Electrical problems on XT660Z Tenere!!
 

Hi.

I have a XT660Z Tenere 2011 with +-7400Klm on it. I am having problems with the bike cutting out. It started at around 7000Klm. It starts, I ride it for +- 11Klm then the orange motor warning light comes on. After a minute or two the dash completely blacks out, with all warning lights off. Lights, and flickers etc still work, but not the dash lights. Then a minute or two later the bikes speedo drops to zero. Then a minute or two later the bike cuts out. If I stop the bike when the orange light comes on, I can not start it again at all. The starter solinoid starts buzzing, as if the battery is flat.
This has happened three times now.
After standing for some time and fiddling with battery and terminals, the bike again starts as if nothing happened, only to do the same pattern again.

I took it to YAMAHA, and they said it was either a flat battery (Which they charged) or the TFI unit, which they originally fitted, and have now removed, but still the problem persists.

Has anyone had similar problems? Could it just be a faulty battery?

Thanks!!!

Marcel - Hermanus South Africa

Hi Marcel,

Do a search on "rectifier connector" and I think you may find your problem. (Connector breaks down resulting in no charge to the battery). It's well documented. Annoying and fairly common issue but easily.....umm.......rectified!

Cheers, Rick

+1

It does sound like the early stages of regulator/rectifier problem, plug terminals are on there way out, but not quite lost all contact, which explains why its a bit intermittent. Is the engine trouble light flashing any code at you with ignition on/engine not running? I'd pull off the reg/rec multiplug and have a look inside at the terminals, if there is any sign of scorching, blackening or melting then you've found your problem. First fault like this I've heard on a 2011 bike, usually the early ones are affected? The bonus is your bike is well within warranty and this fault is a warranty issue, you shouldn't have any trouble extracting a new wiring loom from Yamaha. Surprised your dealer didn't investigate this first up?

I'm not sure this is a problem outside of the UK/Europe. Unless someone knows different, I've not heard of this problem in SA.

I thought the same when I read the post, but I'm not 100% sure it is the 'usual' problem. I would certainly take the plug apart and take a look, also check out the resistance over the rectifier terminals at the same time (the details of how/what to expect are in the workshop manual) to see if the reg/rec is working properly ,this I would expect the dealer to check though, batteries go dead at times, but on a running bike, either the battery is faulty, or the charging circuit is (or you are using more power than the bike is delivering). If you charge the battery it presumes that you think the problem is in the charging, if you thought it was the battery, you'd replace it.

BTW, what's a TFI unit? The only TFI I know of has something to do with Fridays!!
:toothy12:

Its a fueling device, the simple version is a bit like a kev mod and the fancy one's a bit like a Power Commander.

Yeah this happened to me on my R6, turned out to be the regulator/rectifier.

But if you drive around with it like this for too long you can muck up the battery or the alternator.

Having exactly the same problem at the moment mate. Spent last night on the side of the m5 until 02:00.
I replaced the rectifier and battery earlier that day...

Again thats what happened to me lol, i didnt have breakdown cover but said i was in an unsafe area so got picked up for free:happy11:

Hi, Posted this in a similar thread too.

Output should be between 14.1 and 14.9 volts at 5000rpm, measured across the battery terminals.

Personally I would double check the regulator installation and very closely inspect the connections at the connector block, also make sure the connector is pushed fully home.

If you are sure the new regulator has been properly installed and the contacts in the plug to it aren't damaged it may be worth checking that the connector from the alternator stator windings is sound, it's located behind the rear master cylinder on the Z, enclosed by a rubber boot - it's the 3pin connector with white wires. You could also measure the resistance of the windings (you need an ohm meter), the readings between any pair of windings on the alternator side of the connector should be between 0.224 and 0.336 ohms. Check also the resistance readings between each winding and the chassis/earth, they should be infinite, i.e. no reading. If there is a reading it could indicate a short in one of the stator windings.
Stator windings very rarely give any problems though (in any vehicle), usually it is a wiring fault in a loom or water ingress at a connector that causes problems here.

