broke!
 

I'm currently at a motorway service station waiting for recovery as the ten has broke down. Was going down the motorway when the engine light came on, then about 25 miles later I got a 4k error code, then the needle fell to zero and stayed there.

Carried on and the bike was chugging, just about made it t the services. Slowed down and stalled, hit the starter and you get......click,click,click,click. So totally dead battery.

So.....I take it I've suffered the reg/rec problem?

Certainly sounds like it...I hope Yamaha are aware of how regular this is occurring.

Yep, it seems like yet another regulator failure.

That's a real arse. I assume you must be well out of warranty as your bike's a Khaki one? Looks like you might have to start trawling eBay for an FZ600 reg/rect unit and so the Stoic mod.

Nice to know the symptoms if it turns out the way we all think... I just received a second hand regulator in the post yesterday from a Fazer(thanks for the info Stoic) so the only thing to do this week is to test that it works and stash it somewhere on the moto...perhaps under the rear of the seat using the existing elastic rubber that is there?

I hope you get it all sorted out...keep us posted as whether it was that or something else?

:)

.

Just got home via the AA,.going to charge the battery and hopefully get the hike started then test it to see if its charging (im not good with elecs)

I had read about this failure but I didn't realise you got the engine light on 1st, and then a 4k error code?

Best read up about this mod a bit more then, I actually have a fazer but its thou not a 600.

Is this a problem with the Ten only, or does it effect R & X models also??

Not aware of any problems on R/X? Probably because the reg/rec unit is in a far more sensible location on these models!

right then.

Took the rec / reg off this morning, looks fine....no corrosion or damage. the plug also looks fine. before my scotland trip i had taken it apart, covered in ACF50 and made a little cover out of an old mountain bike innner tube to go around the plug.

i charged my battery and popped it back in.

With the ignition off the battery said 12.74
started bike, let iddle for 5 secs and it was 13.86v
left it for 8 -10 secs, now said 13.89v
reved it and the voltage dropped RIGHT down, couldnt read it as it was just falling numbers.
now its iddling again its reading 12v
revved again, same thing - major falling voltage.

SO....am i right to assume the actually reg/rec is knackered? also is the plug supposed to "clip" into the top of the unit? mine doesnt...it just pushes down on and then stops...no click feeling if you know what i mean.

also forgot to mention that when i pulled over due to this problem i could smell burning from engine. saying that though i had been riding all day at 75mph.

Talking off riding all day...i also noticed how quick the oil breather fills up. 2 to 3 days of all day riding (on road at 70mph ish) and it was full, is this normal?

any advice welcome as i now ****** all about elecs! :(

From what you are describe (if all the terminals are OK), it would seem unlikely the fault lies with the alternator, as it can produce the necessary voltage (well almost @ 13.8V), although not consistently (which �could� mean intermittent loss of one of the three phases in the alternator itself, but very unlikely). The remaining possibility that can give rise to correct voltage at tick-over and reduced voltage at higher revs is an open diode fault (failure of one of the bridging diodes) in the rectifier, which also cause the loss of one phase on the AC side of the charging system. This then causes the regulator to see a reduced reference voltage as engine speed rises, which in turns causes the regulator to reduce alternator output current (effectively it inverts everything).

So to cut a long story short, I�d have a stab in the dark that you�ve got a partial rectifier failure, which is why you are seeing some signs of charging, be it erratic and a bit weird, the regulator is probably OK. However, as the regulator/rectifier unit on the XT660 is combined, it of course means that to all intents and purposes the whole thing is shagged!

Bear in mind the above is of course only an educated guess! I would suggest your best course of action would first be to try and find a donor reg/rec unit to try out on your bike to confirm things.


BTW my oil breather fills up about the same as yours - don't get anything in it when riding the back roads, but as soon as you hit a constant engine speed for any length of time it fills up.

As for the connector it should click home, but I must say mine has less of a pronounced click these days due to dielectric grease, ACF50 etc I've used on the connector! Pull it though and it shouldn't come back off (without releasing the tab).

cheers for that.

So am i right in thinking that people dont buy OEM reg / rec as there crap......instead they replace them with a Fazer 600 one?

I'll replace it and then take it from there i guess. Is there anywhere i can find out what voltage readings i should be looking for.....so X amount at idle, X amount at 5k revs e.t.c

In a normally functioning charging system the voltage should be 13.6-14.4V at pretty much all engine speeds from tick-over all the way to the top (theoretical peak should be at 5000rpm). The charging voltage should be pretty much constant whatever the engine speed is, but only if the voltage regulator is doing its job. You should not notice any significant variation in voltage (if the load is constant) with engine speed assuming everything is working as it should.

