Oil at stator bullet connectors?

I'm baffled. Looking at the three bullet stator connections (yellow wires), there is oil on them. Could oil be getting pushed out between the yellow jackets and copper wires? I have no clue how it arrives there, since there is none on the outside of the wires. :huh:

Physically impossible. I suggest you continue to look elsewhere.

koolaid_kid wrote: Physically impossible. I suggest you continue to look elsewhere.

I agree! Perhaps the infamous oil-drop fairy...

Perhaps not oil, but residue of dielectric grease that was sloshed on the bullet connectors at an earlier time.

Good Fortune!

koolaid_kid wrote: Physically impossible. I suggest you continue to look elsewhere.

A couple days ago, I finally sealed the wires with Three Bond 1211 after replacing the bullets with crimp connectors.
I discovered that oil had in-fact been seeping out between the copper wires, and rubber yellow-sheaths. :ohmy:

Believing it impossible, I've been wiping up oil for months...and finally had enough of it. Sorry.

NO LEAKS NOW!!!

That is one of those jobs I expect on old bikes now, the bullet connectors get heat baked and brittle and it is such an easy job to sort out. Your solder and heat shrink seems better than insulated bullets there.

It is possable for oil to "wick" along the wires and in between them and the insulators. When I replace the grommet I'll clean the bare wires and use super glue to seal them. Hate oil on my left foot. :evil:
Steve

Maybe should be looking for the source of the oil, rather than trying to stop it leaking out from the inside of the alternator cover? Sounds like the oil is coming past the oil seal on the LH end of the crank. Capillary action would explain how the oil is wicking up the alternator output wiring. If the oil continues to build up inside the alternator area, it could eventually drip out through the grommet onto your left boot again! Replacing the bullet connectors with crimp splices and superglueing them is a bit severe - this makes separation of the alternator output wiring from the main harness a bit more involved - but hey, it's your bike and if it fixes your problem then no problemo!

I don't think you understood what I said. You buy a new grommet, cut the wires inside or out, clean off the oil with spray carb cleaner and seal the wires on the inside with the glue. The idea is to get the glue inside the insulation so it won't wick. The new grommet is larger than the opening so when it squishes down, it seals everything. The grommet vulcanizes around the wires with heat and so does the insulation.
Steve

Thanks for the clarification, but I still think that this is maybe chasing the symptom rather than the cause.? If the "oil" is just the dielectric stuff that's used during manufacture of the alternator wiring/assembly then fine - but if it's engine oil then there's another underlying issue.

Oil bathes the generator system in the J-engine. It purposefully flows out of the block through a hole above the starter gear, then back into the oil pan through an opening below the rotor.
Perhaps oil gets thrown behind the stator by centrifugal force of the rotor, especially while the motor is running at higher RPMS. It may also be enhanced by internal engine pressure pushing the oil into that area, usually forcing oil past the wires where fed through the wedge-shaped rubber grommet, requiring that sealer be applied there.
Whatever it is...it was.

swest wrote: I don't think you understood what I said. You buy a new grommet, cut the wires inside or out, clean off the oil with spray carb cleaner and seal the wires on the inside with the glue. The idea is to get the glue inside the insulation so it won't wick. The new grommet is larger than the opening so when it squishes down, it seals everything. The grommet vulcanizes around the wires with heat and so does the insulation.
Steve

I'm surprised that these three yellow stator wires are in such supple condition, whereas an earlier installed stator on the engine had wire insulation so hard it would crack when flexed even a tiny amount. Something must be working right in that regard now, as the generator system tops out at 14V steady, while running...well maintained by a Ricks (no-brown wire) regulator rectifier installed a couple years ago.
The battery has never been happier.