I hope you find the problem quickly.

Cheers.

XT660Z electrical Shut down
 

Hi Rick

Many Thanks for the response. I think you are spot on! YAMAHA have ordered a new rectifier, connector and wiring lume for that circuit. They should have it by today, and then have it fitted. They realised that the battery was not getting charge.

This is what I suspected, but the first tme they ruled the charge out. Well at least they have it sorted now.

Thanks again for your response!!! It is appreciated!!

Marcel

Result!

For those owners out of warranty the best option is to fit a compatible rectifier that has a connector on a fly lead and fit the opposite connector on the loom.
(in good ol' courier style I just dug out the existing connector on my oem rectifier and repotted it with a fly lead).

So, do you have those flappy cardboard leg protectors like the other couriers in the 'big smoke' ?

Nah, I never said I was a propper courier!!

My friend bought two days ago Tenere 2008 with 14000 kilometres on it.
Today he wanted to go to work and battery was weak, so he barely managed to start the bike. Seller had her on charger, so low charging or bad battery was a problem already before the buy.
After a few kilometres ride today, the bike died on the road. No juice in the battery.
He got 4x long and 6x short flashes on the dashboard.

Rectifier on this bike was already changed by previous owner, but he did not put the right rectifier on it. It is from YZF or R6.
after the brake today, he measured the charging of this rectifier and it is charging close to 14V with front lights on. Connectors also are not damaged at all.


How to find the real issue here? Is it possible this rectifier is charging only occasionally? Or the problem is somewhere else?

Can someone explain what those flashes mean?
(4x long and 6x short - is that code 46?)


Thanks for help!

Code 46 is a power supply issue.

Does the bike still have the original battery? Even if not, I would still check that first.
Failing that check wiring loom/connectors between the rectifier and battery.

Same symptoms as when my rectifier blew
http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=15350
http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=15418

Hi Ni3ous, I have exactly the same issue.
Have tried replacing the recifier and the battery and had to rush off to work.
Bike died on the way home with no charge.
Think i may need to replace the connector to the recifier. Does anyone know what the kind of connector this would be and roughly how much it would cost to replace (if you know anywhere i could order it I would be greatful).

Did you manage to fix your mates bike in the end?

Cheers

Hi madbloke,

I think what you may be better to look into is an old post......

hi, the regulator failure's a bit of a bummer, but not a hard one to sort out. mine did not fail, i just did not want to left stranded with a flat battery and an edc light on!

about 20,000 miles ago i replaced mine with a more suitable unit off a yamaha fazer 600, secondhand on ebay i gave �14 all in.

it has 5 wires; black, red & 3 whites. cut off the inferior connector and connect with corresponding colours, the whites [generator phases] are non specific to the regulator [any order]. now my connector probably is the weak link, perhaps in the future i will hard wire to the loom, soldering & heat shrinking to create a perfect join. if a failure happens just resolder and seal

because the 'new' reg has about 8'' of loom it's easy to point the wires down to stop any water ingress, secure the loom out of harms way. the reg needs a slight adjustment to align the holes, better to ream out the mounting plate wih a drill etc and jobs done. now start the bike, check the battery voltage, should be above 13v with a voltmeter. any probs give me a shout.
bernard

reg with removable connector

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z...yprep013-1.jpg

Thanks mate, pay day in a few days so i'll get on it. I'll let you know how it goes.
Would it be better to use the replacement rectifier I bought or go for the fazer replacement?

hi, the problem is rarely the internal workings of the regulator, the weakness is at the connections. imho the terminals are just not beefy enough

not only when the reg is charging the earth plays as much a role as the positive, but when the battery is full the overspill of voltage [over simplification] has to be dumped, guess where, yep the earth [black wire] that's where they mainly fail, as far as i know no one has had a positive[red] fail.

if your connector is good, sure use the new tenere reg. I have no faith so would and did modify. your call! in fact my old reg is currently on a world tour as a spare.

stoic

Electrical probiems xt660z
 

Just read this and what said about yellow light come on and blke stoping,Sounds like Your Rec/reg or the wireing on connecter,
This what happend to me last june and it Burt my wireing out,Hope its not as bad as mine Mate? And try get this replaced thou yamaha warr ect.
Good Luck.

