I am working on an Ironhead that has been sitting for a while. The starter does nothing. Doesn't click or anything. The starter looks new and has a 2008 manufactured date on it. I took it apart and it looks fine inside. I don't really know anything about starters.

What would cause it to not even move when I hook a battery to it on the bench and can it be rebuilt?

Thanks

 

lots of info left out to really help --

Like the year of the bike and that will help with the starter Relay that is the first place to go NO CLICKING is the relay OR the power to it

as far as bench checking the starter if its done incorrect you will melt the end of the threads the wire bolts to, and it need to be grounded and bolted together not left all loose when checking it on the bench

very rare a starter wont turn when connected to a battery via a relay - jz

 

+1. More info and/or pictures needed here.


How did you have it hooked up to the battery? Did you connect the battery to the starter solenoid or did you bypass the solenoid and connect the battery directly to the starter motor itself?

If you connect the battery negative terminal to the starter motor case (the starter motor's mounting bolts should work for this), and momentarily touch a wire from the battery positive terminal to the terminal screw sticking out of the starter, it should spin. The motor will have a lot of torque, make sure it's held securely in place. Use large wires to do this, as the starter motor uses a lot of current, especially when it's installed and trying to crank over the motor.

If it doesn't spin, there's a problem with the brushes, armature, field coils, etc. inside the starter.

 

Bike is a 68 ironhead. I took the starter to a parts store and they tested it. It worked for them. hmm it could be the solenoid. I am done for the weekend. I will hit it again next weekend.

 

Complete Solenoid Bench Test

To test the pull-in coil ...

1. Jumper battery -ve to the short stud of the solenoid.
2. Mometarily apply a jumper wire from battery + to the terminal of the solenoid.

Socket should pull in. Leave it pulled in to test hold-in coil.

To test hold in coil ...

1. Move battery -ve jumper from the short stud to the solenoid case.
2. Connect a jumper wire from battery + to the terminal and leave it connected.
3. Try to pull the socket out of the solenoid. The hold-in coil should resist your effort to pull the socket out while +12 volts is applied to the terminal.
4. Remove the jumper wire from the terminal, and the socket should slide easily back out of the solenoid.

To load test the contact plate of the solenoid; an H4 or other headlite bulb works well for this ...

1. jumper from batt +ve to to +ve of light
2. jumper from long stud to -ve of light
3. jumper from batt -ve to short stud
4. manually push the plunger in

The bulb should light up.

And here is the video ...

 

Looking at the wiring diagram in the FSM for a '68 - '69 XLH, there is no start relay. And no run/stop switch on the handlebars. Assuming you don't have those installed, and assuming you have the factory wiring harness installed, there should be a blue wire connected to the small terminal of the solenoid. When you press the start button, +12 volts should be applied to that small terminal. When +12 volts gets to that small terminal, that should activate the solenoid, and you should definitely hear a click from it.

Since yours isn't clicking, per your first post, I'd start at the small terminal of the solenoid and work backwards if necessary through the start switch and the ignition switch to verify the wiring is connected correctly.

If you are getting the +12 volts at the solenoid, but no click, it sounds like there's a problem with the solenoid for sure.

 

Thanks for the info and video. You guys are awesome. I'll pull the solenoid out and do the bench test and see what I get. The factory wiring is long gone and replaced with non color coded wire but I think I can follow your instructions and see if it is getting power.

 

I am lost. The silonoid seems to engage and current goes to the starter but still the starter does nothing.

So far I have:
-Cleaned all the connections on the starter, solenoid, grounds and batter lines
-Tightened all the connections
-Made sure I had a good battery
-Tested the starter by taking it to autozone
-Removed the sparkplugs and turned the engine by hand to make sure it wasn't froze up.

Not sure what to check next.

 

I took the battery out of the bike and hooked jumper cables directly from my jeep to the bike so the bike battery couldn't drain the jeep battery. Hit the key and it only clicks. I took the plugs out of the bike and it would turn over. I started the Jeep and put the plugs back in and it would turn over very slowly. So what is it? a bad starter?

 

Try this very comprehensive procedure ...

Start System Testing
http://xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/s....php?t=1610248