Bike doesn't start in cold weather

I didn't mean I soaked the carbs, I meant I drained the carbs and then filled them with Berrymans through the gas hose and let it sit overnight. Sorry for not being clear.

 

the gas eveporates. if you look inside of the carbs and spray cleaner into the 2 holes in the backside of the carb throat (air box side)you will see it come into the carbs where the jets are. 1 is a vent the other is for the asperator tube.

 

Thanks. I don't want to pull the carbs off the bike just yet since the bike is basically working. I've been spending more time working on this bike then riding it that I believe a lot of the quirks may work themselves out as I get use to it. Maybe I'm opening up the clutch too fast before the bike catches on hence the sputtering. I am still kind of curious about the popping sound at deacceleration and I'm just going to open the pilot screws a little bit more to see if that fixes it. Thanks for your help.

 

popping is a lean cylinder look at your plugs and adjust to what you see.

 

Sorry to start a new thread but I don't feel like I've described my charging problem correctly so, here it goes:

The bike is an XJ550Seca and after riding for about 15 minutes the bike stops charging at spec. It maybe hits 12.5volts at 3000rpms and it idles at 12.1volts. The first 15 minutes the volt meter is easily pointing at 14+volts though and everything is great but like I said after a while I can see in the voltmeter on the cluster that it barely gets past 12volts when before it was easily pointing at 14. The rotor and stator ohms check out to spec and the diodes in the regulator are fine. What could be the problem?

 

Just guessing but how you checked the rotor and stator ohms after the charging issues shows up? I have had issues in the past with a "partial open" once the bike and charging system heats up. The same thing happens on coils sometimes, once they heat up they change their resistance value.

 

Have you checked the brushes?

 

Interesting. No, I never tried checking any of the ohms readings after a ride mainly because the bike is too hot but I'll definitely give it a go. Thanks for the tip.

 

Brushes are brand new.

 

what about the brush holder that could be binding up keeping the brushed from making contact


regulator could be failing when it heats up opening a connection or diode.

heat can also affect the connectors

 

Are you testing with a reliable meter. The stock volt meter can not be trusted. I have had a broken resister in the meter causing a bouncing needle and low voltage reading when the voltage was good.

 

Buy a voltage gauge less than 20$ connect it up and go for a ride see what it reads .

 

Merged, because history matters.

 

Brush holder seems fine. I'm curious about heat and diodes though. Will a faulty diode reading read differently after the bike gets hot?

 

It's been raining like cats and dogs here in LA so I haven't been able to go out for a ride and do proper ohm and diode tests before and after a ride. Hopefully I will be able to get to it later in the week. When I do, I'll report my findings. Thanks for everyone's help.

 

Any chance you could merge my Used vs. New thread with this one? thanks

 

Already did this and it didn't reveal anything new.

 

Okay since your charging system as you state wont charge when hot 2 items either the rotor or stator is breaking down when hot , have replaced the stator yet? That is the easiest to replace , would try this first .

 

when diode or resistors get hot they can fail even though they read good when cold.
if when the charging fails , if you shut off the bike and restart does the charging still go low? if it does you will be able to detect a faulty diode or the resistor in the unit.

double check with a meter that the charging has gone low

 

Can do.

Readers take note: Merged threads will conjoin based on posting dates, so reading back will take a little effort on your part to keep things clear.

 

As mentioned, it can. Heat can also effect solder joints at the circut board (lifting a cold joint from the copper trace), and other components as well.
You can use a hairdryer to heat the components in need of checking if you don't have the opportunity to ride.

 

I have not replace the stator yet because the ohms check out okay, however, I'm assuming even a good testing stator can go bad under heat especially if its a 37 year old part? I have two extra stators and rotors that I acquired. They're both used but I'm hoping you're right and it's just a quick change of one or both of those parts. We shall see once I get some time and the weather isn't crap.

 

Thanks

 

double check with a meter that the charging has gone low[/QUOTE]

If by double checking you mean checking the battery after a ride, it has indeed gone low. If by double checking to see if the bike is still charging, it indeed only goes up to about 12.5 when I rev it to 3000+rpms. I double checked both of these on my multimeter.

 

Update, stator read 0.7-0.9 ohms after an evening ride. It read 0.4-0.6 ohms before the ride. Going to change out the stator with a used one I found off a Maxim. Stay tuned.

 

Anybody have some clever ideas on how to get these screws out. These babies are stuck in there good. I tried to use an extractor drill bit but it just doesn't work. Any inventive ideas would be most helpful. Thanks.

 

You can't get mole (vice) grips in there I guess and now you've 'nadgered' the heads you migt as well drill them off completely.
Once you have the heads off and the reg/rec off you can use the mole grips.

 

If you have long nose vice grips, that along with the screw driver might do it. Other wise you will have to either dremel (grind) it to a flat tip face. Or as a100man said, drill it all the way out and then you will have something to hold onto.

 

You could try to make a nice deep slot for a flathead screwdriver to fit into. If that doesnt work then cut the heads right off and focus on removing what's left after the regulator/rectifier is out of the way

 

that's not the stator

 

is the regulator good? drill through the bolts from the back side

$16 free shipping
https://www.ebay.com/itm/82-YAMAHA-...4BXZEym:sc:USPSPriority!03570!US!-1:rk:3:pf:0

 

As stated above, I have had limited success cutting a slot in a screw head with a dremel cutoff wheel, and then using a flat screwdriver.

