Lights out!!!

[Melon]

I have a problem with my headlights - they blew out. I was letting my 94' Polaris 400 warm up and I turned on the head lights. There are two sets of lights Low (2 lights) and Hight beam (1 light). The High beam light was already blown but I wasn't worried about it because my low beams "were" still good. When I turned on the lights they seemed to be dimming with the idle of the engine. When I hit the throttle the brightness increased and POP!!! Both low beam lights blew out. This is the second time it's happened to. What could be the problem? Alternator? Voltage regulator? Do I have the wrong V/W light installed? I'm using a 12v 27w that I got from an online Polaris parts dealer. I don't want to keep replacing these bulbs if they are just going to blow out on me. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[mechanictim]

Sounds to me like too much voltage. check the voltage with the motor running and rev it up some if the voltage is much over 14.5 you need to get it fixed right away. too much voltage will fry the electric fan and all the lights. If your wheeler has electric four wheel drive you could burn that up as well . if you run long enough with too much voltage you will even cook the battery.

You can pick up a multimeter that reads DC Volts at any place that sells tools or car parts for about ten bucks. check the voltage at the light socket or the main terminal board.

I am not sure where the voltage reg is on your machine i think its under the cover on the side of the engine opposite the belt drive. You might have to pull the recoil start to get at it. if you buy parts from a good dealer they should be able to give you some instructions on how to make the repair. You might also want to get a shop manual for this machine, lots of good info.

[Melon]

Thanks for the reply mechanictim. I've got a voltmeter, pretty nice one actually. I pulled the battery last night to clean it up and give it a good charge. I haven't had it running since this episode so I'll have to play with it this weekend. I do have electric 4 wheel so now I'm really concerned. I don't want to have to dump a bunch of money in repairs.

So if it's running more than 14.5 across the battery would that be the voltage regulator? Can I just get a universal replacement or are they pretty model specific?

Thanks for the response.

[mechanictim]

I dont think there is a universal replacement for any voltage regulator. best advice is to talk to a dealer, you might be able to find parts from dennis kirk or jr graham, but it is a good idea to talk to someone who knows your machine. You will probably find that anywhere you get electrical parts they are nonreturnable so it pays to get the right parts the first time.

[Macgyver55]

The problem most certainly was a voltage surge. The tough part is finding the cause. A poor connection can be all it takes to cause it. If you lose connection to the battery because of a loose or dirty connection (even momentarily) it can "fool" the regulator into thinking the battery voltage is low. This causes it open the circuit to allow more voltage to the battery to keep up. The result is a voltage "spike" that occurs too quickly to stop before the lights (and some accessories) blow. Lights are the most vulnerable so they go first. Make sure the cables are clean and tight before doing your tests. Another cause can be a broken or cracked plate inside the battery. I've run into this before also and it causes an "intermittent" problem that won't go away until the battery is replaced. If the battery is old and you are unsure of its condition I'd think about replacing it, unless you find some other obvious problem in your checking. It could just be a bad regulator in which case the only option is replacement of a proper unit, but check the basics before going in too deep.

Good luck...let us know what you find!

[Melon]

Well, I assume that the battery was not taking a charge. I pulled it, cleaned it up and gave it a good charge overnight. Put it back in and did as Mechanictim suggested. There was 14.5 coming across the battery when reving the engine. I had it out on Minnetonka saturday,running with the lights and they didn't blow at full throttle. Now I have to replace my clutch belt!!! Always something.

Thanks for all the help.