Hey guys, i recently purchased 2 honda ranchers both are trx400fa 2006 and 2007. The guy i bought them from told me one of them needed the stator replaced. Sure enough i did the proper testing using a multimeter and the manual procedure and all 3 yellow wires were grounded. The ohms test checked out fine though. I purchased a new stator and it worked fine for a few days before the new one burnt out as well. Tested it and all 3 yellow wires had grounded. Again they tested out fine to the ohms test, they were within specs. What could be burning out my stators? It has a fresh oil change. No aftermarket leds or anything. Also, are there any other honda models that share compatible parts to the trx400fa? The reason i ask is because ive noticed the trx400fa parts are very expenssive. The stator alone is 4 times the price of lets say a rincon or rubicon stator. Thank you guys in advance.
2006 trx400fa stator keeps burning out
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Welcome to the forum.
In regards to the TRX400FA's and parts, Honda only made them for 4 model years, and they are one of the more poorly considered Honda utility atv's they have made. I'm one of the last regulars here with one. BUT if well maintained and if you don't over-exert them, they can last just as long as any other one. They share a few body and chassis parts with the 2005? on up Rancher 350's, but it is limited. Otherwise they are kind of their own thing so getting parts will get tougher, which is usual. Thankfully for you lots of them were abused and the hondamatic went out early in its life, and was not worth replacing so the rest of the atv was parted out. Seem to be quite a good selection of good used 400AT parts out there.
What I have decided to do to hopefully extend the life of mine as long as possible:
- no oversize tires. Stock 24" are fine. I run 23" though.
- Rotella T6 5w40 oil
- manual fan switch to keep it running cool and because if the oil temp sensor goes out, you won't know it cause light won't come on and neither will the fan.
- don't overdue it with heavy work. We do deer food plots but use our tractor whenever possible, and I use my Grizzly 450 whenever we can't get the tractor there or for pulling the harrow and sometimes small cultivator or packer.
- clean the oil cooler often with a pressure washer. even without mudding, dust will eventually clog it. and even with a clean oil cooler and fan running, mine still feels like it runs hotter than any other air cooled honda. There is a lot demanded from the 3 qts of oil in these things.
In regards to the TRX400FA's and parts, Honda only made them for 4 model years, and they are one of the more poorly considered Honda utility atv's they have made. I'm one of the last regulars here with one. BUT if well maintained and if you don't over-exert them, they can last just as long as any other one. They share a few body and chassis parts with the 2005? on up Rancher 350's, but it is limited. Otherwise they are kind of their own thing so getting parts will get tougher, which is usual. Thankfully for you lots of them were abused and the hondamatic went out early in its life, and was not worth replacing so the rest of the atv was parted out. Seem to be quite a good selection of good used 400AT parts out there.
What I have decided to do to hopefully extend the life of mine as long as possible:
- no oversize tires. Stock 24" are fine. I run 23" though.
- Rotella T6 5w40 oil
- manual fan switch to keep it running cool and because if the oil temp sensor goes out, you won't know it cause light won't come on and neither will the fan.
- don't overdue it with heavy work. We do deer food plots but use our tractor whenever possible, and I use my Grizzly 450 whenever we can't get the tractor there or for pulling the harrow and sometimes small cultivator or packer.
- clean the oil cooler often with a pressure washer. even without mudding, dust will eventually clog it. and even with a clean oil cooler and fan running, mine still feels like it runs hotter than any other air cooled honda. There is a lot demanded from the 3 qts of oil in these things.
X2 on this. Don't just focus on testing the stator itself. Run through the regulator/rectifier tests as well. You don't have a battery that is toast and needing a constant heavy charge, do you? I almost thought I needed a stator at one point, found an aftermarket one available.
^^^ These two guys explained it very well ^^^
Bad battery, bad regulator/rectifier, or excessive electrical loads.
Check out powersportsnation for a good used stator if you've run out of money.
EDIT:
Make sure that the regulator/rectifier was not replaced with a china knockoff by the previous owner. If so, replace with OEM Honda immediately.
Bad battery, bad regulator/rectifier, or excessive electrical loads.
Check out powersportsnation for a good used stator if you've run out of money.
EDIT:
Make sure that the regulator/rectifier was not replaced with a china knockoff by the previous owner. If so, replace with OEM Honda immediately.
Thank you guys for your quick responses, that was amazing. No wonder my buddy reffered me to this forum. As far as the battery tests, its a brand new everstart battery from walmart 14lbs. It stays at 13.7v wether i rev high or leave it at idle. When its off the atv it reads at 12.83v. The rectifier tested out fine regarding the ohms test but i also have a feeling the rectifier is causing the problem. And even though i have the same atv i dont wanna interchange parts and risk messing up a cdi or rectifier on the working atv. By the way, this atv has 22,682 miles on it. My other rancher has 4,704 miles. So they do last a lifetime lol. Also all tires are stock. And both fans wouldnt turn on so i grounded the wire that goes to the oil sensor im guessing so they turn on as soon as the key turns.
Maybe, maybe not... see the comment below.
