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VN900D Whirring Noise

12K views 27 replies 6 participants last post by  sfair 
#1 ·
Hi everyone - new member here with an older Vulcan 900 Classic LT that is giving me some issues.


First off a little background - Bike is an 09 model with just over 68k miles on it. I've been very good with maintenance and except for the earlier periods I've always run synthetic oil.


About 2 months ago, getting off the interstate I noticed the bike was making a very loud noise and it was coming from the left side of the engine. Specifically in the transmission area right behind the belt pulley. I wound up having to replace all the bearings and a couple of the gears in order to correct the problem. While it did correct most of the issue, I noticed I have a strange whirring noise coming from the same area now that I hadn't noticed prior to this. I'm not saying it wasn't there, it could have been masked by other noise...


I was able to locate 2 You Tube videos that others have posted which point out the exact sound I'm hearing. If anyone here has had any experience with this problem and has found out what was causing it, I would be very interested in knowing :)


Here's the links to the 2 vids:




It's the higher pitched WHIRRRRRRRRRR that I am referring to and it is much louder in person. Some things I've read indicate that it's possibly the stator/rotor BUT that is in the forward section in front of the side stand. When I put my ear up to the cover, the sound is very loud in the area to the rear of the stand.


The bike has been very good so far and I am fully expecting wear and tear on an engine with over 68,000 miles on it. Just not sure how much $$$ I want to continue putting into this.


Sal.
 
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#7 ·
Not sure I understand how disconnecting an electrical component will stop a mechanical sound. The rotor (if that's what's causing the noise) will still be turning. Disconnecting will just stop the electrical system from charging.

The other thing is the noise is coming from the back end of the block - just behind the belt pulley, something we missed in the transmission I suppose..... I'm guessing it might be the bearing in the case itself, it's about the only moving part that wasn't changed out. I just need to verify if that bearing spins when the bike is in neutral.
 
#8 ·
GSaldiveri,

You haven't been on this forum long, but if you were you would see that sfair has a great deal of knowledge and unselfishly helps other members resolve issues with their bikes. I've enjoyed reading his posts as he pursues member's problems over many, many days until the problem is resolved. He is very methodical, and always has reason behind his suggestions.

When the stator went on my 900 the sound seemed to come from behind the rear cylinder; like it was coming from the empty space, and even my dealership techs, whom I completely trust, couldn't identify the source, even stating it didn't sound like a stator issue. Though I didn't request help from sfair, it ultimately turned out to be the stator after my attempts to resolve other seemingly likely sources. I wish I had posted the problem and had sfair to help. While the problem may not be the stator he most likely will come to the proper conclusion.
 
#12 ·
GSaldiveri,

You haven't been on this forum long, but if you were you would see that sfair has a great deal of knowledge and unselfishly helps other members resolve issues with their bikes. I've enjoyed reading his posts as he pursues member's problems over many, many days until the problem is resolved. He is very methodical, and always has reason behind his suggestions.



Re-reading my post I can see why you responded this way. TBH, I wasn't meaning it wrongly in any way. My apologies to SFair if it seemed stand-offish. It wasn't meant to be I can assure you :)
 
#14 ·
I had the same noise and it was my stator. There is a flaw in the design. The top coils overheat and burn up. The OEM wire is too thin. Get one from Rick's Motorsports. I would recommend changing the regulator too. I got the upgraded regulator. It is taking in a range of AC voltage up to almost 60 volts and converting it to 12. All the rest of that has to be bled off in heat.
 
#15 ·
I have a voltmeter on my VN900. Normally it showed 13-14 volts at engine idle and on the road. When I heard the noise coming from t he left side of the engine as I was about to start out on a ride, at idle the voltmeter showed 11 volts (no charging) rather than the usual 13-14 volts. But at engine speeds above idle the volts were still in the normal range. Looking at the stator the upper coils were turning dark brown. Changed the stator and voltmeter readings returned to normal. Got Rick's stator via Ebay, cost about $120, gasket was about $10, gasket sealer was about $5,so the cost was about the same as CarGuy's cost.
 
#16 ·
** Update - I finally got the chance to check on some things. First off, I disconnected plug at the rectifier and ohm-ed out the stator. All coils read normal and none are shorted to ground. Started the engine and the sound was the same. No change what-so-ever in the whirring. I did not get a chance to check the voltage levels across the coils because I was alone and needed a 3rd hand to work the throttle.


I will see if I can get that taken care of today and I'll post what I find afterwards. Once again, thanks for the input.


Sal.
 
#18 ·
Suggest following sfair's procedure and advice. In my situation I didn't - based upon numerous reports I suspected that the noise on my 900 was caused by the stator, so I unbolted the stator cover (a messy job unless the engine oil is drained first) and saw that the stator coils nearest the wire leads were turning a darker brown than the rest of the coils, so I replaced the stator. But if not willing to pull the stator cover first it's best to follow sfair's diagnostic procedure, and in any event doing so should prevent a mis-diagnosis. If the problem is the stator the last outcome desired is to have a stator failure miles away from home base, in which case the battery will go flat rather quickly and leave the rider stranded.


The noise in the videos in your first post is the same as that which my stator was making.
 
#20 ·
Tested the voltages at the plug.


At a warm idle - all 3 A/B, A/C, B/C read in the 6 - 8 volt range
At about half throttle - all read in the 40-45 volt range.


Guess I need to order a new Stator/Regulator


sfair - I didn't unplug anything except the big black plug when I checked.


Thanks for the assistance everyone I appreciate it. Hopefully this will be the last of it (for now anyway lol)


Sal.
 
#23 ·
You must have missed that post :) when I unplugged the big plug there was no change what-so-ever in the sound.

The plug is behind the metal guard that covers the rectifier and oil filter. It has 5 wires 3 white and a black and red I believe. I checked the voltage across the pairs of white wires.
 
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