[Dieseldog800]

Got my daughters 1987 TRX250 fourtrax to run. Has a junk battery in it so she just
Kickstarts it and has been running it that way for a couple months.
She has zero lights even when I power the atv system with a battery charger..no headlight, no tail light, no neutral or reverse light either. The electric start will not work either. I have checked all fuses and they are good.
My question is, could it be the stator? What the heck does the stator do? Charge the battery? Been tracing power but coming up empty handed. Any ideas?

 

[SamUK]

Yep, the stator is a generator, it does have an optimum charge rate at given rpm’s though, check the FSM for the figures. The FSM will also give you fault diagnosis help, I’m pretty useless at electrical issues but I always seem to get the job done after reading the FSM. It’s availabke here under the schematics and manual subsection.

 

[shadetree]

simple, stator makes AC current, shoots to the reg/rec, this converts it to DC current, from the reg/rec it re-charges the battery, and operates the lights, and what ever else is on the atv.

 

[retro]

Try putting a good battery in it after unplugging the regulator/rectifier and trace voltage through the main fuse and sub-fuses and through the ignition switch again. Some battery charger designs can not function as a standalone 12 volts DC power supply, so never make that assumption.

Also FYI, a heavily sulphated & shorted battery can and will fry the alternator windings in the stator and/or fry the regulator rectifier if you run the motor while a bad one is left in the bike. Never do that... get that bad battery out of there now. The service manual shows how to check the stator and regulator. Unplug them from the main harness and check them both for shorts before connecting a good battery.