While grounding that oil temp sensor wire turns the fan on while the ignition switch is on, it does so through the power transistor (or mosfet) inside the fan control unit (which is in the CDI on a 400AT I think), which adds a lot of overhead (a high percentage of the current is converted to heat) and excessive current draw.
The best way to control the fan manually is through a switch that activates a relay. Much less current is drawn from the electrical system (maybe as much as 50-60% less, depending on the design and the type of componentry in the fan control unit) in that manner.
Which leads into the point of my earlier comment... perhaps the alternator output is insufficient to power the shorted fan control unit, which overheats the stator windings until the enamel coatings on the copper windings melt/burn and the windings short...?
Disconnect the shorted oil temp sensor wire from ground and check the charging voltage again. Let the motor recharge the battery for a few minutes after starting it while watching your voltmeter rise. At some point it should rise to approximately 14.5 volts DC (revved up) and hold fairly steady. It should maintain that charging voltage level when you turn the lights on with the motor revved up. If it seems lazy, check for AC voltage across the battery terminals and report back with those findings, which would indicate that the regulator has failed.
If you've been running the fan motor for hours at a time, it might be a good time to get some light synthetic oil on those bearings at each end.
Anyway, let us know how it goes if you can. And congrats on achieving 22k+ miles on your Rancher!
Thank you retro, that is a lot of good information you just gave me. By relay do you mean add a simple on/off switch with a fuse to the battery positive? Im not very electronically inclined but i can do basics lol. And i will report back with what you told me to do. Thank you.
Here is a random link to an automotive 12 volt relay photo:
https://www.surpluscenter.com/produ.../w.1000/h.1000/12+VDC+SPDT+40+AMP+RELAY_L.jpg
If you wanted the fans on whenever the ignition is on you'd connect the relay to energize through the ignition switch... which could be your existing fan control positive voltage supply wire or any other switched and fused battery voltage wire. Once its wired in, all of the current for the fans flows through the relay rather than the fan control unit. If you wanted manual control of the fans you'd add a switch of your own to activate the relay. If you decide to do this hollar and we'll help ya hook it up.
https://www.surpluscenter.com/produ.../w.1000/h.1000/12+VDC+SPDT+40+AMP+RELAY_L.jpg
If you wanted the fans on whenever the ignition is on you'd connect the relay to energize through the ignition switch... which could be your existing fan control positive voltage supply wire or any other switched and fused battery voltage wire. Once its wired in, all of the current for the fans flows through the relay rather than the fan control unit. If you wanted manual control of the fans you'd add a switch of your own to activate the relay. If you decide to do this hollar and we'll help ya hook it up.
Ok thank you, i do want to do the relay. Maybe thats whats burning up my stators. But i have bad news. I tried doing the tests and the atv would just idle. It would die as soon as a revved it up any tiny bit. So i dissassembled the carb and cleaned it for the 5th time this month. It looked clean but cleared all passages anyway, new fuel line new fuel filter and still bogs down when i give it throttle. Itll idle all day though. Tried my other atvs spark plug, same thing. Switched carbs, same thing. So the carb and plug arent the issue. Maybe the stator is really toast now. I just dont wanna order a 3rd $200 stator and have it burn out again lol
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are you 100% sure your carb is getting plenty of fuel ??.
Im pretty sure the carb is getting fuel since both of my atvs leak fuel thru the overflow line. They both leak while parked but stop leaking while running. Everything is oem including the float and fuel needle valve and both atvs have 1 month old carb kits so i dont know why they leak but theyve always leaked since i can remember so i just shut off the fuel petcock when not in use.
I really hope its not the cdi. Let me check the boot for any cracks. Do u think the stator could be causing weak spark?
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yes, a bad stator can cause a weak spark. please keep in mind, stators do more than fire the spark plug ?..they also re-charge the battery. stators are AC voltage, from there it goes to the reg/rec..the reg/rec converts this AC voltage to DC voltage current..then charges the battery, operates the lights, and operates the c.d.i. , sooooooooooo..please keep this in mind. if the reg/rec is some after market part ?, I would think that is some of your problem. another cause for a weak or no spark is a bad pick-up coil, or in better terms..pulse generator that bolts right there at the stator.
Good thing u told me lol, i was thinking fire so close to gas isnt a good idea lol. I'll buy a propane tank tomorrow theyre really cheap $3 at lowes. I couldnt see any cracks on the intake boot but i did notice the boots o-ring is a bit flat. Im gonna order a new o-ring gasket as well. Does anyone rebuild these stators? I have 2 that are bad. This will be the 3rd stator i order. $200 each.
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no one I know of rebuilds stators ?. 200 bucks for oem ?, hmmm..thats kinda cheap..these from honda ?, or ebay or amazon ?, I would only buy oem from honda when it comes to important elec stuff. yeah, that o-ring in the intake goes flat over time. if you want to save a few bucks ?, go to harbor freight , buy their metric and standard o-ring kits..they work great !!!, ya never know when you need just that one o-ring ?!!..lol. I use them a lot, pretty decent kits if ya ask me
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