In the late 80's, I was doing some gold exploration in a desolate region of central Nevada. I had a Dodge Ramcharger that had a winch mounted on the front bumper. I was four-wheeling when I heard an explosion and the engine died. I opened the hood and saw the battery was shattered, and battery acid was everywhere.

The guy who mounted the winch ran the power cable from the battery through the grill. The sharp metal cut through the insulation and shorted the battery directly to ground. Luckily, there was a ranch several miles away and he had an extra battery. He drove me and the battery back to my truck.

Could you have had a major ground and some wire or solenoid, or just part of your battery explode?

 

Thanks Shad, ya I figured that the starter wasn't the issue and of course it tested fine, spun right up. At the very least I can check it off the list. They seemed to agree with TBT also about the relay not being able to close. So I'm gonna put it back in and replace the carbs tomorrow.

I'll pull the alternator cover and check, it next was my next stop. Also with a freshly powered battery it should at least try to crank if it was dead due to not charging and no juice to turn the starter but keep the lights running.

The boys at Honda mostly agree with us about it being a charging issue and took some pitty on me and offered to run an electric diagnosis on her for a "reasonable" charge.

So TBT you may have nailed it especially with the clicking relay and no bump start.

Oh and Shad, the 30 amp was fine (I assume it the only one) when I checked it roadside. Sits just below the seat and about the rear brake fluid res?

Poke I almost wondered about a the massive ground out too. Battery is intact. But I woner if it grounded bad and I'm missing a simple fuse or relay? I guess when I let Honda run a check I'll know.

Thanks again guys, you are the best!

 

Nice to hear the guys at Honda are taking pity on you Michael , let us know what they come up with.

BTW she may not run , but she sure looks good in the pics!

 

micheal, good news that the starter is ok.
Sounds electrical to me, too. Does the relay smell fried? Can you pull it apart quick and see if it's charred? Just a thought.

 

Well I have the good starter and and carbs back in. This may not be the only culprit but it definately doesn't look good. All other plugs I looked at looked fine, and I think this looks like a place to start.

It is the alternator to the wiring harness connection. The alternator looks good but these wires don't!

The plug was just about melted together, it took some real effort to separate them.

Forgive some of the "feminine" hands, mrsparks held some of these so I could snap a pic.

I fully charged the battery and still have no power to the starter. So I'm gonna have to check out the starter relay too.

 

Here's the stator / alternator and the shaft.... not too shabby.....

 

Well, that's not good. Looks like some major juice shot through that harness.... something shorted/fried/popped.
What does the reg/rec look like?

 

Is that the plug into the stator....................?.NOT GOOD
Each phase and there are 3 pushes out 30V, so if there was a short there...........OUCH

Reg/rec is probably FRIED !- under the left rear panel behind the seat. Probably find it's melted.
Replace that and then check the rest.

I've seen worse (mine)
Looks like it shorted out !

The method for testing the stator is in the manual. Mine looked like yours, but the central winding was burnt.You'll need a mega meter for that..............

Could have been a backfire which was caused bt lack of sufficient spark, and then it got one..........
or a direct short to earth.

I wouldn't be surprised if your battery was fried too..................

 

Bad news but still better than a motor rebuild.
You are actually fortunate in that regard.

 

Just checking back on this , ..well that's not too bad Mike, R/R and potentially a stator
.......just some additional tasks when you Guys are tackling the CCT job.
Atleast it looks like no big stuff happened.....great !