I had the the bad connection issue with the reg last summer. I sprayd the connector with WD40, dislodged a tiny piece of plastic that I found inside the connector and put it back in place. Had no problems until this week.

The LED that I have installed on the dash luckily shows immeadiately when the battery is not being charged while the bike is running so I no longer get left on the roadside. I highly recommend installing one for peace of mind.

Wigling the connector plug a bit solves the problem . I just put the bike on idle and wigle the connector until the battery charge light turns green and off I go! However, I'm having the whole wiring loom replaced in few weeks. Under warranty I might add as I talked to a local shop last summer about the issue and they promised to fix it if it reappears. The bike (09) had about 4000 km on it when I bought it.

On my bike the problem is not moisture, nothing is corroded etc. and the inside is dry as a bone. It just seems that the plug is not pushed in enough and kind off shakes loose.

I think a zip tie that pushes the connector and rectifier together might do the trick for me, but as the loom will be replaced I�m not going to bother.

Hi, I posted on the abr forum the details of my issues, http://www.adventurebikerider.com/fo...n-.html#444160

I have cleaned up the connector and made sure it connects as well as it can.
I have fitted a lead voltmeter the 5mm version of this http://www.sparkbright.co.uk/sparkri...ge-monitor.php
It works great, when I am riding I see mostly green but every 5 mins or so, it goes red (no charging) but only for around 30 seconds then back to green. So for sure there is still an intermittent fault but it does not seem to be a connection.
As I have just fitted this voltmeter , I may had this problem for a while but would never have noticed .
There is no pattern as to when it happens , sometimes as soon as I set off , sometimes once a minute ..
Any electrical boffins out there have any idea of what it may be?

Intermittent problems are always a nightmare to trace. It could be a number of things...

• Battery terminals loose - check.
• The reg/rec connector still isn't good - get rid and hard wire a FZS600 reg/rec unit in it's place.
• Duff reg/rec unit - substitute with a known good one.
• Poor/iffy connection from reg/rec connector to the alternator (3x white wires) - test continuity. *This is not the the rec/rec connector it's another little known one that exists in the charging system.
• Poor alternator field coil earthing - test continuity.
• Dodgy field coils - test continuity/resistance.
• Faulty LED voltmeter and/or connections - compare against a multimeter. I had an early (pre-waterproofed) Gammatronix device (which yours is a copy of) and it used to go read and give funny readings when it got wet/damp.

*To test the alternator field coils you need to find the 3-pin connector that joins the alternator to the reg/rec unit. It is located just behind the rear brake reservoir under a rubber boot (bundled with the crank position sensor, neutral light and sidestand switch connectors). It's the only 3-pin connector and has three white wires. Once you've opened the connector, test the resistance between each combination of pairs of white wires on the alternator side of the connector. There should be hardly any resistance at all (0.224-0.336 ohms) and they all should be the same value.

Whilst you've got this plug off you can also test the continuity between this 3-pin connector and the reg/rec connector. Just check there is zero resistance between each of the three white wires between the 3-pin connector by the brake reservoir and there corresponding pins in the reg/rec connector.

+1 for the above - it usually works just fine imo.

However, I've discovered the hard way that alternator testing is sometimes a can of worms. Not long ago, I replaced my WR250R alternator after finding it was u/s by dynamic testing for charge ie when the engine was running.

This is done exactly the same way as a static test. The stator checked out fine statically, which is not rare, apparently. Upon removal, the unit was burnt black in places.