11.2 Volts at the battery, DAMN.... Alternator???

[lifguardct]

The bike died on the road yesterday, click, click.  Charged the battery, no obvious wire issues, fired right up but I only have 11.2 volts at the battery.  I am going to check the main ground first but I think the alternator is toast. It is a 99 Interstate, 28,000 miles. Is the interstate alternator the same output as a std?  Does anyone have any experience with either of these ebay vendors?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271058324876?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
or
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261084225465?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

[signart]

Check voltage while engine is running to see if it is charging. Should read about 13.5v.

[lifguardct]

Check voltage while engine is running to see if it is charging. Should read about 13.5v.

That's the sad part, the 11.2 was with it running, I even revved it to about 3000, no change. 

[pancho]

There are a couple of things to check before you get that alternator. Check the main fuse link under the right side cover, it is a fusible link between the alternator and battery, check that first.

[lifguardct]

There are a couple of things to check before you get that alternator. Check the main fuse link under the right side cover, it is a fusible link between the alternator and battery, check that first.

You mean the big one, (about 2" long)? If so, its good. The ground wire connected to the engine looks good. I pulled the chrome cover off and the alternator has some black (rubber like) grit all over it and it kinda smells burnt.

[Red Diamond]

A new Goldwing alternator might be cheaper, if so, get one and clock it.

[lifguardct]

A new Goldwing alternator might be cheaper, if so, get one and clock it.

Is it a bolt on, no mods?

[CASABROKER]

Gold wing alternator same just clock it no mods.  But have fun putting it in and keep the cussing to a minimum!  Don't buy a Chinese one junk . Buy a Hitachi OEM they sell them one bay the guys from w Virginia. or go to their web site  www.emsglobaldirect.com

[john]

             "99 Interstate, 28,000 miles "           ???              

[MarkT]

FYI optimum voltage for a 12v charging system is 14.3v.  (Sorry I'd have to dig to site a source for that.) This is supposed to be the target voltage engineers setting up 12v lead-acid charging systems aspire to re-create.  My exploder hits that voltage consistently per my digital voltmeter - and it's first battery lasted 11 years until I left the radar unit on for several days and drained it to nothing.  My Compufire on the valk is now putting out 13.9 whereas it used to be 14.3, and the battery charge is less than it used to be. I'm thinking the regulator is off a bit. I might have to send it back for a rebuild.

[Brian]

The voltage meter on my 97 shows 14.2 volts running. My Fluke meter confirms the battery bug read out.

[Jabba]

There is a guy in Indiana that rebuilds them too. 

M.A.R.S

I have one of his in my IS that Big-D gave me at Inzane last year when I toasted mine. Then I sent him the one out of mine... after I got it rebuilt.

http://myplace.frontier.com/~hemi-roid/

I'd do this over buying another.  Everyone I know has been happy with Ken's work.  He'll send you one, and you can send him the core.

Good luck!

Jabba

[old2soon]

There is a guy in Indiana that rebuilds them too. 

M.A.R.S

I have one of his in my IS that Big-D gave me at Inzane last year when I toasted mine. Then I sent him the one out of mine... after I got it rebuilt.

http://myplace.frontier.com/~hemi-roid/

I'd do this over buying another.  Everyone I know has been happy with Ken's work.  He'll send you one, and you can send him the core.

Good luck!

Jabba

  +1 on what Jabba sayin.  I've got one on my I/S-the M A R S rebuilt. And-yup-Ken is a good guy to deal with.  RIDE SAFE.

[Hoser]

I have one of Ken's gold wing rebuilds on the shelf for 3 years now, My original is still going strong, after 114,000 and 14 years. Yes, it rides in my saddlebag when I take a trip. Same as my new u-joint.  Hoser 

[pancho]

There are a couple of things to check before you get that alternator. Check the main fuse link under the right side cover, it is a fusible link between the alternator and battery, check that first.

You mean the big one, (about 2" long)? If so, its good. The ground wire connected to the engine looks good. I pulled the chrome cover off and the alternator has some black (rubber like) grit all over it and it kinda smells burnt.
 


Since that 55 anp link is good you need to check the field (small wire) on the alternator to see if it shows voltage with the key on,,, if it does, it is time to pull it for a checkout.

[fordmano]

             "99 Interstate, 28,000 miles "           ???              

WHAT! you got a problem with that? LOL!

