Headlight draining my battery. Why?

[kt4]

I have a '99 WR400 and its got the full street legal setup with lights etc. The battery charges fine with the lights off but turning the headlight on just drains the battery of all of the power really quickly. Its got a new battery and new rectifier so those arent the problem.

I don't know much about wiring; could the wiring be wrong? Is it a short in the electrics? A bad ground maybe? What do you guys think?

Thanks for the help

[miweber929]

Have you checked your electrical system and it's output or did you simply replace stuff you thought was bad?

There are good checks of the system in the manual but it sounds to me like your stator has a low output unless you've floated your ground, replaced the stock headlight with some huge draw aftermarket thing, didn't wire it correctly or have another current draw associated with the headlight.

What kit did you use? What all did you wire up? Little more info would help, but all things being normal it sounds like the stator.

[kt4]

Have you checked your electrical system and it's output or did you simply replace stuff you thought was bad?

There are good checks of the system in the manual but it sounds to me like your stator has a low output unless you've floated your ground, replaced the stock headlight with some huge draw aftermarket thing, didn't wire it correctly or have another current draw associated with the headlight.

What kit did you use? What all did you wire up? Little more info would help, but all things being normal it sounds like the stator.

I got the bike already wired up with the baja designs kit on it using the stock WR headlight. I might just take everything apart and run through all of the wiring because I didnt wire it myself. I guess I'm kind of no help because I dont have much information haha sorry. I replaced the battery and regulator/rectifier because the battery wouldnt hold a charge and the regulator/rectifier didn't come with the bike. Just assuming, I figure the stator is okay because even at a slow speed everything lights up and works beautifully. If this problem doesn't scream anything obvious is wrong I may have to just take everything apart and make sure its all wired correctly

[ADVRider808]

Okay, so just to make sure we got things straight. You bought the bike already wired from the previous owner, which means that it is no longer 100% OEM setup. How are we then supposed to help diagnose a potential fault if you do not know if it is even wired correctly? My suggestions to you, obtain a copy of both the factory service manual and the baja designs kit installation instructions.

1. Check the baja designs instructions against your setup. If everything is correct you will at least know that it likely part of the factory electrics that is causing the problem.

2. Crack open the factory manual to the part where the electrical trouble shooting is detailed. It is very thorough. You will need a multi-meter to check voltages, resistance, etc. Trouble shoot the whole thing.

Let us know what you discover and I'm sure you'll be able to get a little more useful help.

Also, are you sure that the headlight is not hooked up directly to the battery? That's why I'm suggesting you start with checking your light kit wiring against the baja designs instructions. Also, if the stator seems okay your headlight may be wired into the circuit for the battery (thus my previous question about the headlight wiring).

Good luck,

Ken

Edited July 13, 2012 by ADVRider808

[miweber929]

I got the bike already wired up with the baja designs kit on it using the stock WR headlight. I might just take everything apart and run through all of the wiring because I didnt wire it myself. I guess I'm kind of no help because I dont have much information haha sorry. I replaced the battery and regulator/rectifier because the battery wouldnt hold a charge and the regulator/rectifier didn't come with the bike. Just assuming, I figure the stator is okay because even at a slow speed everything lights up and works beautifully. If this problem doesn't scream anything obvious is wrong I may have to just take everything apart and make sure its all wired correctly

What kind of reg/rect did you buy, the OEM one? That may be your problem right there as "most" BD kits modify the stator and use a special BD rectifier. Not to belabor an already done thing but read up before you simply replace parts, especially on a newly purchased, on-stock bike next time.

Call BD or pm them and get a manual or download one. You'll need to start digging to fix this.

You sure it's a BD kit and not something else? Baja usually uses their own headlight.

[Baja Designs]

Hey

Advrider808 had some great advice

Check the stator output, and if you need any manuals or any questions were always here

Feel free to give us a call anytime

Thanks

Mike

BD

760 560 2252

ext 101