Help Needed Mule 610 Electrical issues
#1
02-24-2019, 02:35 AM
Help Needed Mule 610 Electrical issues
Hello all,
A couple of weeks ago I installed a light bar on mule 610. It killed my battery the first 15 minutes of use while riding. I charged my battery up and over the next few weeks road occasionally around the neighborhood with very little light bar use. About 10 days after the charge my battery was dead again. I figured I had a bad battery so i went and replaced it with a new one. Drove the mule a handful of times the following week and that weekend took it out to the deer lease. Turned on my light bar for about 30 minutes then parked the mule with light bar off. Went to start the mule back up and it would not start at all. after waiting some time the mule then started however the following morning it would not start without a jump at all and even after running it for sometime the battery was still dead when I went to start it again. This is where I decided to do some investigating. I charged the battery back up fully and hooked a volt meter up and got adequate voltage. I then started the mule and put the volt meter on the terminals. I saw a slight decrease in voltage and it did not change with RPM level at all. This told me I had a charging issue. I then pulled the connectors under the bed on the wire coming from the stator. Voltmeter test showed it to be functioning properly. I then pulled the regulator and tested the resistance as described in the service manual. It tested bad. I ordered a new (non OEM) regulator. I then installed it and went to hook up the battery and smoke started coming pretty heavily from the area where the regulator was mounted. I immediately disconnected the battery. This gives me the impression I have a short somewhere. From an online search I was told you could disconnect the negative terminal and run one volt meter lead to the positive battery post and one to the negative battery post and there should be very little voltage. I did this as described and my volt meter kept climbing and resetting which in my opinion confirms there is a short. I'm no mechanic but i am good at following directions and it has got me this far utilizing online research. At this point I just want to confirm that what I've done and am now assuming (short or pinched wire) is correct. If all that checks out what is the best way to go about finding a short and where should I look first?
A couple of weeks ago I installed a light bar on mule 610. It killed my battery the first 15 minutes of use while riding. I charged my battery up and over the next few weeks road occasionally around the neighborhood with very little light bar use. About 10 days after the charge my battery was dead again. I figured I had a bad battery so i went and replaced it with a new one. Drove the mule a handful of times the following week and that weekend took it out to the deer lease. Turned on my light bar for about 30 minutes then parked the mule with light bar off. Went to start the mule back up and it would not start at all. after waiting some time the mule then started however the following morning it would not start without a jump at all and even after running it for sometime the battery was still dead when I went to start it again. This is where I decided to do some investigating. I charged the battery back up fully and hooked a volt meter up and got adequate voltage. I then started the mule and put the volt meter on the terminals. I saw a slight decrease in voltage and it did not change with RPM level at all. This told me I had a charging issue. I then pulled the connectors under the bed on the wire coming from the stator. Voltmeter test showed it to be functioning properly. I then pulled the regulator and tested the resistance as described in the service manual. It tested bad. I ordered a new (non OEM) regulator. I then installed it and went to hook up the battery and smoke started coming pretty heavily from the area where the regulator was mounted. I immediately disconnected the battery. This gives me the impression I have a short somewhere. From an online search I was told you could disconnect the negative terminal and run one volt meter lead to the positive battery post and one to the negative battery post and there should be very little voltage. I did this as described and my volt meter kept climbing and resetting which in my opinion confirms there is a short. I'm no mechanic but i am good at following directions and it has got me this far utilizing online research. At this point I just want to confirm that what I've done and am now assuming (short or pinched wire) is correct. If all that checks out what is the best way to go about finding a short and where should I look first?
#2
03-03-2019, 06:40 PM
About the only active discussions on this forum revolve around KLX 250S bikes. You may have better luck at this forum:
Kawasaki ATV and Mule - Kawasaki Motorcycle Forums
or this one is even more focused:
https://www.kawieriders.com/forum/
Kawasaki ATV and Mule - Kawasaki Motorcycle Forums
or this one is even more focused:
https://www.kawieriders.com/forum/
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