Thats only abot 1,500 less than mine. Some of us ain't privilaged enough to have owned them very long or get that much time to ride...

[Firefighter]

Sounds like the alternator, but make sure you check voltage through the frame. Mine had a bad ground from battery to frame. Never could figure out why, ground wires were clean and looked good. I ended up running a new ground wire from the negative battery post to the frame. Fixed my gauges and my voltage came up to 14.2. Good luck

[Hotrodwing]

Replaced mine with the Goldwing Alt, 14.2 volts at idle  :cooldude:you  just have to clock it.   No big deal and wasn't that bad to replace.   I did find that if you trim the screws a little on the back of the alt she goes in a lot easier.  The hardest part for me was aligining the drive propeller.  Good Luck

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

There is a guy in Indiana that rebuilds them too. 

M.A.R.S

I have one of his in my IS that Big-D gave me at Inzane last year when I toasted mine. Then I sent him the one out of mine... after I got it rebuilt.

http://myplace.frontier.com/~hemi-roid/

I'd do this over buying another.  Everyone I know has been happy with Ken's work.  He'll send you one, and you can send him the core.

Good luck!

Jabba

I know a couple folks that's got a rebuilt alternator from MARS and its loud one guy even calls it a scream    .... You can get a OEM Goldwing shipped for alittle under $245.00 and its a simple " clock " to make it fit.

[BobB]

I'm the third owner of my '98 Tourer and to my knowledge it has the original alternator.  I replaced the brushes myself in February 2012, bearings and other things looked and felt good.  It's putting out a very acceptable 14.0 volts at idle.  I take it out and apart every other winter for inspection.  Thinking about acquiring a backup, most likely from a Goldwing.      

[lifguardct]

There are a couple of things to check before you get that alternator. Check the main fuse link under the right side cover, it is a fusible link between the alternator and battery, check that first.

Since that 55 anp link is good you need to check the field (small wire) on the alternator to see if it shows voltage with the key on,,, if it does, it is time to pull it for a checkout.

So if the is voltage in the field, Pull the Alternator (bad) or the wire?

Thanks

[Oyeaa]

There is a guy in Indiana that rebuilds them too. 

M.A.R.S

I have one of his in my IS that Big-D gave me at Inzane last year when I toasted mine. Then I sent him the one out of mine... after I got it rebuilt.

http://myplace.frontier.com/~hemi-roid/

I'd do this over buying another.  Everyone I know has been happy with Ken's work.  He'll send you one, and you can send him the core.

Good luck!

Jabba

Ditto

[Tropic traveler]

The bike died on the road yesterday, click, click.  Charged the battery, no obvious wire issues, fired right up but I only have 11.2 volts at the battery.  I am going to check the main ground first but I think the alternator is toast. It is a 99 Interstate, 28,000 miles. Is the interstate alternator the same output as a std?  Does anyone have any experience with either of these ebay vendors?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271058324876?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
or
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261084225465?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Sounds like my Saturday two weeks ago! Exact same thing happened to me except I was able to get it restarted about 20 minutes after the stall & if it wasn't for the %&@# red lights I would have been able to limp it all the way home.   Just shy of 60,000 miles on the '99.
Anyways, I bought one of the straight bolt on Valkyrie new 80 amp alternators from the "California" something or other place on E-bay. It says Hitachi on it & it is an all new casting, no bolt marks anywhere. Direct fit bolt on & now it's charging 14.27 volts at any RPM above idle.   Bolted it on yesterday so now the '99 is back in commission!  

[lifguardct]

The bike died on the road yesterday, click, click.  Charged the battery, no obvious wire issues, fired right up but I only have 11.2 volts at the battery.  I am going to check the main ground first but I think the alternator is toast. It is a 99 Interstate, 28,000 miles. Is the interstate alternator the same output as a std?  Does anyone have any experience with either of these ebay vendors?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271058324876?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
or
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261084225465?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Sounds like my Saturday two weeks ago! Exact same thing happened to me except I was able to get it restarted about 20 minutes after the stall & if it wasn't for the %&@# red lights I would have been able to limp it all the way home.   Just shy of 60,000 miles on the '99.
Anyways, I bought one of the straight bolt on Valkyrie new 80 amp alternators from the "California" something or other place on E-bay. It says Hitachi on it & it is an all new casting, no bolt marks anywhere. Direct fit bolt on & now it's charging 14.27 volts at any RPM above idle.   Bolted it on yesterday so now the '99 is back in commission!  

