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Alternator Not Charging

FrankZ

Tuned and Synch'ed
GT di Razza Pura
Joined
May 16, 2017
Messages
68
Location
Pittsburgh
Last Sunday, I took my Eldo for a ride, after doing maintenance work/ cleaning on it during the previous week. About an hour into my ride, the red warning light illuminated, and the word "SERVICE" appeared in place of the odometer reading. I didn't have the owner's manual with me to give me any guidance. I pulled over after about a mile of riding, looked for oil leaks, appeared good. The starter just clicked, which indicated the charging system wasn't working, causing the warning light. I caught it in gear to start it, and headed for home. I almost made it, but it died about 2 miles short. I kept an eye on the volt reading along the way, looks like 7.0 is the minimum required to keep the bike running. After charging the battery & diagnosing the problem, I found an open 40 Amp fuse, which protects the alternator charging circuit to the battery. The fuse was melted, with one of the contacts broken from the fuse, stuck in the fuse holder, indicating high heat, probably due to corrosion causing a bad contact. (I verified last year that the wiring modification at the alternator was done, so that's not a cause of the problem) I've attached a picture of the bad fuse. Alternator Fuse Meltdown I took it for a ride today, checking the fuse for heat by feeling it whenever I made a stop. I didn't notice any warmth from it, with about an hour of riding. I'm hoping that's the end of the problem. It may be something for 1400 owners to keep an eye on.

Just to note, the warning light and Service message did not go out by themselves after the repair. I went into the Service menu option on the Speedometer, and performed the Reset Coupon option. The light stayed on until I keyed off the ignition, and turned it back on.
 
Interesting. And worrisome, given that you've done/verified the alternator wiring modification. Positive that the modification was done correctly?
 
The corrosion is the concerning part. How has that happened to the fuses which are tucked away? Are the other fuses corroding?

Stephen
 
use Deoxit 100 on the fuses and electrical connections,
make sure the female connectors are tight when installing the fuses.
If that doesnt work fix it with a sledge hammer
 
Interesting. And worrisome, given that you've done/verified the alternator wiring modification. Positive that the modification was done correctly?
To the best of my knowledge, the mod was done properly. I may take another look at it in the future to make sure the proper terminal is hooked up. I definitely know that there's only one wire going to that plug.
 
The corrosion is the concerning part. How has that happened to the fuses which are tucked away? Are the other fuses corroding?

Stephen
Haven't checked the other fuses yet. Bike was a demo model, possibly not stored properly during the winter, but that's just speculation. I'm also experiencing corrosion on the wheels, which I've seen at least one other owner having an issue with on these forums. I clean them up with Simichrome polish to the best of my ability, not to perfection. I can't see the wheels while I'm riding anyway, and it's not a show bike.
 
use Deoxit 100 on the fuses and electrical connections,
make sure the female connectors are tight when installing the fuses.
If that doesnt work fix it with a sledge hammer
I'll have to give that a try (the Deoxit, not the sledge). If the problem returns, I may substitute an inline fuse holder with a maxi fuse
 
the reason it melted was a dirty or loose connection the deoxit 100 will restore electrical connectivity,
and dissolve the corrosion the female clamp of the connector will enhance the grip.
They should have anodised the wheels,
leaving them bare polished aluminum was dumb
 
It's worth spraying an electrcal contact cleaner into all connectors and switches you can find on the bike. Helps to prevent this sort of thing happening.
 
Brian get yourself a can of Deoxit 100 spray this will work the best on any electric connection after you have cleaned it with the connector spray.
 
Haven't checked the other fuses yet. Bike was a demo model, possibly not stored properly during the winter, but that's just speculation. I'm also experiencing corrosion on the wheels, which I've seen at least one other owner having an issue with on these forums. I clean them up with Simichrome polish to the best of my ability, not to perfection. I can't see the wheels while I'm riding anyway, and it's not a show bike.

Just to update this, I looked at all the fuses this morning, no sign of any melting on them, including the one I replaced. I do plan to get that Deoxit, and give them all a coat of that. Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm hoping it's a one time failure.
 
