Bought my wife a 95 heritage softail classic. The day after buying it the starter would not crank, just a clunk of the solenoid. A little love tap with a hammer and it cranks over and starts right up. Tired of tapping it I bought a starter and installed it, not real fun but got it done. Just before installing the primary cover back on I tapped the starter switch to make sure it would engage and it did the same thing, clunk of the solenoid. I rotated the starter shaft about half a turn and tried again and it engaged maybe 3 times and then failed. I did this several times to verify. Do I have a defective starter or the same problem I had before? Kind of lost now, any help would be appreciated.

 

Talk about getting the process backwards...

Always do the cheap, simple things first when troubleshooting an electrical issue, especially the starting system.

Charge the battery fully and take it to a shop and have it load tested, until you know you have a battery in good working condition you cannot troubleshoot the problem.

While the battery is out, clean all battery cable connection surfaces.

Clean the connections at the ignition circuit breaker (under the dash).

Clean the connections on the ignition switch (the wire that goes to the ignition circuit breaker)

Unplug the electrical connector for the dash and clean all the connections in there with contact cleaner.

Unplug the wires on the start relay and clean with contact cleaner.

Unplug the small wire on the start solenoid (green wire) and clean it and the terminal with contact cleaner.

Don`t throw that old starter away, it is probably fine, other than needing a solenoid rebuild. You can get all the parts you need for this starter from any starter repair shop or online, you don`t have to pay dealer prices.

This is a very common automotive starter, used in a zillion cars.