bike seems dead

[DobbieZXR]

Hi guys, I've got a '96 zxr and i've just sent it to the local mechanic to have a cam chain tensioner blade fitted. i got it back around a week ago, rode it home seemed fine. the next day i went out on it and it just died on the m1 (very inconvenient) took it back to him and he traced it to the regulator/rectifier. as i was stuck at my dads he got one off his mate at the suzuki dealership, we messed about and made some female connectors to fit on the block connector with (the one with the rubber waterproofing thing) tested it and heat shrinked it all, it ran 13V while running seemed ok. the next day i went to go out on it, turned the key and no light on dash at all. charged it over night and realised the dash lights where staying on without a key. it rained the night before so i just guessed it was earthing somewhere, continued charging then they went off. bike started and ran. i then washed it as it was covered in oily finger prints. came out about 2 hours later and lights are on dash again. tried the started with no keys and i can hear a strange noise coming from what sounds like the regulator connector, the bike wouldnt start, the lights just go dim on the dash, then come back gradually when you let go of anything that saps power, turned the ignition and it turns over but wont start, it eventully started and backfired (loudly) as it was flooded, as i toook it up the revs it misfired once and the revs dropped but then came back about half a second later. turned it off and then it wouldnt start again. charged it last night as i thought it would be dead from the mysterious lights. went in this morning, no light on, turned the key, about a second delay and the dash lit up, turned the key off and on a few times to see if it would do it again, and then theys topped all together and now it seems dead on the eletrics with the key on. ive checked the big fuse and all the fuses in the junction box, really stuck now as its my daily. Any help would be very appreciated, cheers guys! Harrison.

[banner001]

13V at the battery terminals when running is very low, the battery itself should be ~12.6V and at 4k rpm it should be ~14.5V, 13V is very low.

first, try using a reg/rec thats designed and made for the bike.

dash lights on without the key sound like the bike has been hotwired, or that you have a very dodgy and faulty ignition barrel?

you need to check your battery voltage with no drain, and at 4k rpm (no lights) and report back. then you need to set your multimeter to AC (this is all in the manual by the way) and check the output of your alternator, that will tell you if your charging circuit is good and its a dead reg/rec, or if its a dead battery. as for the lights on, could be faulty ignition barrel or water getting in and shorting connections?

[RedexRobB]

You need to get round the loom and check all the connecter blocks arent full of water. Also check the loom for any exposed wiring that thats come about by rubbing on the frame etc..

Anything that comes on without the ignition on is definately a short somewhere in the loom. Rectifier should be pumping out around 14.5 volts @ 4krpm on the battery terminals. Adding something thats not for the ZXR could lead to problems later so i would consider changing that for the proper unit.

[DobbieZXR]

i've just ordered a reg/rec off ebay, i've got a spare battery i can steal off my stepdads bike so il try them both when it arrives, i checked the loom around a week ago and all connections seemed good apart from this connector we made for the reg/rec I've got on it as it was temporary, Cheers anyway lads! il update in a few days