I actually pushed the big girl about a 1/2 mile to my house...   Did your's come from california_alternator_starter, 80 amp for $169.99, sound like it?  Did you need to replace any cables, (like the ground or Positive, etc.)?

[pancho]

There are a couple of things to check before you get that alternator. Check the main fuse link under the right side cover, it is a fusible link between the alternator and battery, check that first.

Since that 55 anp link is good you need to check the field (small wire) on the alternator to see if it shows voltage with the key on,,, if it does, it is time to pull it for a checkout.

So if the is voltage in the field, Pull the Alternator (bad) or the wire?

Thanks

If there is voltage at the field connection (small wire going to the alternator) with the key on, and the 55amp link is good, then the alternator itself does have a problem.... 

[Tropic traveler]

The bike died on the road yesterday, click, click.  Charged the battery, no obvious wire issues, fired right up but I only have 11.2 volts at the battery.  I am going to check the main ground first but I think the alternator is toast. It is a 99 Interstate, 28,000 miles. Is the interstate alternator the same output as a std?  Does anyone have any experience with either of these ebay vendors?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271058324876?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
or
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261084225465?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Sounds like my Saturday two weeks ago! Exact same thing happened to me except I was able to get it restarted about 20 minutes after the stall & if it wasn't for the %&@# red lights I would have been able to limp it all the way home.   Just shy of 60,000 miles on the '99.
Anyways, I bought one of the straight bolt on Valkyrie new 80 amp alternators from the "California" something or other place on E-bay. It says Hitachi on it & it is an all new casting, no bolt marks anywhere. Direct fit bolt on & now it's charging 14.27 volts at any RPM above idle.   Bolted it on yesterday so now the '99 is back in commission!  

I actually pushed the big girl about a 1/2 mile to my house...   Did your's come from california_alternator_starter, 80 amp for $169.99, sound like it?  Did you need to replace any cables, (like the ground or Positive, etc.)?

Nope,just had to remove a little square noise supressor thingy & put it back on.

[maniscar]

This also happened to me about 1.5 weeks ago.  Riding down the highway at night and noticed my speedometer and tachometer lights getting dim.  Headlight not too bright either.  Hoping to make it home,but got another 10 miles down the road, gave it some gas to pass and it sounded like I was out of gas.  Eased back on the throttle and it was fine. (yes, I had a 1/2 tank of gas and did try the reserve! :-) ).   Got off at the next exit, pulled the clutch in and the bike stalled.  Wouldn't start, and no relay "clicking" either.  Headlight still on though.  Pushed it about 100 yards to a gas station and called AMA towing.  While waiting the battery recovered enough to crank the engine but not start it.

Just got time to troubleshoot it.  The battery charged up fine with the Battery Tender.  I let it sit for a day without the Battery Tender. I installed it back in the bike.  Both times no noticeable change in voltage (~13.25).  The bike started fine but no charging voltage.  I followed the shop manual troubleshooting steps, and like Pancho mentioned above:  battery voltage at the white connector with key on, voltage at the alternator cable with key off.   Pulled alternator.  It's an Hitachi - made in Japan.  So not a cheap Chinese one.

I put in a new battery recently (on Easter Sunday).  Hopefully the battery didn't cause this.  Anyway, will be ordering a new alternator, probably the EMS Global metioned above.

   Rich  ('03 Standard  with 17K miles)

[maniscar]

I should mention that with the bike running the battery voltage was dropping. Slowly, but dropping.  I also put on the Cobra driving to "force" the charging system to kick.  It didn't.

[maniscar]

Ok, now I'm confused.  I did a search of the Tech board for the Goldwing alternator.  Some posts state you need to upgrade to th GW battery too.  Some posts state the GW alternator will not provide charging output at idle (bad for stop-n-go traffic).  Some posts say to upgrade the batter cables too. And then there are the posts that basically say to ignore the above. 

So, with the sale at HDL, I can get the '97 Goldwing Aspencade 31100-MT2-015 for ~ $219.  That's a savings of ~ $70 of the EMS Global Valkyrie model (40 amp). 

So, does the GW alternator truly need NOTHING else (other than rotating the mounting bracket)?

FYI, I have the Cobra lights, heated Russel seat and use full heated gear when needed.

Thanks,

   Rich '03 Standard, 17K miles