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Great advice Farm Shop. I was always taught to use the process of elimination. Work from the problem to the source. Is it possible the solenoid is shorting to the frame or ground when activated?
Thats what Ive been thinking since the start but cant prove it or find the short so Im looking to all possibilities
your suggestion was to connect the battery, directly to the blade connector on the solenoid correct? That still trips the breaker which makes me think it has to do with the ground connection from the starter motor to primary? And Ill get you a meter reading in a bit
if you have a wire right from the battery to the blade terminal on the solenoid then there is no breaker to trip. You will have completely wired around that system. So if it still does not work then you either have a bum solenoid or starter
Or the wire between the relay and the solenoid is shorting to ground. Asked OP about this back in post 11.
OP, disconnect the green wire from the solenoid (move the wire as little as possible), press the start button, does the breaker trip?
If it still trips the breaker, I think we can we can eliminate the solenoid from the suspect list...
just went back to post 11, and the green wire is the one going from the relay to the blade connector on the solenoid? If so in my case its brown for whatever reason but that aside when I disconnect that wire and press the start button, there is no short the breakers do not trip.
Before going any further I would definitely do as Dr Hess suggested. If you run a wire from the battery to the solenoid and it works then it's in your wiring. If it still does not work then its your solenoid. Good way to narrow down where to look
so it does not work, and the solenoid will work on a bench test. Its only shorting out when its grounded to the bike. Off the bike Ive run the whole push pull test and it was just fine, as well as tested the starter and it spins freely. Right now I have my jack shaft off so theres no load on the starter from spinning the clutch and countershaft.
your suggestion was to connect the battery, directly to the blade connector on the solenoid correct? That still trips the breaker which makes me think it has to do with the ground connection from the starter motor to primary? And Ill get you a meter reading in a bit
Yes. With no other wires on the connector on the solenoid that pulls in the solenoid when you push the start button, then touching a wire between the battery positive and that connection on the solenoid can not possibly trip any breaker. Why do you say the breaker trips?
if you have a wire right from the battery to the blade terminal on the solenoid then there is no breaker to trip. You will have completely wired around that system. So if it still does not work then you either have a bum solenoid or starter
my bad its not tripping the breaker, but it is drawing enough power to shut off the headlight and give it the appearance of a breaker tripping, except with no reset time. I disconnect the wire and the headlight goes back on. To clarify though wire directly from positive to blade connector and the starter/solenoid do nothing
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.
anmeter read at 1.04, 0.00/0.01 resistance from pull in to ground
If you connected a jumper wire from the positive post of the battery and the small terminal on the solenoid (where the green wire goes) and the starter did not crank, the problem is the solenoid.
Last edited by Dan89FLSTC; Sep 16, 2020 at 12:29 PM.
Yes. With no other wires on the connector on the solenoid that pulls in the solenoid when you push the start button, then touching a wire between the battery positive and that connection on the solenoid can not possibly trip any breaker. Why do you say the breaker trips?
Im thinking the breaker trips when the headlight shuts down, then 5-10 seconds later it powers back up. What I didnt catch is when jumping the solenoid as mentioned, the headlight goes out, but then immediately powers up when I disconnect the Jumper wire to the solenoid making me think its an insane amount of power draw not a breaker this time
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