1976 FXE Alternator Issues

[SanB2013]

I'm getting ready to pull the alternator/stator.  Last fall the bike wasn't charging and I found that the connector from the voltage to the stator was melted.  I cleaned the connectors and did a little pinching with needle nose pliers and it began charging good again.  Now that winter is here I need to correct this and would like to know what is the best thing to do to prevent this from happening again.  The previous owner had replaced the stator and voltage regulator a few years ago so something either wasn't done right or maybe better parts should have been used.    Any suggestions on best practices to do the R&R and best repair parts to use will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Steve

[tmwmoose]

I would pull the wires and pins or sockets out of the stator plug cut the ends off and splice and solder some wire back on the stator leads (use the same gauge wire ) and run it thru the stator plug /block using rtv on the wires as I do that oh and shrink tube on the soldered connection and usually had the connection portion in the plug . Coat up the plug and inboard wires were they enter the plug with rtv and postion it in the case as normal and finish securing the stator and associated hardware . Now you have leads coming out to hook up to the regulator how ever you want and the trouble some case connection stuff is over and the stator thus lives longer. I always kept old stator plugs and regulator plug ends to have an assortment of stuff to be creative like using a old female regulator plug on the stator leads to plug into a regulator that used a male plug for the stator or vice versa

[david lee]

I would pull the wires and pins or sockets out of the stator plug cut the ends off and splice and solder some wire back on the stator leads (use the same gauge wire ) and run it thru the stator plug /block using rtv on the wires as I do that oh and shrink tube on the soldered connection and usually had the connection portion in the plug . Coat up the plug and inboard wires were they enter the plug with rtv and postion it in the case as normal and finish securing the stator and associated hardware . Now you have leads coming out to hook up to the regulator how ever you want and the trouble some case connection stuff is over and the stator thus lives longer. I always kept old stator plugs and regulator plug ends to have an assortment of stuff to be creative like using a old female regulator plug on the stator leads to plug into a regulator that used a male plug for the stator or vice versa

thats what i did that plug can burn the contacts

[76shuvlinoff]

When it comes time for a complete replacement go with the later 2 pin 32 amp stator and regulator from Cycle Electric. The connection snaps together tight and is much more secure, your batteries will last longer, and your old rotor will work with it.

If you go that deep and have to take the primary drive apart it's a good time to check the condition of chain and sprockets. When you reassemble check the alignment of the sprockets.  There may have been several previous owners in there along the way.

Mark

[Reddog74usa]

Cycle electric is very good however I went with a spyke 32 amp set up. Was a lot less money, works great and is a very good quality part MADE IN USA 

[76shuvlinoff]

  for Spyke too

[friday]

what does "made in usa" mean?

country of origin , mfg in , or buy me , made from local and imported ingredients

[JW113]

Speaking from personal experience, it doesn't mean anything anymore. If it means a lot to you, you need to do the research yourself to confirm. The FTC here in the USA does not do squat to enforce it from what I can see. How can they? It would take an army of inspectors. That said, some suppliers I think you can trust like S&S, etc. I (foolishly) bought something from V-Tiwan that was advertised as "Made In USA", but when it arrived, clearly was not. Said Taiwan on the box...

-JW

[Reddog74usa]

Ok, it means I saw pics of the manufacturing facility in California, United States of America. Called them at a United States of America phone number, talked to an American and received the parts from a United States of America address. Yes we do still make things in the USA. Got it. good fer you

[tmwmoose]

what does "made in usa" mean?

country of origin , mfg in , or buy me , made from local and imported ingredients

In today's world it means, The idea came from USA 

[SanB2013]

When it comes time for a complete replacement go with the later 2 pin 32 amp stator and regulator from Cycle Electric. The connection snaps together tight and is much more secure, your batteries will last longer, and your old rotor will work with it.

If you go that deep and have to take the primary drive apart it's a good time to check the condition of chain and sprockets. When you reassemble check the alignment of the sprockets.  There may have been several previous owners in there along the way.

Mark

The previous owner gave me the receipt for stator he had bought and it indicates it was a 17 amp stator so I'll be upgrading.  I began removing the primary and was following the manual, as good as it is, and when removing the clutch basket several of the roller bearings from the hub bearing fell out.  I had a pan under the bike so I'm pretty sure I found all the rollers and now I'm one short.  It appears that I need 20 and I only have 19.  Now I'm not sure if I lost one or if when the PO put it back together he lost one.  Hmmmmm........  Also I'm wondering if I took the clutch apart correctly?  Are you supposed to remove the basket and hub off together or separately as I did?  When I put this back together do I put them together on the bench and back on the trans as a unit?

