I have recently had problems with my battery draining, I think. I noticed, however, that sometimes when I hit the starter and get the dreaded low power clicking of doom that occasionally I can hit the starter again and it will turn over. Sometimes it will hitch a bit as well. Then, if it doesn't start the battery just begins to drain. Now, this is a 1990 HD FLHTCU I should add. Also, I have had the battery checked 3 times at different places and been told it is fine. It is also 3 years old as well. What I would like to know is if there is a relatively simple way to test the starter. I am testing the charge on the battery now for two days to see if it drops while it is isolated off the bike. I might add also, I have a battery Isolator on the bike to eliminate the possibility of a slow drain on the bike and it still has a hard time starting. I fear that it may be a weak solenoid coupled with a weak amperage battery but would rather not go dropping bucks ***** nilly. Also, how likely is it that it would be the whole starter vs. the solenoid. The bike has 38K miles on it. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

While the battery is disconnected, clean all the electrical connections (battery cables at every connection point, battery, solenoid, starter motor), and also the small wire connections on the solenoid, and starter relay.

Have the battery load tested.

You can also remove the cover on the solenoid and take a look at the electrical contacts inside the solenoid.

Once you get everything checked, and the battery reinstalled, there are some voltage drop checks you can do to isolate the problem if it still exists.

The problem is most likely a bad connection, bad relay or burned contacts in the solenoid.

It is not likely that the starter motor is bad.

 

Thanks Dan, I appreciate the response. I have had the battery load tested at Auto Zone and O'Reilly and it has come out good. This was done at three different times over three months. I have been out of the deep mechaniching game for a while and forgot about measuring the voltage drops. Do you happen to know if there is a site that has the test points and values. I have a service manual but it is in a Pods unit as we are doing travel contract work. Not accessible at this time and don't really want to buy another manual. I will take a look at the terminals and the cables for corrosion and buildup as well as burnt contacts in the solenoid as I get time this week or weekend. Again, I thank you for your response, it has been very helpful already and will check back in as I find out more.

 

When doing voltage drop checks, remember that the probes only touch the posts on the battery or starter solenoid, not the wires or terminals on the wires.

Touch one probe to the positive battery post, the other probe to the negative battery post, check the voltage while the starter cranks the engine.

Touch one probe to the starter solenoid post (that the positive battery cable connects to), the other probe to the starter body, check voltage while cranking engine.

The two checks should produce voltage readings that are very close.

If the second check results in a voltage that is lower than the first, test again but instead of the probe against the body of the starter, touch it to the negative battery post.

If the voltage goes up, the problem is likely somewhere in the ground path back to the battery.

If the voltage does not go up, the problem is somewhere in the positive path (battery cable, battery cable connection or solenoid contacts).

 

if you are sure your battery is 100% 13.2 volts use volt meter to check voltage drop while hitting starter if starter has an issue voltage drop will be excessive 8-9 possibly 10 volts while engadged also check battery cables on both ends for clean and tight connections