Hi everybody,

I've put this same post in the Evo section, because maybe someone there can help me, but I want to put it here too because I know that here there are people who can help me with my problem.

I own a 99 FXST that has been stopped for four years. In December I decided to bring it to live again and I’ve done all what this involves (oils replacement, lubrication, new battery etc.). As my bike has a 240 wide tire in the rear, that I put a lot of years ago, I’ve adapted a second hand Softail Breakout fender and seats in it and all the lights works as it should.

As I know that you like pictures, I put a couple of them now and I’m going to explain my problem.







As I’ve said before, in December I put a brand new sealed AGM battery, but in that moment I had to charge it because the bike doesn’t started. Once it was fully charged, the bike started but in a couple of days, the battery seemed that didn’t have enough force to start the bike and I had to charge it again and again to can start the bike.

Yesterday, the bike finally didn’t want to start. The battery was fully loaded and I can listen how the relay acts with force (fast tick, tick, tick, tick… you know), but the starter seems that doesn’t arrive to turn. It seems that there’s no enough current to move the starter pinion.

I have to say that I have a battery booster and if I put it in the battery, I can start the bike, but just with the loaded battery I can’t start.

I’ve tested the battery and it has a lot of charge and with a multimeter I can test that the battery is in good condition. It shows 12,8 V in the bike, that drops to 11,4 when I put the ignition on, what seems to be nice.

I’ve noticed some things since I started for first time the bike last month.

The first thing I noticed is a little buzzing sound coming from under the gas tank (I think) when I apply the front brake. This sound is more audible when the bike is running fast and I apply the front brake but I can’t hear it with the bike started but not moving. Maybe it’s a bad wire connection under the gas tanks, and I plan to split them and check the connectors but… can this do that the bike doesn’t start?

The second one is that the negative battery cable, which goes to the frame, is not in a great condition, but when I start the bike and put a voltmeter, I can see that the battery is loading, so I suppose that the cable is still fine. I’ll replace it with a new one, but doesn’t seems to me that this is the cause.

The third one is that there’s a wire between the rear fender and the oil tank which is attached to what it seems a circuit breaker that is not securely attached, seems that the nut isn’t tight. This is the first thing that I’m going to test today. If I’m right, this is a cable that goes from the positive of the battery to that circuit breaker, and from there to the starter. So, this may be the cause, but I have to inspect and torque it before

The last one is that, as I’ve rewired the rear part of the bike, I’ve seen that the circuit breakers that are in a box under the seat seem a bit rusty. I’m going to clean them with contact cleaner but don’t know which of these things will be the cause.

So, my question is if you consider that I need to test any other thing or if you can tell me any procedures to check the starter, circuit breakers, etc (maybe with the multimeter) that could help me to find the electrical gremlin.

Thank you very much for reading me and I hope that someone could help me. I promise to have you informed of each thing and test that I be doing.

PD. Sorry if my English is not as good as I would like, I’m Spanish and I just can talk the English that I studied in school.

 

would have to look at a schematic but:
1. power from the battery goes to starter post, then jumped to a breaker/fuse/fuse-able link (cover all bases) and from there to the machine's system. if issues here, it will effect starting if power comes from this point.
2. vom is good but a battery load test is way better
3. some of the terminology is foggy
4. a common failure is the contacts on the starter solenoid.

 

1999 HD Softail wiring diagram.

 

Thanks bustert and LQQ_OUT for your replies.

I really don't know how much must be the voltage of the battery when is at maximum level. I have mine attached now to the tender and it stops loading it when is at 14,6 V, but just as I disconnect it from the tender, the battery goes down to 12,9 V. I don't know if it's normal or not but it scares me a bit. When I put in the bike again, and with the battery at full load, I'll test the volts with the key on.

I'm trying to look how to do a battery load test but I think that it can't be done with a normal voltimeter.

Sorry for my terminology, but as I said, English is not my language, but if you want that I clarify anything to you, I'll try to do it the best I can.

I have a new negative battery cable ready to replace tomorroy. I have a contact cleaner to clean all contacts in the harness. As soon as the job be done, I'll be back here again to tell you how it works.

If this all doesn't work, I'll follow with the starter solenoid contacts but, if that was the cause, is possible that when I use the full loaded battery and a battery booster the engine engages but if I don't have enough battery load, the starter pinion don't arrive to move?

Again, thanks for your replies and I'll be back when I test the new cable and clean contacts.