Steve

[Tynker]

When you put it back together, pack the bearings with heavy grease, so the bearings will stay in place.

[friday]

those original 20 roller cages are tricky .  back when I had one I cleaned it dry then put a run of sticky tape around the outside , popped the 20 rollers in their slots , they stuck there awrighty .
I slid the cage over the hub then ripped the tape off , then I played the basket n chain dance .

I prefer the long 52 or how ever many = no cage , no problem

[76shuvlinoff]

Been so long since I've had the original set up in there I can't remember the exact order of assembly  .

[david lee]

install as one unit

[SanB2013]

install as one unit

Okay, so grease and install bearings in the hub on the bench then slide clutch drum on the hub over the bearings then install all together with chain and sprocket over the trans keyway.  Will there be any problem being sure to align the keyway on the trans shaft?  Probably not but just looking for any tips to help make this as easy as possible.

[david lee]

once the key way is lined up it will slip on make sure the key way is level with the shaft or slightly tilted towards the outer.i found it easier with the key way in the top position so it dosent fall out

[friday]

If your referring to the manual it reads .....

" lift the assembled components as a complete unit and slide the compensating sprocket and clutch DRUM into place in the chaincase "

you dont include the clutch HUB , that is hopefully already bolted on the main shaft and STRAIGHT.  one of the common problems that show up is the key walks and the hub cannot sit square and is often over looked
and misdiagnosed as another problem OR the hub cracks or the main shaft cracks

Ive never heard of anyone fit the whole primary including the hub in one swoop plus the key! . The Hub should go on and stay on , theres no reason for its removal unless its for replacement or replacement of cases or the trans is being removed

[david lee]

If your referring to the manual it reads .....

" lift the assembled components as a complete unit and slide the compensating sprocket and clutch DRUM into place in the chaincase "

you dont include the clutch HUB , that is hopefully already bolted on the main shaft and STRAIGHT.  one of the common problems that show up is the key walks and the hub cannot sit square and is often over looked
and misdiagnosed as another problem OR the hub cracks or the main shaft cracks

Ive never heard of anyone fit the whole primary including the hub in one swoop plus the key! . The Hub should go on and stay on , theres no reason for its removal unless its for replacement or replacement of cases or the trans is being removed

the way i explained was because the inner primary had to come off plus to stop the 52 roller bearings from falling out upon assembly

[friday]

righto understood

we dont have pics   

depending on how far stripped the bike is 

[SanB2013]

My bearing is the 20 roller with the cage. I'll post a picture when I get back there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SanB2013]

My bearing is the 20 roller with the cage. I'll post a picture when I get back there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is the bearing I have.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dirtymike]

Looks like an OEM set up, clean. those clutch hub studs sure look worn a bit. Bet it was a bit grabby at the red light. Did you find the lost bearing

[friday]

thats after market 5 stud hub .  those 5 coil springs go with a retainer set up . 19 roller would have me worried but if aint there it probably never was unless its wedged some where behind .

your options for clutch is either enlarge the holes in the clutch discs .  you can replace the studs for either 3 stud or 5 stud . you can replace hub with 3 stud or 5 stud hub....or the upgrades everyone talks about and youll surely get recommended set ups from forum .


...... but the thread is about the alt .
at the stage you are now , it is possible to undo the 4 bolts on the engine for the front of primary case , undo the trans underneath and the trans + primary comes away , the alt is now accesable .       starter motor eveything stays intact . just remove kick lever and chain . oil tank batt box .  when everything goes back in theres no need to realign because you havent touched anything .

manual says remove everything etc Ive taken trans + primary out no worries , its your bike

[76shuvlinoff]

...... but the thread is about the alt .
at the stage you are now , it is possible to undo the 4 bolts on the engine for the front of primary case , undo the trans underneath and the trans + primary comes away , the alt is now accesable .       starter motor eveything stays intact . just remove kick lever and chain . oil tank batt box .  when everything goes back in theres no need to realign because you havent touched anything .

manual says remove everything etc Ive taken trans + primary out no worries , its your bike

That's an approach I've never thought of. Is it actually less work?

