Arctic Cat Trouble Shooting

[Bugman]

I have a 2001 Arctic Cat 400 manual tranny and am having a problem with a new battery dis-charging. I had to charge the old battery several times over the winter and was having a problem with the battery holding a charge so I replaced it. Placed in a brand new charged battery and after a couple of days with riding and sitting the new battery dis-charges and the machine dies if the brake lever is squeezed activating the brake light. It does run if I use the pull start but the battery will not charge. Any suggestions? You can e-mail me at jwaterbury.memun.org


Thanks

Bugman

[rpyfz450]

I suspect your ATV's rectifier/regulator has failed and your ignition has been running off the battery. It's probably costs $30 to replace. From what I've seen and heard in the past, it's almost always the r/r that's at fault when the battery doesn't charge.

[Bugman]

Is there anyway to test the regulator to see if it is good? There $160.00 and that is a fairly large chunk of change to be guessing if a part is good or bad.

[rpyfz450]

That's very expensive for a r/r. I'm not sure if there's a decisive way to diagnose the problem other than following the service manual for your machine. If you don't already have one, then buy one tomorrow. The book will likely have you do a static test of the stator to determine whether the generator is bad.

I'm not very well versed with the theory of electricity, but I base my opinions on repairs and my limited understanding of motorcycle electronics.

The reason why it's reasonable to suspect the r/r, is because the "regulator" portion of the rectifier/regulator is typically a thyristor design that regulates the voltage output by variably shorting power to ground and generates heat. It effectively "shorts" excess power to ground. Regulators are usually easy to recognize because they have cooling fins on them. I have yet to encounter any electrical device that prefers hot versus cold. Hot electronics always fail before cold electronics do. Basically, it's the "hardest working" component in your charging system.

Because the rectifier and regulating devices are integrated into one module, I'm not sure the best way to diagnose. Usually, you diagnose a failed regulator by monitoring battery charging voltage go to 20vdc or more. While your battery is installed, if you measure the voltage across the poles at 12vdc, but when the engine is running the voltage measures 25vdc, then the regulator is not keeping the voltage =<14vdc as it should.

To test a rectifier, you need a diode test function on your multimeter and it gets more complicated from there.

Ok, it's 3am and I'm going to be on a fishing boat before 5:30am... I'm almost delrious and I'm sorry for the mispellings and rambling.