help needed drz400 s - dynamo problem
 

Hi there! We'll be arriving in chichester on Tuesday the 12th and I have a problem with my DRZ. The battery is either draining or not loading or both. I just changed the regulator and see how that goes, but i am afraid its the dynamo.
We'll be doing a sailing course from Wednesday till sunday, so I can leave my bike for repair. On tuesday 19th we have to catch the ferry to Santander.
Anyone has suggestions for help?

thank you in advance,

Els

I'm sure a good shop with someone who understands electrics can sort you out. The Suzuki has a very simple, basic charging system.

In English, the "dynamo" is usually referred to as a "Stator".

I'm not positive, but I think your bike's stator has a "pick up coil" AKA Pulse coil. The pick up coil is typically attached next to the Stator.

Not sure on the DRZ ... but the DR650 has one and it is a common point of failure.

The bad news is a new or rebuilt stator can cost $200 to $400 USD, good news is a Pick up coil is about $30.
If your bike uses one .... check that first. Cheap and fairly easy to install a new one.

Also have them check your Stator's output. It should be putting out from "about" 13.9 up to 14.8 Volts at about 3500 RPM. Ideal is 14.2 Volts output.

Also, be certain of your battery. A dead cell in your battery can sometimes fool you into expensive and possibly unnecessary repairs. So double check to make sure your problem is not simply a bad battery. (very common mistake)

I would ask around in the Suzuki sub forum here on HUBB, quite a few DRZ400S experts around. (I owned the E model many years ago)

Good luck! bier

Agree with the above on the probability of the stator being bad. The stator is part of the alternator, which you call a dynamo. Output should be around 14 volts, not watts. The pickup coil runs the ignition, has nothing to do with the alternator. The good part about this, is that the bike will run even if the alternator is dead. If you have a kick start, you should be able to get it started, if not give it a push. If it runs, that pretty much confirms the stator diagnosis.

I was on a trip with a friend on a DRZ400, and his alternator failed. He kick started it for the rest of the trip and ran without lights.

Of course doing this will run your battery totally dead after a while. Some bikes require slight voltage left in the battery to run.

My DR650 will run on a nearly dead batt, but if you take the near dead battery out ... it will not run. And also, if the battery is totally, stone dead, it also will not run. Not sure this is the case on DRZ400S, but they are similar.

But this is with a GOOD Stator, so it's putting out enough to power ignition.

But if your stator is dead ... and battery is dead too ... not sure engine can keep going?

In similar situation as above, we bought a small car battery, strapped onto bike, and ran "total loss" then simply charged the battery up end of day or every day or two. (we used a small car battery, so ran the bike for days before needing a re-charge)

Even though it constantly discharged, the big batt had enough to power ignition coils, electronics and even lights.

It Is the dynamo or stator. Anyway I ended up besides the road and had to call the motorservice who accompanied e home. After returning home with my drz with a broken dynamo I loaded my old trusty Transalp 600 and took off again for holiday in the UK. Now we are in de Panne Belgium and it smells like sulfur and I have a swollen, hot battery. Diagnosis: a broken regulator. Such bad luck! :funmeterno:
So again I am in urgent need for help as the train through the tunnel we have to catch at 13 pm!

Trains and Ferries run everyday. Relax. Go to the bar, get a room and rest, you sound stressed out. :helpsmilie:

Chances are you can find a suitable Regulator/Rectifier at any Motorcycle Breakers (junk yard in American English)

Sometimes even a unit from a small car can work and be a Temp solution to get you and your bike home. It's very simple technology.

Be sure to replace that "swollen" battery. It's shot and actually COULD burst. This would not be good. So, get another battery, and get a good one unless you are selling the bike soon.

Once a new Reg/Rec is fitted have mech check voltage output. And, as with your DRZ, it should put out between 13.9 and 14.8. No more. It it only puts out 12V then your Battery will go dead in a few hours. It it's OVER, then it will COOK the battery, which is what is happening now

I'm betting if you measure it now it will read over 15 volts ... so it's OVER charging.

bier

This isn't going to help the OP, but just to follow up. In the incident I am talking about, my friends alternator quit on his DRZ400, he had a kickstarter, and he rode the bike for days kickstarting it, long after the battery was stone dead. Nothing else electrical worked on the bike for the remainder of the trip, but it ran. After thinking on it some more, it might have been an E model, not sure if the charging system is different, I've never owned a DRZ.

Yea, dunno Andy. My E model had no kick start at all ... electric start only.

I never ran it dead, but ... you could adapt a kick start kit to that bike ... or could be your friends bike may have been the very first DRZ400 ... I "believe" the designation was DRZ400G.??

It was a kick start only bike. Same year came DRZ400E, the model I owned. Electric start only. Then a year or so later came the DRZ400S. Totally different bike, totally street set up on wiring and electrics on the S model.

Not sure if the G or E model DRZ's were sold in UK or EU. (???) Just the "S".

Great that your friends bike would run with totally dead batt.

My DR650 won't, nor with batt out of bike.

But it will bump start even if the batt has only 9 or 10V left. Dash lights won't light but engine will start! I know cause I've run my batt down several times using too much heated gear for too long. The DR650 only puts out 200W max so really inadequate. I think the DRZ puts out about the same.

I switched off heated gear and headlight and the little DR650 re-charged my batt back up enough to crank over in just 20 minutes of highway riding! Go Suzuki!

Since then I've switched to HID headlight (30W vs 55W stock) and am more careful using heated gear.
bier