[Burnout]

Loosening the trans will take the trans out of alignment (if it was properly aligned before).

Leaving the trans connected to the primary will make it impossible to check alignment of the cover to the motor on installation.

More work, no way to check alignment, risk of breaking inner primary. (not sure it is even possible without removing the oil tank first)

The proper way to do this is to remove the clutch hub and the 4 nuts holding the cover to the trans.

[friday]

the proper way is by the manual ... its his bike

the most important tool is a hand torque wrench , too much on the 4 motor bolts = stuff up

the oil tank comes out , everything electrical stays on the primary

If you go the manual way do you remove solenoid , starter etc to get the inner cover off ? and so on....

think of when you start off with bare frame , theres bolt down sequence , you set up motor check how it sits , shim front etc .... then trans , then primary , tighten nothing or you risk breaking the inner cover , check alignment etc ..... whats last to get bolted down?

Ive done this ,one person with lack of time , I attacked it on that basis I wasnt going to stay up all night , theres no difference just a different way to do what everyone does ... just not in one swoop . nothing has moved .

is OP going to replace studs ? then the hub comes off
is OP going to replace hub ? then hub comes off
is OP going to do the upgade? then hub comes off

**just like the manual says  .   
the majority on here would want to know where the 20th roller is , more reason to strip back , whats condition of seal ? the keyway ?  notice the hub is a mix ? 5 stud is modern , the 5 coil springs remnants of a kit then theres 20 roller cage , these are left overs so what other signatures are hidden deeper ?

Id want to go over every thing for torque ...that means stripping like the manual

[david lee]

...... but the thread is about the alt .
at the stage you are now , it is possible to undo the 4 bolts on the engine for the front of primary case , undo the trans underneath and the trans + primary comes away , the alt is now accesable .       starter motor eveything stays intact . just remove kick lever and chain . oil tank batt box .  when everything goes back in theres no need to realign because you havent touched anything .

manual says remove everything etc Ive taken trans + primary out no worries , its your bike

That's an approach I've never thought of. Is it actually less work?

i agree is it actually worth it.not for me

[SanB2013]

I'm not sure which post to reply to so first off thanks to everyone that posted. All of your posts have been very helpful and led me to remove all of the parts so I could inspect and replace what is needed.  I decided to follow the manual as good as it is, for some reason it doesn't seem to be all that informative to me.  I did remove the oil tank as per others suggestions which help a lot, the manual seemed to leave that out.

Once I began cleaning and inspecting the clutch hub and bearing cage, mysteriously the missing 20'th bearing appeared on the bench.
I had already ordered a new hub to drum bearing and that's when I discovered the problem with the old bearing.  For some reason on the old bearing the rollers were able to pass through the slots that are supposed to hold the rollers in place and allow them to fall out once the drum was removed.  Missing roller solved.
After cleaning the hub I feel the studs are actually in very good shape. After looking over the previous owners paper work I realized this was replaced as a complete clutch unit from J&P.  So I'm not sure if that's good or bad but now with the new bearing the hub and associated parts look to be good to go.

So now I'm at the point of reassembly.  I haven't looked at the manual for the chain alignment process yet but hope it's fairly straight forward.
Any tips will be greatly appreciated.

[friday]

looking at the first post you were going into the alt ? . if that plan has changed then theres been no shift anywhere . in the manual therell be a diagram of the primary chain / belt with "spacers" measurements .
the lip of the inner primary case is the straight edge as reference

I pulled a chief clutch and it had a 1/4" ball from the clutch throw out lodged behind the spring plate and left a permanent groove ring from being there for years!

[SanB2013]

looking at the first post you were going into the alt ? . if that plan has changed then theres been no shift anywhere . in the manual therell be a diagram of the primary chain / belt with "spacers" measurements .
the lip of the inner primary case is the straight edge as reference

I pulled a chief clutch and it had a 1/4" ball from the clutch throw out lodged behind the spring plate and left a permanent groove ring from being there for years!

Yep, the alt is still the goal but apparently it has far reaching tentacles.  As with the chief clutch you mentioned I found a small "chunk" of steel nestled against the bearing behind the clutch hub when I was inspecting the bearing in the primary cover and replacing the seal.  I can't see where it came from but I suspect that's the reason the PO replaced the original hub with the 5 stud clutch kit.