Gauges go blank with brakes and brights, idle too

duwem

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Mar 12, 2018
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WI
Where do I look for harness rubs? How do I check stator output. Also cuts out with low rpm comes back on when revving.

2004 viper s. No electric start or revers.
 
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I can do that, but do we know what the spec is for voltage? Or are you saying there might be an issue with the hand warmers themselves?
 
Unplugged the tail light and took voltages there
Headlight on low beam. Hand and thumb warmers off.
1400rpm: 10.06v
1500rpm: 10.91v
2500rpm: 13.4v

at 1500 rpm turn on hand warmers: 9.7v
at 1500 rpm turn on hand and thumb warmers: 9.5v
at 1500 rpm turn on high beams: 10.2v

When switching from high to low or low to high drops to 6v for a second(and that is when gauges go blank)
Plugging brake light back in and grabbing brake voltage drops to 5v and stays till release

Pickup coil resistance 197.7 ohms
Stator coil resistance 0.3-0.4 ohms
Both measured at 40F ambient

I did pull the seat and disconnect tail light harness by voltage regulator with no change
 
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if it goes out when you hit the brakes then likely it has a chaffed wire harness, either under the seat and can also be up by handlebars. if it drops the guage while switching from high beam to low beam and it flips the tach, its the harness under the engine. The voltages posted look good above 1500rpm, you need to be above idle speed to check. the idle speed is 1800 rpm.
 
I pulled the seat and disconnected the wiring up by the foot rear/voltage regulator
Why is there such a big drop switching from high to low beams?
 
I With everything plugged in at 1800 it’s only 7.9v. Even when reviving up to 3500. Pull one head light connector and it jumps up to 12.5v and stays there to 3500rpm. Sure seems like the charging system isn’t keeping up???

I pulled the harness that runs under the engine, no wear through

Looks like someone has been in here already...see attached.

Anyone have a voltage regulator for a 2004 non electric start I could try?

EFA62134-4119-4A0F-B9C7-BA3ADA0980AD.jpg
 
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What do the 2 condensers do? Act like a battery for short spikes in load? Do they ever fail? The battery/e start sleds don’t have them, so I’m assuming they take the place of the battery to smooth out the voltage?
 
You have the exact symptoms I had when the stator on my 03 Viper failed.
Gauge pod shut off / reset when the brake was hit and when switching high/low beam (either way). I rode it a couple more times after it first started and by the 3rd ride my hand & thumb warmers quit working. It also would bog after about 7k rpm when the warmers were turned on (too much load). Turn the warmers off and the bog went away, this was repeatable.
I went through the harness in all the known rub locations, which doesn't hurt to do just in case it actually is the issue (stators over $200), plus the harness under the motor now has better protection since I put a wire loom on it when I checked it.
Not finding any issues with rubs I finally bit the bullet and got a new stator...problem solved.
Do not buy a cheap Chinese stator, you will want to get an OEM one from a dealer or a used OEM one. Yes, OEM means $$$, but I replaced mine over ten years ago and it is going strong with no issues. Many have been burned by trying a cheaper knock off stator. I can't remember what the part number was now, been too long, but the replacement I bought did have a slightly different part number than the one that came on it; that means they changed something, and for the better since my original failed after a short amount of time and the replacement has been trouble free for several years now.
If you want to do it yourself, I was able to talk my dealer into loaning me one of their flywheel pullers. Also, it is best to use an impact to get the 3 Phillips head screws out of the stator, they are tighter than H*ll and strip easily.
 
Thanks for the tips. I just pulled the under engine harness and wrapped it with abrasion tape. Reinstalled and no change.

Where are the other known rub areas?

Got a buddy that will loan me a voltage regulator and condensers to try.

For some reason 2004 has different stator part numbers than other years even though the flywheel, regulator and condensers are the same for all years.
 


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