Please Help Out

[jehutyanubis]

hi guys, i have a zl400A and i would like to get some inputs regarding my situation.
ive had my bike for about 6 months and since last week ive had this problem

as of the moment, whenever i try to start my bike, the starter motor sounds sluggish and it wont start.
i tried engaging the choke and still it wont start.
if i keep on trying, the battery eventually drains and all i get is a clicking sound at the end though the rpm meter still climbs up but no sound whatsoever from the starter motor.

i tried replacing the battery and it started just fine. i took the bike for a ride approx 30 miles and before going home, i stopped by a battery store and asked them to measure the voltage the battery.
heres what i got:

bike is off, 12 volts --- sometimes it becomes 12.1 but mostly 12 volts
bike is on, lights on at low --- voltage is 12 something-ish even when i rev the motor
even when the battery was newly installed, the voltage never exceed 13 volts when the bike was on

my mechanic tells me that the rectifier feels warm which means that its charging
were planning on redoing the wiring, replacing the wires with new fresh ones since the bike is old and the wires there now look dated ---- would this help?

if it comes down to replacing the rectifier, would it be possible to substitute other brand rectifiers?
where i live, i havent seen another 400cc Eliminator however there are a lot of surplus Honda Super 4 rectifiers here

Also can somebody tell me what kind of rectifier is the eliminator? like how many wires? ive seen 7 wire rectifiers for sale so please give me a brief explanation about what kind of rectifier should i be looking for?

any help would be appreciated

 

[jehutyanubis]

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btw my battery is a Motolite 12n9 battery. when i first bought it, it had 12.5 volts worth of charge

 

[kawboy]

bike is off, 12 volts --- sometimes it becomes 12.1 but mostly 12 volts
bike is on, lights on at low --- voltage is 12 something-ish even when i rev the motor
even when the battery was newly installed, the voltage never exceed 13 volts when the bike was on

When you rev the engine, the battery voltage should rise to 13.5 or so.

my mechanic tells me that the rectifier feels warm which means that its charging

Really? The voltage tells you whether it's charging or not, not the temperature.

As for replacement, look for ZL600 reg/rec, or look for aftermarket, ebay maybe.

Good luck.

 

[gosupes]

Ditto what kawboy said. If i had a mechanic tell me it was charging just because a regulator was warm, i would find a new mechanic.

 

[jmassengill]

A page out of the ZL600 supplement:


I have no idea how close this is to a ZL400 but, I had to replace my Voltage regulator because mine had a terminal broken off of it. This type of Voltage Regulator is on lots of Kawasaki equipment, Don't go buy a 20 something year old used regulator off of ebay ..... You can sometimes find this type of regulator on lawn equipment. I don't know if this page will help you or not: http://www.psep.biz/store/kawasaki_motorcycle_voltage_regulators.htm

From what I know, the stator on this type of engine rarely goes bad. Mine had the yellow wires melted together and after separating the 3 wires and taping them and replacing the connection to the regulator my 600 charges like mad.

I agree with everyone else, the only way you can tell if you are charging is by a voltage reading off the battery. Just because the regulator is getting warm means nothing. Heat is the enemy of all solid state devices and that could also be a sign that the regulator has failed!

Much good luck!

 

[jehutyanubis]

hi guys thanks for the replies, i really appreciate it.

there is really a lack of good mechanics here who have formal education about motorcycles.
shops here would usually rip you off with either parts or services but i will keep that as a last option.

btw, would other brand rectifiers work with eliminator?
what about the pins? there seems to be a lot of choices with the pin setup of the voltage regulator

lastly, there are a lot of bikes here that are less than 200 cc, would their regulators work with my bike?
would the displacement of the engine have anythingto do with the voltage? i mean even if its a small bike or 400cc, there voltage is always 12v right?

 

[kawboy]

The pin-out is shown in johnny's post above.

Couldn't tell you which ones from other bikes will/won't work.