A normally charged battery should give about 12.8Vin an open circuit.

OEM reg/rect would probably be fine, it's just that a second hand FZ600 one is going to be a whole lot cheaper and it has flying leads so the loom doesn't connect directly to it. It could therefore be mounted elsewhere if you wanted?

Thanks for this, been a great help.

Tested the bike again this morning. Battery now at 11.86v....let it idle for a few minutes taking random readings and it just stays at 11.86, even when reving it.

Can the Fazer one be mounted in the same place, like a direct swap? i take it you have to take out the wires from the orginal plug to make them connect to the fazer one? (ive seen a pic of a fazer one and the leads look like each one has a connector?)

i ask this as i'm ****e with elecs so think i may have to buy a Yam one due to it being a direct swap.

im also going to Zip tie the plug down, so it cant vibrate out. also use elec grease and make another boot cover for it! AND.....in theory...to be extra safe (especially when travelling abroad) carry a spare unit???

Yes, you'll need to cut the plug off the loom on your bike and connect to the leads attached to the fazer unit, either spades, solder or if you're flash then new multiplugs of the waterproof variety!

Have you read this yet... http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=17054

brill, thanks for that. think of going to buy a patterned one off ebay, direct swap that way.

May treat my self to a new battery too, flatted this one a few times now. Any battery recommendations? place to buy (UK) e.t.c

Thanks

My bike's 4 years old now and the battery has been noticeably dropping off on cold start cranking, it may last a while longer, 4 years isn't a bad innings for a battery, but I don't won't to get caught out. I bought a new one last week. The cheapest I could find for a "reputable" brand was on eBay for a Yuasa YT9-BS...

http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/25114...bar&adtype=pla

Intriguing though. Khaki bike means that, as far as I know, it's still only 2008 bikes that have had the failure. Strange that it's taken so long to happen though, most of the others went fairly early on as far as I remember.

can i just double check that the battery in the link is the one for my 09 Ten?

My current battery says " GS GT9B-4"

Yep, it's the correct one Yuasa YT9B-BS as you can see at AJ Sutton Yamaha dealers by clicking here (but they want �95!) :chairfall:

well......my new rec /reg arrived. Its a slightly different shape, fits o.k though. Had a small scare when plugging it in.......man alive its a tight fit!!

Fired the bike up, meter on battery.....14.1v :) let it idle, kept checking, rev'd her for a bit...still 14.1v :)

So im going to ride her round the block loads and keep checking. I dont want to go too far because i dont want to break down far away from home.

As for the connection (the actual pins) i will put some ACF50 on. i read somewhere that electrical grease can cause problems when put directly onto connections?? (good for putting around connection to stop water and so on)

Cheers for your help.

Now that's more like it, nice, high and constant.:yahoo:

Nothing wrong with a good quality dielectric grease, lubing and protecting terminal is what it was designed for. Good ones are designed to insulate when in a thick film, to stop terminal bridging, but in thin micro-films, such as on the terminal blades themselves they are highly conductive, and can in fact reduce resistance. The best types are pH neutral and also act as corrosion inhibitors too. You may have problems with dielectric lubricants if the terminals are worn, poorly fitting (loose) or already have a high resistance though. In the old days people used to use vasoline to protect terminals, which isn't so good (and neither is WD-40). I use Electrolube CG52b, which is also a good switch or moving contact lubricant.

<s n i g g e r > I'm such a child...... :D

Left myself wide open to that one!

Did you get sorted Phil ,is the bike running ok now ?

Just as a precaution Phil I would check the connector again. Twice my 2009 has gone and twice I have replaced the Rec and all seemed well until I took the connector apart and inspected it properly. Disconnect it and pop the yellow tab out. That way you get a really good look inside. Pay particular attention to the Earth lead (black one). Mine was loose, which overheated and the surrounding plastic became brittle and split which caused even more of a loose connection. There is a link for a new connector http://www.rmstator.com/ProductInfo....F&cf=v1YY42952 , and some more rec info and choices here http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=19792

so how does the yellow bit come out? just get a flat blade in and lever it out? dont want to bust anything because i need my bike up and running at the mo.

Tar

Yeah you need some precision screwdrivers (tiny ones). Just lever it out gently and evenly, you do have to be patient with it.