just had the same problem.....starter relay...on the 2000, you can swap the brake rely with the starter. that's how i figured it out.... all my lights were on,,,but when you push the start button,,,nothing......

 

I think it may have been the cable connection at the starter. It was not super tight and it has not failed me since.

 

What it sounds like to me also. Or big wire or battery connections.

 

Well, it's hit or miss again. A tap on the back of the starter with a rubber mallet gets it to crank. Any ideas?

 

Tapping on it reliably makes it start?

Then you are close to solving your problem, you could ask your service professional to put a starter on it.

It may just need need some solenoid contacts (if its a denso osgr-offset gear reduction starter), tapping on it also indicates that it has worn brushes, worn armature or a failing field coil.

What is sad about your story, is my shared frustration with the electrical inadequacy with most Harley dealer service departments. (I'm an auto/diesel technician and can repair my own bike, but it came with an extended warranty). However, after a couple of trips, I usually just repair it myself and call the service manager to tell him what it was..you'd think he'd use such as a training opportunity with his tech, but evidently not.

Most powersport technicians don't understand very simplistic electrical troubleshooting that will allow you to apply basic electrical troubleshooting techniques to a harley or a semi truck.

About equal times the wiring is at fault vs the starter motor as it sounds in your case. If you or a buddy is handy with a DMM (digital multimeter) then perform a couple of tests which allow you to determine if its the wiring or the component failing.

Start with the bike in neutral, then remove the seat and the right side cover as necesary. Set the meter to dc volts and measure the OCV of the battery with the DMM it s/b 12.7 v dc +/-

Next engage the starter switch with the dmm still attached to the battery. Record the voltage, if the starter motor engages the reading might drop to 10.5-11.5 volts..which is ok.

Next leave the black lead of the dmm on the negative batt term, attach the red lead to something metal on the starter motor case, hopefully it reads something like 0.30 or less..1/3 of a volt..next engage the starter switch with the leads still connected like this the reading should remain similiar, if we get a reading more than 0.50 v dc then we have voltage drop on the ground side or a the starter shorting to ground..

Next leave the black lead on the neg batt and the red lead of the dmm on the heavy wire going to the starter motor, it should be within 0.50 v (1/2 volt of our ocv batt. reading say 12.25 v dc.

Then move the red lead of the dmm to the pos. batt term and the black lead to the heavy wire at the starter motor, take a reading and another reading while depressing the starter switch. like the ground side hopefully less than 0.50 v dc with either of these tests, if so..

Then you've narrowed down that your battery, wiring and switch are ok and that the component is at fault..

Good luck and post your fix for us to see..
Red

 

Guys,

I am new here and to HD ownership. I bought a 07 Ultra on 01/22/11 and have had the same problem; turn on ignition, turn on run switch, wait, hit start switch and only a faint click. Turn the switch off, and on again and sometimes it works. Other times it may take several Ignition on/off sequences but it does eventually start. I don't touch anything else.

I have noticed one more symptom; turning the switch to ignition normally turns on the radio. The times when the bike won't start the radio did not come on.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

 

Sounds like an ignition switch issue here. When you have no radio, do you have anything?...lights, horn, turn signals...if no, I would suspect the switch.

 

Hey Dallas,
You're right. It is the ignition switch. After more playing around with it I found that after turning it on and getting no juice, I jiggle the ignition switch and it comes to life. Now I just have to get it to the dealer to replace it before I get stranded.

Thanks for the help.
Gary

 

I had a lot of problems with my 2007 Ultra. Until I found the Service Bulletin about the starter not being tight enough and loose grounds. I took my starter off, brass brushed all connection including the ground under the starter. Everything worked fine after this. Of course, by then I had already replaced starter switch, kill switch, various fuses and starter relay with no success. It started fine ....until I had to replace the compensating spoket, but that's another story.

 

i have already posted one other time but maybe here will be faster info.To start off i have built a few bicks ground up and just got threw building this electra 97 ground up but the only elt i did was switches and radio now turn light stay on and wont flash,i plugged old switches back in an still no fix even plugged old turns back in an they just stay on mm says constant power even with turn mod un plugged the only thing i can figure is bad ground some where any ideas wich ground it could be? Tomorrow i am runnin ground straight to ground on bat to confrim my ideas but need some fresh thoughts or ideas on it i have 15 hours in to it an still can figure it out if all else fail i am goingto re wire it where i know how to fix it...The only ground wire the was taken off during the rebuild is the radio ground to fairing brace and upper tree but its back on tight!!! I did change the bulb in head light going to put old back in tomorrow for what its worth.Will be posting pic of my build on here..i checked the turn mod as it say in manuel an it shows to be ok!!!
Springer
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