 

Stripped screw head ...this why you should invest in an IJC screw driver, yes it looks like a Phillip's screw driver but has a different profile ...xj4ever sells these hint . Agree with a100 man drill the head off . Why are you replacing the voltage regulator? Have you piggy backed in another regulator to see if this was your problem ? Thought you were going to try stator ?

 

I did change the stator. It didn't fix the problem. The bike still only reaches 12.5volts after roughly 15minutes of riding. I want to try the regulator next but as you can see it's stuck at the moment. In any case my instincts feel like this is not going to fix the problem. The regulator checks out fine as far as the diodes go. From what I read, a faulty regulator starts overcharging the battery. Not undercharging it as seems to be the case. If that doesn't work, I'll try changing the rotor. Unfortunately, I'm starting to lose my steam again for this poor bike.

 

Have you had the battery tested?

 

Battery is brand new. This is the second one I've tried.

 

Test the regulator. Throwing parts at the problem will work, eventually, but it costs a whole lot more than doing proper troubleshooting first.

I can't recall at the moment, but did you clean the rotor traces and make sure the alternator brushes are long enough? Most of the low voltage problmes with alternator output are caused by dirty/ uneven traces or short brushes.

 

what's the voltage of a full charged battery?

did you ever notice a battery charger with a meter is marked in amps? if you put a volt meter on it with a low battery, it's going to read about 14.6 volts.
when the battery is full charged it's going to be around 12.5 or 13 volts (just like yours).
ride until your meter says 12.5 then stop for gas, when you leave, turn the key on but don't start it right away, maybe 30 seconds. now start it does it say 12.5 or more?

 

Which brings up another question.
@Joshua Olkowski: Are you measuring battery voltage at idle, or at 3,000 RPM right after starting?
The way to test charting voltage is to measure right after starting the bike, so the battery needs to be charged. If you're measuring after riding for 15 minutes all you'll ever see at the battery is the fully-charged state. At that point the voltage regulator will dump the excess voltage to ground so it can be turned into heat instead of over-charging the battery.

 

I'll try what you ask but should everything be this complicated?
I'll tell you what happened today. I went out for a ride on a fully charged battery and a new regulator rectifier. The voltmeter pointed at 14volts as it usually does in the beginning of a ride. After 20 minutes the volt meter started to waver and was barely going past 12volts. When I got home I measured the battery and it read 12.5 volts. About 3 hours later I went out for another ride. I measured the battery before I left and it was still at 12.5. At the beginning of the ride the voltmeter was pointing just below 14volts but eventually after 20 minutes the same thing happened and it was barely making it past 12 volts again. When I arrived home I measured the battery and this time I got 12.19 volts. There you have it. I changed out the stator and the regulator. Same problem is still happening. I can say that since the weather is a little chilly the bike stays at 14+volts longer then it does in the hotter months. I also checked the ohms on the rotor after the first ride and it read 6.7ohms. Is it suppose to be out of spec when the components are hot?
To add insult to injury now, the motor is starting to sound bad. The loose change sound is starting to sound like A LOT more loose change. I just can't get a break on this thing.

 

Remember that the bike does charge for the first 20 minutes and THEN goes down. So, I'm guessing this is not a brushes problem if it's doing it's job in the beginning of a ride but not after 20 minutes.

 

70 degrees is the optimum temp to measure components. measuring when hot is when you look for open circuits/failed connections

recheck your work on stator and rotor bolt may be loose

have you adjusted the cam chain tensioner?

550s have a sound at idle turn idle up to 1200 rpm and make sure your oil is toped off. you may be hearing primary chain due to oil preasure.

 

Right when I start the bike, it's fine. 20 minutes later it's not. Let me ask this: if the charging system is working and I go out for a ride and the battery reads 12.5 volts before I go out on the ride and then when I arrive home it reads 12.19 volts. Is this normal?
In the past I have started the bike without fully charging the battery and it will still put out 14+volts in the beginning and then slowly go down again. In other words, whether the battery is charged or not it will still do the same song and dance of charging at 14+volts in the beginning and then dropping down after 20minutes.

 

Your charging system is supposed to maintain 12 volts , and 12 volts is your battery voltage. If your charging system put out 15 volts constant it would cook your battery this is one reason for a voltage regulator . Should I be worried I had a battery tender on my bike , and it read 13.0 volts and started bike and battery read 12.5 volts ...short answer is NO ! If i were to ride and after 1 hour my bike died and voltage read 10 volts then yes there is a problem this was what happened to my 82 Honda CB 750 custom did . The charging system was kaput, I still say yours is working , I know you are frustrated seen from your posts , sometimes it is best to take a deep breath and not worry about things .

 

what would you like the voltage to be after a half hour ride?

 

12.7 or more

 

Will bad clutch plates make the engine sound bad. The bike is starting to sound horrible. I don't really know how to describe the sound. It still idles fine and you don't hear that sound. Only when you start riding the bike. It's starting to get harder to find neutral at stop signs as the clutches sticks really bad. I've already adjusted the clutch cable. Where would be a good place to start?