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Need some advice on voltage regulator replacement

Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2015 9:36 am
by drsfmd
This is regarding an 89 FZR 600 that I bought a few months ago.

I've been dealing with a random stalling issue that I am pretty sure is electrical. I'll be riding along, and suddenly the bike is stalled. Usually there's no warning, though now and again, there's little/no throttle response right before it happens. After it happens it won't restart immediately, but will if I wait a few minutes. A couple of times, it's refused to start when cold. Fuel is very fresh, non-ethanol fuel treated with sea foam. I have an electric petcock that is working properly, and the fuel pump is new (and working properly). Fuel filter is also new. Just covering all of the bases here... but I really don't think it's fuel related.

I pulled the body work off for the first time, and noticed that the voltage regulator is absolutely fried. It's a melted mess. I'm surprised it works at all. It needs to be replaced, and that's where I've run into a bit of a brick wall. My questions are as follows...

1) Could the voltage regulator failing be the cause of my stalling issues?
2) Given its condition, it needs to be replaced either way. It appears that the OEM parts are no longer available. I have my choice of used or aftermarket. The aftermarket stuff varies in price widely-- from less than $10, to more than $150-- and varying hugely in appearance as well. Can anyone recommend a particular vendor/part number? If I can get away with using one of the $10 options, that would be great... if I can't, I'll suck it up, but I have to imagine that I can get by without spending $150 on it either.

EDIT: Before anyone says it, yes, I have read the stickied thread... it's old, it doesn't list part numbers or suppliers, and I don't dare buy on appearances alone.

Re: Need some advice on voltage regulator replacement

Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2015 3:27 pm
by TomcatMJ
For replacement with the regulators used in fzr 600r / yzf 600 (type 4jh in both cases) or the ones of a R6 there is an adaptercable available from Yamaha, but the only thing adapted with that cable is a second Ground-Connector which should be connected directly to the frame where the other Ground-Connection should go to the black wire, so its not really hard to build this adapter by yourself instead of buying it ;)
Every Aftermarket-Regulator fitting to the yzf 600 / fzr 600r / R6 should work, i would prefer either a shinyo or a barth regulator if i buy a new one for my second fzr 400 3bf which uses the same as the 3he / 3hh (costs here in europe around 100 € instead of 120 for the yamaha original 4jh plus 24 for the adaptercable) ;)...my first 3bf already has a shinyo mounted ;)

Re: Need some advice on voltage regulator replacement

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:36 am
by drsfmd
Thanks! That's tremendously helpful. Do you think that this regulator going bad could be the root of my stalling problems?

http://www.amazon.com/Areyourshop-Regul ... _3?ie=UTF8
Any opinion on this one? It claims to be OEM quality, and it's 1/3 of the price of the only factory OEM part I've found.

Re: Need some advice on voltage regulator replacement

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 10:11 am
by TomcatMJ
Sure..if the defective regulator is overcharging the battery, the battery is getting f***ing hot and if its too hot it stops working and needs some time to cool down before it will do its work again (given that its not gone totally defective meanwhile). And without a battery theres no way left to produce ignitionsparks in a tci-driven 4-stroke motorbike. if the defective reghulator wouldn't charge the battery at all (the second kind of defective regulators) then your bike even stops working when the battery is empty and you wouldn't be able to restart unless recharging the battery.

The regulator you've chosen should work, don't know if the quality is as good as a shinyo or barth (VGR 200 which has a second connector to the + line instead of a second ground connector), if not you will see if it wents defective again...but at this price its worth the risk. Regulators are the most dying Part of the FZR 400, 500 (ccm-reduced austrian model based on the 600) and 600 Models, especially the original models without explicit collingbody,recognizable due to the missing colling ribs ;)
Maybe you will have to check if your battery survived without getting a defect also, but mostly it bears some tries of overcharging without dying totally ;)

Re: Need some advice on voltage regulator replacement

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 11:40 am
by drsfmd
The battery isn't great, and I'll replace it in the spring, but I don't think it's overheating. When the bike stalls, I can immediately hit the starter button and it will turn over-- but won't start for a few minutes (some connection in the VR that needs to cool down was my guess).

Either way, I'll order the part, and see what happens.

Re: Need some advice on voltage regulator replacement

Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2015 8:46 am
by M in KC
Dude change your VR before riding anymore. I'm assuming you have the OE "candy bar" style. Otherwise you run the risk of significant other collateral damages. The VR you posted from Amazon should work.

Re: Need some advice on voltage regulator replacement

Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2015 9:00 am
by M in KC