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Fried connector

6K views 23 replies 6 participants last post by  Mr ZX 
#1 ·
Hi Guys,

I have a problem.
A couple of months ago i bought a nice ZX-6R from 1999 with almost 46000KM on it. I have driven it only for 3 times. When driving it last time, i visited a friend and turned the bike of for about 30-60 minutes.When i wanted to start it again, it didn't start. I bump-started it and it seemed to be running normally.
Today (4 days later) i tried to start the bike and in started normally, but i immediately noticed a tiny bit of smoke coming from the left side of the bike and after idling for less than a minute, the engine died.

I took of the seat and fueltank and found a completely melted connector as can be seen from the pictures. Is this the connector between the stator and rectifier? Could it just be a short in the connector that caused the melt? Because the wires themselves look fine. Would therefore replacing the connector or soldering the wires solve the problem? I hope it's not a problem with the rectifier or the stator....

Tips or some insight would be really appreciated
 

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#3 ·
It's the stator plug, but check the regulator plug also. Chances are there was a bad contact that caused a heat build up and melted it. Repair and hopefully all will be ok.
 
#7 ·
With some more knowledge i opened the bike again. The connector is not from the rectifier. I checked the rectifier connector (which is 6 way whereas the fried one is 3 way) and that connector was fine.

So i think it's indeed from the stator. 3 yellow wires in a black sleeve come out of the main harnass, they go into the fried connector, and at the back end of the connector, 3 black wires in a sleeve leave and dissappear somewhere under what i guess to be the fuel pump system. But the wires and sleeve look exactly like the one coming out of the stator, so i think they're one and the same.

I will buy a 3 way connector and replace the molten one and report back to you guys.

Cheers,
 
#8 ·
Sorry, yes, get a 3 way connector. I'm sure you'll find them cheap enough on ebay.

It won't matter which yellow wire goes where.

On the zx9 its a 6 way connector, but with 5 wires in, 3 stator, neutral and cylinder head temp.
 
#13 ·
That would work, the only reason I had not mentioned it was its to much like the rear brake light connector plug. But I can't see any one trying to connect the rear light cluster into it at the back of the engine. But you never know.:runaway:
 
#15 ·
I successfully replaced the connector and now the bike starts again and seems to run just fine. I will keep a close eye on it for the coming period to see if the battery still charges and if the connector remains in good condition.

Thanks a lot for the help guys!!!
Cheers,
 
#16 ·
2 years later..

Now, 2 years later i have the same problem. My stator connector got fried.
Had no problems at all over the past 2 years with any of the electric components on the bike.

During my last ride I spent a good portion of the time high up in the rev range (more than usual).
Could it be that a high current output by the stator (due to the revs) caused my the connector to fry and i just need to install one that can handle more current? Or could there be something else at play?

As I said, all other my electric components and connections look fine.
It's only the connector from the stator to the harnass, so (with my limited knowledge) the only conclusion I can come up with is that the connector may have been poor quality or cannot handle the stator output.

Can someone tell my if my thinking is correct or if something else might be a problem?

Thanks in advance,

Ride safe
 
#17 ·
My connector was fine. But on the 12r side of the forum it was damned if you leave it, damned it you don't. I removed it, worked fine and later the connector did not hold. Then I used bullet type connectors with shrink wrap. It's been a few thousand miles seems to be holding okay.
 
#18 ·
If the zx6r electrical system is anything like the zx12r one, which it seems to be given your problems, then it can still be a recurring problem - nothing that you've done wrong.

I have posted a fair bit on my fixes for the zx12r (with lots of advice and help from smarter people here!), and from a bike electrician here in Sth Aust.

Main problem - and this doesn't happen to all 12's - is that the heat/electrical energy generated by the Alt/Stator system overloads the stator wiring causing that to cook. Then there is either an oil wicking to the stator/reg connector or just heat melting or both to the connector. The bike electrician said the Alt puts out too much juice, and when the bike is stopped after a ride, say at a cafe, then there is no more oil cooling of the stator, then acts as a heat sink causing the stator wiring to cook and so on. His fix is to re-wire the stator with a LOWER gauge wire so as not to take on so much juice from Alt. Also I had a Japanese MOSFET reg/rec installed and different connectors etc.

Electrician said this is not a permanent fix but may delay the same happening again - and in my case it did couple of years later - but he fixed the stator again under warranty!

Others here have not had the same level of problems and seem to get away with just re-doing the stator/reg connector.

Good luck!

Don.
 
#19 ·
If the zx6r electrical system is anything like the zx12r one, which it seems to be given your problems, then it can still be a recurring problem - nothing that you've done wrong.

I have posted a fair bit on my fixes for the zx12r (with lots of advice and help from smarter people here!), and from a bike electrician here in Sth Aust.

Main problem - and this doesn't happen to all 12's - is that the heat/electrical energy generated by the Alt/Stator system overloads the stator wiring causing that to cook. Then there is either an oil wicking to the stator/reg connector or just heat melting or both to the connector. The bike electrician said the Alt puts out too much juice, and when the bike is stopped after a ride, say at a cafe, then there is no more oil cooling of the stator, then acts as a heat sink causing the stator wiring to cook and so on. His fix is to re-wire the stator with a LOWER gauge wire so as not to take on so much juice from Alt. Also I had a Japanese MOSFET reg/rec installed and different connectors etc.
I'm not an electrician but have built things that provided jobs for electricians. I've never heard of this. That's just the opposite of how it's done.


Electrician said this is not a permanent fix but may delay the same happening again - and in my case it did couple of years later - but he fixed the stator again under warranty!
Here is the proof, it happened again. After a couple of years, that's not a warranty, that's a favor.

Others here have not had the same level of problems and seem to get away with just re-doing the stator/reg connector.

Good luck!

Don.
No ones getting away with anything. No stealing going on.. The only negative issues that I've heard of is from guys that ride once, or twice and try to get a years worth of riding done in that time. Straight flogging and caining and along with everything else that's fried, the connectors are the one thing identifiable of the remains.
 
#21 ·
Here's what i found on my bike. When i replaced the oem rearsets and installed aftermarkets I had to adjust the brake switch. When doing that the running voltage climbed. Now after installing a ram mount and with the phone charging while running the volts are back to what it was previously. At 29408 miles my electrical system is original, including the 18 year old battery.
 
#23 ·
Most of the zx's are similar in operation, thought the plugs used may change.

I'd go for a new plug again, just make sure the contacts when the plug is together are good.

After replacing the plug, you may want to disconnect the regulator and do some internal diode checks.
If one has gone short or open, you could still get 12+ volts output, but either one yellow wire will be pulling lots of current or 2 wires will be pull more than they should.

 
#24 ·
I replaced the connector and ran some diagnostics. The rectifier diodes only gave an ohms reading when they should, however these readings were (I reckon) very high around 740 (this was in the up to 2000 K ohms reading range of the multimeter because in a lower range the multimeter gave no reading because it was too high).

So I guess i need to replace my rectifier?
 
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