Working on my neighbors 2002 Recon 250. The battery is a couple years old, so we charged it up and it showed 12.70 volts. Started it up and tested it and it reads between 0.08-0.23 and doesn't change even though it's running. Shut it off and it's down to around 8 volts and won't restart. I'm assuming it's the alternator/rectifier? Is there a way to test this?

 

Voltage regulator is common here in Alabama charge battery up than unplug voltage regulator an let it set over night an see if battery is decharged

 

Not sure what you mean by "it reads between 0.08-0.23 and doesn't change even though it's running" 0.08-0.23 what? There are tests you can do on the alternator, trouble is, I have a feeling the Recon has a two wire stator, which is difficult to test. Personally, I would make sure the battery is OK by charging up then disconnecting it and leaving it to sit for a few days before testing it again. Then, if it has stayed up, I would test the pos and neg leads at the regulator for power, best done with a high wattage test lamp between those leads. If they are OK, put an ammeter between one battery post and it's lead, (other battery lead connected) there should be no, or very little (0.01 amps) discharge with ignition switched off. If it is draining, disconnect regulator and see if the drain has gone. Even if the regulator isn't draining, I would buy a cheapo Chinese regulator for it, and see if it starts charging. If it doesn't, it is probably the stator windings at fault.

 

Testing the stator inplace as the manual states the ohms resistance readings between the windings ( the three yellow wires ) should be between 0.1 and 1.0 ohms. My results show the resistance is 0 across all three windings/ yellow wires. What does this mean??? Is the stator still good or is it shorted out between the windings. As it is the system does not charge the battery. Help please.

 

The resistance is so low many ohmmeters don't read it. You would have been better starting a new thread as the 250 has a totally different charging system (single phase). There are some similarities, as I wrote above, leave the battery charged and disconnected for a few days to see if it discharges by itself, which indicates a dud battery. Check for a drain, check for power at the regulator plug between green and red. If everything tests out right, check the yellow stator wires are not earthed, if they are, the stator has shorted out. I go for fitting a new regulator if everything else seems OK. If that doesn't cure it, you can test for what AC volts any two wires of the stator are putting out, may be quite high 50v + but it is probable the stator has had it. Don't buy a RM stator voltage regulator, they are rubbish, their stators seem OK though.