I thought I had fixed this problem when I found a cell low in my battery and discovered the voltage was dropping to around 5 volts, but last night it did it again. After riding it pretty hard around a field for about 20 or 30 minutes, I rode back to my house at around 5 - 10 mph for about a half mile. As I was pulling into my drive, the power shut off completely, but the engine kept running. I immediately checked the voltage, but it was stable at 11.9v. The power did not stay off for more than about 2 minutes, not long enough for me to trace the source down. After messing around for a few minutes the power went off again for about 30 seconds while idling in the garage. It did not go off again for the next hour so I gave up as it was getting very warm from starting it and stopping it.

I had planned on going on an all day ride this weekend, but I may have to cancel unless I can get this figured out.

edit: sorry, forgot to mention it is a 2000 Sportsman 500 (non H.O.)

 

It should be 12 volts or higher at idle, 13.5-15 volts at 1000 rpm. I'd say you have a hot wire grounding on the frame somewhere. Pull all the plastics and check the wiring for frayed, worn wiring. I would start at the pod, since that is where the wiring is stressed the most, from steering.

 

the problem is likely a circuit breaker these are located by the battery and also might be located under the headlight pod. they have a red wire going into a black blister pack, the self resetting breaker in found inside of the black pack, I have seen the breaker itself usually causing the problem, the breaker tripping is not always caused by a shorted wire, sometimes it is the breaker corroded or such. hope this helps, look for these before you ride next time, and then if it trips grab ahold of the blister pack to see if it is hot, does not get hot enough fo burn you.

 

I found one of these "blister packs" under the seat on the left side.. It actually had duct tape wrapped around it. There is a red wire going into each end of it. This seems to happen mostly when it gets pretty warm, like slow riding. I will check it out next time it happens, check the voltage at each end of the pack. Is there only going to be one of these, or will there be multiple.

As far as voltage, it actually drops a little when I rev it up to around 1000 rpm or higher. I have seen it dip as low as 10.5. I have looked for shorts, but have not found any visible. I did however find continuity between a red "hot" wire coming down from the pod and the ground. This wire is hot all the time when it is running, except when the power goes out.

 

Is this the blister pack circuit breaker you were talking about? It has been cut open before and has some type of box in there. It is very possible it is a circuit breaker. It was "sealed up" with Duct tape.


Location.

I think I may have found the problem. I am thinking it is either the key switch or the engine run switch. I have been going over the wiring diagrams for a couple of hours and those two are the only ones that make sense. I cleaned out the connectors going to the engine run switch and applied di-electric grease to them. I then took apart the key switch and cleaned it out thoroughly. I tested it before I cleaned it and it was reading 45 ohms. After cleaning it, it read .02 ohms. Big difference. That could have caused a voltage drain?

I was able to simulate what happens when my power goes out with a jumper wire. When I jumped the two hot wires, I was able to start it up and everything was fine. When I removed the jumper, the engine continued to run, however, all the electrical systems shut down. Since the two off position wires were never shorted, the CDI did not know to shut down.

I will try it out some tomorrow and see what my results are. If I am still having problems, I will replace the circuit breaker in the blister pack.

Only thing I am still concerned about is that the running voltage is never above 11.7 for the other side of the key. At the battery it is always 12.3 or higher. I have not figured out why it is lower on the other side of the key. I am thinking of installing a relay to fix this.




Thanks for the help.

 

it sounds like to me you have a charging issue. that should never be below 12 volts while running at any idle. make sure the recifier is plugged in and clean connections and in working condtion. this is what controls the voltage the bike is putting out. if all is working correcly you should have@ leaste 13.5 volts when idled up. imo

 

When Idled up it should have 14- 14.5 volts at battery, if it doesn't it is probably the voltage regulator, located in front of radiater , left side, its a black box.

 

I just happen to have a spare regulator. I went to replace it the other night, but all the screws heads are completely stripped. I am going to have to pull the guard, winch and radiator cover, then grind off the heads to remove it. Yay.

Is it possible the stator could be bad as well. I checked the coils as recommended by checking the ohms from the yellow to the yellow/red wires going into the regulator. It said the ohms should be at 0.13. I got infinite resistance from it. I also know that when I wa sin there last, it was covered in rust pretty bad. I cleaned some of the rust off, but didn't really mess with the electrical connections to much.

I am going to replace the regulator first, since I already have one and it is pretty easy to replace, but the stator is going to be my next area to look if that doesn't fix it.