Setting out from Sydney last Sunday morning on my 1400 Touring for the 400km ride back home, we had just enjoyed riding over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and were headed west on the motorway to leave the city and head up into the mountains. I went to engage cruise, but it was inactive...red triangle and SERVICE. Within a few minutes, I had a yellow light for traction control, then another for ABS. I had a minute to mull that over before we entered the Lane Cove Tunnel. The engine quivered, and I knew that meant 'limp home mode.' Sure enough, SERVICE URGENT and the red triangle flashing. Managed to get into the left lane and coast to safety in a breakdown bay. After checking battery connections and restarting the bike with my Microstart, only to have it die within seconds, I called the tunnel control room and they sent a truck. Deposited in a quiet side street, I called my son, who was with us in an hour with a replacement battery (in case that was the issue) and his laptop with Guzzidiag installed. I had my cables with me. The battery was at 9.5v unloaded. We installed the replacement, cleared the codes and the bike started and ran normally. There was no charge from the alternator, however. The alternator fuse was fine. My son gave us his car to drive home, while he called a van to retrieve the bike. As luck would have it, my son lives 3 minutes from a Guzzi dealer, and they had no work on, accepting the bike the first week day and completing the replacement of the alternator the following day. I had done the alternator wiring mod as soon as it was advised on this forum. We drove my son's car to Canberra for this weekend to visit two of our daughters, and my son rode my bike the 3 hours from Sydney. He owns a Tuono, but was so taken with the 1400, he was peeved at having to drive a car back to Sydney. The bike is humming again, and we enjoyed a glorious 400km ride home in brilliant sunshine, with a tailwind, smooth roads and views to the horizon of the vivid green of the young wheat crops.

Stephen
 
Setting out from Sydney last Sunday morning on my 1400 Touring for the 400km ride back home, we had just enjoyed riding over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and were headed west on the motorway to leave the city and head up into the mountains. I went to engage cruise, but it was inactive...red triangle and SERVICE. Within a few minutes, I had a yellow light for traction control, then another for ABS. I had a minute to mull that over before we entered the Lane Cove Tunnel. The engine quivered, and I knew that meant 'limp home mode.' Sure enough, SERVICE URGENT and the red triangle flashing. Managed to get into the left lane and coast to safety in a breakdown bay. After checking battery connections and restarting the bike with my Microstart, only to have it die within seconds, I called the tunnel control room and they sent a truck. Deposited in a quiet side street, I called my son, who was with us in an hour with a replacement battery (in case that was the issue) and his laptop with Guzzidiag installed. I had my cables with me. The battery was at 9.5v unloaded. We installed the replacement, cleared the codes and the bike started and ran normally. There was no charge from the alternator, however. The alternator fuse was fine. My son gave us his car to drive home, while he called a van to retrieve the bike. As luck would have it, my son lives 3 minutes from a Guzzi dealer, and they had no work on, accepting the bike the first week day and completing the replacement of the alternator the following day. I had done the alternator wiring mod as soon as it was advised on this forum. We drove my son's car to Canberra for this weekend to visit two of our daughters, and my son rode my bike the 3 hours from Sydney. He owns a Tuono, but was so taken with the 1400, he was peeved at having to drive a car back to Sydney. The bike is humming again, and we enjoyed a glorious 400km ride home in brilliant sunshine, with a tailwind, smooth roads and views to the horizon of the vivid green of the young wheat crops.

Stephen
Good to know you have things straightened out after your unfortunate incident. Just for curiosity, How old/ how many km on your bike? Was it a warranty repair?
 
I have 4 wheels now days, after 450,000 Guzzi miles I quit riding in the rain, and I retired because I didn't want to be a dash mechanic. All my bikes are water proven, not computer generated. More glitch's than carters got pills for.
 
It's been over a year since I had this problem. I check the charging voltage occasionally while riding, especially since I found no obvious cause of the fuse melting. Yesterday, voltage was reading 13.5 volts, with slight fluctuation. Voltage normally reads 14.1, stays pretty constant. I pulled over and checked the fuse, which was very hot. I flipped the fuse around and reinstalled it, voltage was back up to 14.1, was good for the rest of my riding. Today, I tried to remove the terminals from the fuse box, could only remove one, other one was melted into the plastic. The one I did get out looked good. I ordered an inline fuse holder, to eliminate the original fuse box location. I'm confident this will solve the problem once and for all. New fuse holder is rated 40A, and waterproof, coming from a marine supply store.
 
Hi to all. Had this very issue with my cali 1400 touring during a ride through Tasmania, my issue was not a melted fuse but very bad oxidation of the blade terminals. Volts down to about 13.2V. First attempt was to clean the blades which bought the volts back to around 13.9V. Ended up replacing all the main fuses and problem solved, back to 14.2-14.3V Cheers, Calivic.
 
Just had exactly this same problem with the fuse. My bike has charged at around 13.6v for as long as I can remember, after I replaced the fuse it is now charging at 14.1v. I am going to replace it with one of these...
 

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