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alternator issues?

Graphicjunkie

Graphicjunkie

Scooter
hey everyone.  Been a while since I've been on the forum.  Blew me away that i had to completely re-register. 

Odd thing happened to me yesterday.  I rode to work, bike worked fine.  I parked the bike at the office and locked the steering.
I came out to go home, and the bike wouldn't start.  It would respond to the keypress, cycle the gauges, and when I hit the start button, the whole gauge panel would go blank.  Then the oil light would barely flicker for a minute.  Then everything would reset.
I did this for a few minutes and then it gave me immobilizer error.  I hit the buttons and that gave me code 37.  Turns out that this is an error with the steering lock.  Local stealership was worthless with advice.  The guy tells me this, but sits there like gomer pile on the phone saying that it doesn't tell what's to do next.  NICE.  But then as we are talking and working, it seems to be the battery is getting weaker and weaker.
So I decide to jump start the bike.  I get a friend with some cables, and we jump the bike.  (For those of you that don't know, this is fine to do as long as you don't have the source vehicle running as that is too much juice.)  The bike functions just fine and starts.
But as soon as I take the cables from the battery, the bike dies....HMMM..

So we do it again, and once again it starts just fine and runs great while connected.  I hold the RPM's about 1000 for a minute thinking that the battery was just really low for some reason and needed to just charge for a minute.  Then I pull the cables.  It isn't able to maintain RPM's and stumbles and dies.  So I'm guessing that the code 37 is thrown because the system didn't have the juice to unlock the bars at first, but isn't actually the correct code.  Ironically, the system still isn't throwing any other code.

I only have 7K miles on my bike.  I'm having a hard time believing that the alternator/stator is bad already, but guessing that this is the case.  Now I get to have the fun of towing my bike 70 miles back to my house so that I can work on it.  The stealership wants 130 to tow, and then something similar to do the original diag. 

Has anyone else dealt with this kind of thing?  Any suggestions?
 
You might have a bad battery. A fair amount of C14's have had battery issues when they were very low mileage, or just plain new. IIRC, this bike needs a good battery to run. The alternator doesn't seem to overcome a bad battery. You just may need to replace (or Kawasaki if still under warranty), the battery. Then all may be good.
Of course there is always the chance that you might have the first bad alternator I've heard of on a C14!  ???
 
So is this to say that the alternator/stator doesn't provide sufficient charge for our bikes?  Typically, the battery is only used for starting functions.  Once running, the alternator/stator provides all the juice.  I plan on replacing the battery no matter what, as it's now 3 years old.  But I don't want to replace it and realize it's just being tortured and ruined.
 
Put the battery in and hook up an amp meter. Then see if the battery is discharging when running.
 
graphicjunkie said:
So is this to say that the alternator/stator doesn't provide sufficient charge for our bikes?  Typically, the battery is only used for starting functions.  Once running, the alternator/stator provides all the juice.  I plan on replacing the battery no matter what, as it's now 3 years old.  But I don't want to replace it and realize it's just being tortured and ruined.
Click to expand...

If the battery is shorted out internally, it could provide enough of a drag on the system that the bike wouldn't run.  The battery on my '08 got weak and I replaced it at 21/2 years.
 
agreed, battery...or loose connectors that were connected better when the jumper clamps were attached?
 
graphicjunkie said:
hey everyone.  Been a while since I've been on the forum.  Blew me away that i had to completely re-register. 
Click to expand...

Hey Willy,
  Good to see you fond your way back. :)
My guess from way down here is, it's your battery.  These bikes will NOT
run with a totally open or shorted battery.  If you pull your battery and have
it load tested, I bet it will fail.
  Get a new one from Murph, his AGM battery is one of the best replacement
choices.

Mick
Tucson

 
I agree with everyone else, it's the battery.

When I went to start mine after it had been sitting for a couple months, it would cycle the gauges, but then nothing when I hit the starter.  I connected my booster charger / jump starter, and it fired right up.  I disconnected the charger, and it ran for about 15 seconds, then stumbled and died.  I let it charge for about 10 minutes, then restarted it, and then it would run after disconnecting the charger.

I let it run for about 15 minutes, then shut it off, and it would not restart.  It did have enough juice that I could bump start it rolling down my driveway though.


Is Murph still selling batteries for the C14?  Last I checked he only shows them for Hayabusa, KLR, and the Wee-Strom.
 
Either charge the battery up on a charger and try it again, or else replace it. Then once you have a known good battery in the bike and have it running, check the voltage on the meter panel. If it's above about 13.5volts with the engine running, your alternator is fine.

If the battery is totally flat, the engine will die when you remove the cables, because the alternator isn't able to sustain voltage to the bike since all it's current is going straight into the battery.
 
Hi All,

I'm looking for a new battery (mine died this Winter), and in a search on the Forum, this thread came up (along with a lot of info on TPS & Key Fob stuff)...

Anyway....

I wanted to see what knowledge is out there about batteries, and then (hopefully) be able to find a supporting vendor to purchase one from.

Update:  Just ordered the AGM battery from Murphs.

Thanks for the information here.....again.....AWESOME!
 
What everyone else said its probably the battery. With fuel pump, high energy ignition, lights and all, the battery has to be in good shape to run the bike. Charge it out of the bike, check voltage after charging (should be at least 12 volts) and then make sure you have clean tight connections. with bike running should be minimum of 13.5 volts.
 
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