 

Clicking is likely caused by battery, you say that the batt starts off at 12.6V and drops to 11.4 with the ignition on, this should not drop that much. If you check voltage while attempting to start and you see it drop below 8V then your battery is no good and will not start the bike. The CCA is just too low under load to start it. That is where I would start rather than chasing a bunch of wires looking for a problem that likely doesn't exist. It may be just that you got a bad battery from the get go. Have the battery load tested at a local dealership to verify.

 

thanks go out to mr. lookout for the schematic
well as you see, battery power goes to starter solenoid. from that post, system power is tapped off.
on the other post, it is jumped to the starter motor.
starter spin test would be to jump the two posts together, ignition off. starter should spin up.
ignition still off, you will see a small wire on the solenoid which comes from the starter relay. jump the power from the post on battery side to the small wire terminal. the solenoid should kick in to engage bendix gear into clutch ring gear. you do not need to hold it in long time, only to see if it energizes the solenoid which will also cause the starter to turn.
if there is an issue, make sure the starter assy is grounded to the engine well as the solenoid grounds through the starter as well as the starter.
if the starter fails, and ground is good, look into starter repair. if the solenoid fails with a good ground, look into a new solenoid or kit.
now if this all works, trace back to the starter relay. the best way to test is swap to a good one. however, you can test it by jumping power to the relay terminal coming from the start button.
if this works, trace power up to starter bar switch which jumps off engine kill switch. make sure the switches are good. from there trace back to fuse block for the ignition power, no issues with bad fuse block.
then from there, make sure the ignition switch is good and power from main is good and no issues with circuit protection devises.
Attachment 619016

example of a snafu'd solenoid

Attachment 614159

you can get a kit but if the rest is good, i make a new contact washer and dress the contacts, you may find a copper washer that will fit.

 

Like Z I think the battery dropping to 11.4V when you turn the ignition on is excessive.
In your first post you mentioned a nut on a circuit breaker that was loose, not sure if the nut is holding a wire or for mounting.
The bike is 20 years old and you would be wise to replace the battery cables and clean battery positive at the starter, ground lugs and battery terminals. If the battery falls below 9.6V when the starter is on the battery will need to be replaced. When you start the bike what voltage do you measure at the battery? My Limited runs just over 14V.
good luck
Bill

 

Hi again,

I've done some tests and I'm almost sure that the matter is the battery. I've recorded the tests with my cell camera and I want to share them with you to see if you can confirm that the problem is in the new battery.

First of all, let me tell you that I'm very pleased for your answers and I want to thank you all your comments. Thanks!!!

Let's go with the videos. The first one shows hoy I tried to start the bike with the battery at full load and before cleaning all visible contacts, grounds and testing all the positive and negative nuts.


As you can see, the voltage drops a lot when I push the ignition button. I think that this indicates that the battery is bad, but would need a confirmation.

In the second one, you can see how I can start the bike with the help of a battery booster. It costs me a bit, but that is because is difficult to attach the booster to the battery.


The third shows you how the bike loads the battery while running. I would like to know if you think that this is as it has to be


So, what do you think about this? Thanks again

 

When you cleaned all the cable contacts did you OHM out the cables to make sure there in good shape?
The battery should not drop below 9.8 and I think I saw 4V.
Next time you try your Battery booster hook it to the positive lug on the starter and a clean ground point, much easier than accessing the battery.
It looks like your charging system is working, the voltage looks good.

I would take the battery out and put it on a good charger then if possible have it load tested at a service station. If you put a new battery in connect your amp meter between the battery positive and the positive cable going to the starter. This will tell you if there is a "parasitic" draw discharging the battery.

Another thing to remember it's been said: every time you start a bike it takes approximately 15 minutes of riding to recharge the battery.

Another thought is make sure your starter bolts are good and tight they provide the ground.

Good luck I'm anxious to here how this turns out.

 

I got a bad battery from my local dealer that drove me nuts for nine months trying to figure out what was going on with my electrical system. One morning, it would not crank so I charge the battery, do a load test, run through the charging system troubleshooting steps and find no problem I put it all back together and it worked great for a few weeks then it happens again. I went through the charging system at least 6 times and shotgunned the voltage regulator and it happened again. Then I finally decided that it had to be the new MoCo battery although it tested good every time I tested it. I took it back to the dealer and got a full warranty replacement and did not have any more problems.

Your problem sounds a lot like mine.

If your stator output is good, and your voltage regulator diode check is good, and the charging volts are 14 v across the battery at 1000 rpm, and your big cable connections are clean and tight and you are reading less than 12 v when you switch it on, your battery is either NFG or you have a serious low resistance draw on your circuit...typically from the voltage regulator diodes