Very Hot Voltage Regulator.

[JimmyMac]

OK folks....I have a good one here. Correct me if I am wrong, but an idleing Gator should have a voltage regulator that you can touch.....RIGHT? I'm talking about all lights off and all accessories disconnected/isolated and a known good battery...cool...even warm maybe, but in the first five min, there is no way it should be burning hot. RIGHT?? Solid State electronics do not like voltage spikes, vibration and especially HEAT.
IMG_6977.jpg
If you are seeing 155 Degrees F, then I got that picture to upload. That's right, 155. Now I am not a Deere tech, nor am I a Kawasaki tech, but Thats got to be too hot.

Soooo...if you are still here reading this then I guess you'll hang around for a bit so here goes.....

Once upon a time, there was a happy little gator in a muddy traill far, far away in the Florida Swamp, with a happy family and some happy Dogs...... ok ok, I'll knock it off.

Gator dies, battery dead. New battery installed, meter on battery, 14.2 at idle. Gator dies again within an hour, no charge condition. I figure that muddy hole I was just stuck in killed the stator, rotor or both, so I order all new stuff.. Go to pull the stator, need a puller so I figure, well I'll test it. three wire system, must be three phase right? so I test them....Like I would a bike...
-each wire to ground. "OL" Cool not shorted to ground.
-wires 1 to 2, then 1-3, then 2-3 are tested, resistance at 2 "point somthing close to each other" ohms. Also good. (I think)
-AC Output, 1 to 2, 1 to 3, 2 to 3 are tested and they are all 20 somthing VAC at idle and 40 something VAC at about 1/2 the RPM range.
So far Looks like the Stator is Good to Go.

replace the Volt Reg, fire it up and...charges great. 14.2, but then I notice the Volt Regulator is super hot so I shut it off. Normally if its hot but charging, there is a lot of load, or a lot of resistance somewhere in the power side of the system.....if its hot and OVERcharging, then I'd be looking for high restiance in the ground side of things.... ( At least this is what I'm thinking). So I perform a voltage drop on the positive side of the regulator and the other lead to the battery...while running and connected, it's 0.2 somthing volts... (anything over 1VDC is Badd MMMKayy) That tells me the "hot" wire from the reg to the battery is not broken or poorly connected..(right) Next i do the same on the ground side...It reading was like 0.02 something, telling me good ground as well. So far everything looks good. (at least to me)

Now here is where I can't figure this one out....there is a third wire comming out of the regulator, it's yellow. It has hardly any resistance to ground .05 (they are connected) with the key off..however, with the key on, it reads battery voltage. (So, key off grounded, key on, battery voltage present) This must be the short that is loading the battery right!!?? So I disconnect the black harness from the regulator andrun the engine to verify a cooler running regulator and.....155 degrees again with only the stator connected to it. At this point, I re-test the stator to check it while its hot (sometimes insulation breakdown occurs only when hot) Guess what, its fine. passed my tests anyway. So I scratched my head for a bit and decided to have some others look at the challenge I have in front of me.... pluss I have a 4:00am wake up so I needed to leave the shed.... and I wanted an excuse to post a pic.

Does anyone kmow what that yellow wire comming out of the regulators black connector is for?
What temp does your regulators run with no load except for the engine? (Probably should have asked this first huh? I could be chasing my ever lovin tail!)

Mac...

[JimmyMac]

OK. 69 views and we are still at a loss.

Will someone please just fire up their Gator...wait about five min with it idleing....then lift the bed and see if they can keep their hand on their regulator?

PLEEEEASE?

It's on the inside frame rail, passenger side, under the bed....It has big fins on it. If you can't touch it for more then a few seconds, I'm good and we can enjoy our toy!

Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!

Mac

[denisf]

I will as soon as mine comes in......Due date is Tuesday tho !

[JimmyMac]

Today is Gator Eve! I bet you can't sleep a wink tonight...

[JimmyMac]

This Gator has no place for my cooler......

tn.jpg

Can someone please just check the temp of their voltage regulator for me? Just put your hand on it.... tell me how hot it feels.

That one little thing will help out so much.

Mac

[JimmyMac]

A week later and over 230 views....still no help.

......really?

[GATORDONE]

Jimmy, What model and year is it?

[JimmyMac]

It's an 07 620i.

Vin# M0XUVGT011043.

Thanks GD..

[denisf]

Jimmy, I'm getting mine today. I'll take a reading as soon as I can.

[RMOSSSO1]

Jimmy:

I have a 825i and I do not think it is the same as what you have. The 825i is a Chinese engine, as I understand, and thus the reason for lack of responses. Seems most of the posts I read are for the newer 825i and 625i. Different engine, probably different electrical systems. Am I wrong?

Good luck with some help.
Rich