KLR dead battery?

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dooveman

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It's your regulator that's shot. If it was the rectifier you would get less than the normal 14v. The regulator is supposed to keep it down but it sounds like the regulator is shot and you are overcharging.

Brian
 
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klrman

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Thanks Dooveman, that is a very good link:clap: Electicals is my weak point. My 2 strokes just had CDI's and they never failed on me, so I never had much electrical experience. I didn't talk to the dealer. Last time he told me he can't do warranty replacements if I don't bring the bike to him, but I don't want to really bring it to him anyway.
 
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edzzed

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what about bringing it to another dealer. kawasaki pays the dealer when it's a warranty issue. if you are getting 20 volts sooner or later it'll burn something out. or potentially cause a fire. best case scenario will leave you stranded. my 2 cents
 
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klrman

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I kind of want to work on the electricals as when I understand it all, I will be a little more confident when I take it on long adventures where there are no mechanics. I never bought my MX bikes to the dealers, either and it is kind of a good feeling:D
 
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klrman

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I noticed many people are reading this thread. We all probably want to know as much as possible about our batteries and charging system so that we can avoid or quickly fix what is wrong. I switched the regulator/rectifier (1 unit in KLR's) with my brother's bike and ran his in mine and hooked up my voltmeter to the battery terminals and at idle it was reading around 12.8V and at 4,000 rpm it was reading 14.5V. So it was definately a faulty regulator. The faulty one was putting out 20 volts. Nice to have 2 of the same bikes to switch things around after testing just to confirm. The regulator/rectifier is that silver box under the seat about 3 inches long bolted to the rear fender with fins on it.

Don't want to start a new thread, but is there a kick starter/decompression kit for the KLR? Did not find one on the net. The second time the battery died, we were at Jonhson lake FSR and a long way from a hill and the beast is not easy to bump start on the flats.:mad3::mad3:Still have a sore back pushing it:D
 
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Norm

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What were the symptoms of battery problems?

Is it possible that your no start was a safety switch issue rather than a dead battery?

The KLR hasn't the most powerful charging system around but will have no problem keeping the battery up unless something is amiss. Some of us run a headlight cut out switch to allow the headlight to be switched off on slow hot trails but I've never had a problem. The voltmeter in my dash allows me to keep tabs on things and my '04 seems to keep up even in slow, hot going.
 
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Norm

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Opps! Should have read the entire thread as I didn't see the 20 volt values until now.

You mentioned that the regulator was "putting out" 20 volts...

The KLR (like almost all bikes) uses a permanent magnet rotor in the alternator which means that the alternator always produces full output at all times unlike a typical cage alternator which matches the output to the required load. The KLR regulator acts to put a load on the charging system to drop the output to the maximum voltage set point. If the regulator fails or looses its ground connection the alternator output will be whatever it can produce, limited only by engine speed.

I've written several articles on batteries and charging which are on Mark's site and DSN_KLR650 on Yahoo. I'm not really part of this group so someone would be sure to take it wrongly if I posted them here.

If anyone would like a copy just let me know as building up favours with others is always a good practice (VBG).
 
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klrman

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Hey Norm, any chargning system knowledge is appreciated. I would love a copy of your article. The dealer I purchased the bike from did actually put the regulator under warranty and the new one is working just fine now. Putting out 14.5 volts at 3,000 rpm and 12.8 at idle.
 
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Yak_KLR650

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Norm wrote:
I'm not really part of this group so someone would be sure to take it wrongly if I posted them here.
Click to expand...
Norm, you're signed up with this group, you contribute a lot of knowledge/experience to this group. Post away! Please!:tup:

Heck I post lots and most of the time don't know what I'm talking about!:TTT:
 
Island Hopper

Island Hopper

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Did your dealer replace the battery as well? Probably should try for a warranty replacement on that too seems as it suffered a bit of cooking. I have a backup kicker on my 640, haven't needed it but it's nice to know it's there. Possibly the setup from the KLR 600 would fit.
 
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klrman

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Most of the time I don't know what I'm talking about either, so that at least makes two of us:D. Anyone who contributes any knowledge is always great as we all learn from eachother.

No, they did not replace the battery, but I will soon get a Maintenance free one anyway so I don't need to keep watching the water level on the stock one.

Hey Scottiedog... oneday, KLR's will unite and squisch your Suzuk:dr:
 
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