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sounds like a good plan, any suggestions on how to determine which breaker is tripping?
I edited my post, originally I started out thinking Softail, then remembered the bike was an FXR...
The input side of the breaker has a copper stud, and has a short wire that connects to the ignition switch.
The accessory and ignition breakers may be connected together by a copper bussbar on the input side of the breakers.
The output side of the breaker has a silver stud, and the wire(s) runs to the electrical harness, this is the side you are going to test with your voltmeter.
One breaker at a time, touch the voltmeter probe to the output side of a breaker (silver stud), and read voltage while pressing the start button, when the voltmeter is connected to the output side of the tripping breaker, the voltage will drop when the breaker trips.
Last edited by Dan89FLSTC; Sep 15, 2020 at 07:36 PM.
Take the dash off, look just to the rear of the ignition switch, you will see three breakers (and the round flasher).
The input side of the breaker has a copper stud, and has a short wire that connects to the ignition switch, the input sides of the ignition breaker and accessory breaker may be connected by a copper bussbar.
The output side of the breaker has a silver stud, and the wire(s) runs to the electrical harness, this is the side you are going to test with your voltmeter.
One breaker at a time, touch the voltmeter probe to the output side of a breaker (silver stud), and read voltage while pressing the start button, when you do this and the voltage on the meter drops, you have found the breaker.
well I went ahead and gave it a shot, slight problem though. All breakers lose power immediately
So then your main breaker is tripping out.. Without a doubt and if it's anything like my '98 the solenoid side of the starter relay is before the fuses and that appears to be the only thing that can take out the main breaker if you're losing power to everything Attached is a picture of a schematic of my fat boy.. I don't see why it would be much different. The only other thing that could be taking that out would be the voltage regulator That's the only other thing that comes off of the main circuit breaker..
Disconnect the wire going to the solenoid from the starter relay. Then run a wire, say 12ga, from the + of the battery to that terminal, the pull in for the solenoid. If possible, put an ammeter in series with it. See if the starter kicks in and turns the motor over.
So then your main breaker is tripping out.. Without a doubt and if it's anything like my '98 the solenoid side of the starter relay is before the fuses and that appears to be the only thing that can take out the main breaker if you're losing power to everything Attached is a picture of a schematic of my fat boy.. I don't see why it would be much different. The only other thing that could be taking that out would be the voltage regulator That's the only other thing that comes off of the main circuit breaker..
Just tested the regulator/rectifier and it is good, solid ground and no continuity
If you did what I said, the breaker would not trip because you bypassed the breaker. Worst case, the wire in your hand would get very hot, and you would hopefully remove it before it went too far. Best to use an ammeter on it, as I also said. So, what exactly did you do? Or better yet, do what I said and let's see if the wiring is bad or the solenoid. Also, remove the wires and measure the resistance of the solenoid pull in to ground with a quality DVM.
If all breakers lose power, to to the main breaker and do the same test, voltmeter on output side of breaker, press start button, watch voltage reading.
Don`t jump from one thing to another, go step by step.
. Also, remove the wires and measure the resistance of the solenoid pull in to ground with a quality DVM.
Resistance will read very low, maybe zero. I don`t think it will tell him anything. The coils don`t get any resistance until energized, then the impedance will control the amperage going through the coils.
Last edited by Dan89FLSTC; Sep 16, 2020 at 08:55 AM.
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