Alternator short

[STD-1300]

Following on from my previous thread here.

Recap and update, bike was running hot/idling high, turns out there was no coolant and on refilling it emptied itself immediately from somewhere within the V which I couldn't identify.

Also at the same time the bike stopped charging, I replaced the battery even though it was a long shot, tested all fuses. I probably should of done some further diagnostics with the bike running but regardless I removed the throttle body in search of the leak.



In removal of the throttle body (god help me putting this all back together ) I found one of the two hoses that runs to the IACV had a big hole in it. The orientation of the hole meant the water was squirting out directly into the top of the alternator.

I did the two sub harness troubleshooting tests in the manual however on testing the 2p connector I notice there is voltage regardless of the position of the kill switch, I'm not sure if that means anything, but this is what it says in the workshop manual, it seems like it's implying it should only be there when the kill switch is on?



I proceeded to removed the alternator anyway and continued with the troubleshooting and found there is continuity between the case and the windings. Which makes a lot of sense, as I dumped a load of K-seal in there at the first chance and you can clearly see the copper particulate covering much of the alternator.



Now where to go from here, blast the whole thing in carb cleaner? dunk it in a bucket of solvent?

EDIT: seems the diodes are not diodeing either, 3 out of 4 have continuity in both directions.

 

[DannoXYZ]

Maybe carb-cleaner to dissolve sticky stuff. Then blast with compressed air.

All those metal particles is wreaking havoc, need to remove every last one of them.

Maybe even ultrasonic soak to shake metal particles out.

 

[STD-1300]

Well gave the carb cleaner a go and it's really not doing it, actually managed to reduce the resistance of the short.

Think I will need to disassemble it for a more thorough cleaning, I would just buy a new 2nd hand alternator but can't find one for sale at the moment, just missed one on ebay that I was deliberating about

 

[DannoXYZ]

Yeah, all that metal powder’s just hiding in nooks and cracks. Need to scrub it out using brushes and running soap & water.

 

[STD-1300]

I ended up getting a replacement rebuilt alternator. I didn't manage to clean it, in fact the more I tried the lower the resistance of the shorts would get.

All back together now, had to do it a couple of time as first time round it was idling at 4-5k. Found I had managed to pinch the hose going to the thermowax unit when installing the throttle body.

 

[SMSW]

Glad to hear you are back together.

FYI, the insulation on copper conductors in motors (aka magnet wire) is 'enamel' - essentially a thin layer of paint. Carb cleaner is a mix of very strong solvents that may dissolve that insulating paint/enamel on the wire. Brake cleaner, is usually trichloroethylene(?) that is more of a grease solvent than a paint solvent. If spraying reduced the resistance to ground, then you might have been dissolving the 'enamel'. A good test would be to take a clean piece of motor winding wire, soak it in some carb cleaner for a few hours, and then see if the coating on the wire has been removed/damaged.

 

[ST-Traveler]

Well gave the carb cleaner a go and it's really not doing it, actually managed to reduce the resistance of the short.

Think I will need to disassemble it for a more thorough cleaning, I would just buy a new 2nd hand alternator but can't find one for sale at the moment, just missed one on ebay that I was deliberating about

I have a used one for sale. out of a 2007