know when you find the problem. Hope this helps.

-Tom

 

Mine does the same thing.... so I cant use my lights and it will last all day of riding. Then when I'm done riding I have to charge the battery for the next day. I have replaced the voltage regulator and checked all connections. Now I know what it is and I am pissed!!!!!!! THE STATOR.... It doesn't charge the battery. Just hope it's not your stator. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]

 

Did you ever check the output from your stator? Its going to be an expensive assumption if you didn't. It definately sounds like you have a charging problem but you need to check everything before you cough up the money to fix it. Its an easy check too.

 

I'd agree with making sure ALL connections are clean first. However, if your battery is more than a year old, it could be junk. The little batts for ATV, cycles, sleds, etc just don't last. That's why most only have a 6 month warranty. If you get 2 years out of one, consider yourself lucky, throw it away and start again.

 

How do you check if the machine is charging properly?

 

The quickest way, although it's not a guarantee that everything is ok, is to put a voltmeter on the battery terminals right after you start it. You should see 13.5 to 15 volts. If you only see 12 or 12.5 (or anything less) that's not enough voltage to charge the battery. A fully charged "12 volt" battery should be about 12.7 volts.

 

You also have to rev it up to about 3000 rpm too. I have done this test and my battery doesnt get a higher voltage than about 12 volts. So now I have to test the output of my stator to see if it is really the problem, which my luck it will be for sure.
But, I have a question for someone who has experiance with this...... Like I said above I have tested my battery with a voltmeter while running, but...... willl a bad battery cause this problem with it not showing a higher voltage than roughly 12 volts while revved to around 3000 rpm, or is it like I said most likely a bad stator. Remember, I have replaced the voltage regulator with a new one so this is what I am left with. My battery will stay charged for about one day of riding WITHOUT LIGHTS BEING ON. Then I charge my battery for the next day......... With the lights on my battery will be dead in about 10 min. Please help because there is no way in hell I am paying $490 for a stator.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]

 

Checking the stator is easy and only takes about 10 minutes. I posted how to do this in an a similar thread a month or so ago after testing my own (known good) stator.

To do this you will need a voltmeter capable of testing ~100 volts <u>A/C</u>. Your stator put out A/C voltage and is converted to D/C by the voltage regulator/rectifier.

1) clip your negative lead from your voltmeter to the battery negative post and set the dial to 100 volts A/C.
2) unplug the voltage regulator (under the airbox in the back) and locate the three yellow wires <u>on the harness side</u> of the plug.
3) Start the engine and raise the RPMs to ~2500 or so.
4) Touch the red lead of the voltmeter to each of the yellow wires and record the readings.

They should all be the same, around 45 volts and will increase/decrease with RPMs. if this is what you get that your stator is OK and you should start looking for faulty wiring connections.
Also, the other two wires in the plug are black and red. Red is hot out of the voltage regulator and black is ground. Check for voltage here.

1) Turn you voltmeter dial to D/C voltage and touch the red lead to the red wire and your black lead to the black wire (again, this is on the harness side of the plug).
You should read battery voltage. If not you have a wiring problem on either the red or black wire.

I hope this helps

 

Thanks I will try this.