Originally Posted by Summers420us

Today, now it sounds as though the starter is spinning freely and not engaging at all...

Originally Posted by Summers420us

Just a little introduction about myself: Yep... just another noob to this forum... however, I have been riding and wrenching for better part of 30 years and particpate in other forums for my other additions, ahem... I mean hobies. Glad to be here and hope that I can add to the knowledge base.

So... here is my issue:

I have a 1987 FLHTC with a 1340 Evo. A few mods here and there, a rebuild or two, but over all it is a stock power plant. I have had this bike since 1989, and have coverd well over a quarter million miles with it.

Last fall, the bike started having issues with the starter. When the botton is pushed, it would act as though the battery was low and the starter would buzz and then turn over slowly. This happened every time. On the last ride, I even got a nice puff of electrical smoke from the starter area... though I am not positive of the exact source. Being that I have a few other sleds, I put her away for the winter after that.

Fast forward a season and yesterday I decided to tackle the problem. I read about people experiencing the "Click Issue" written about here: https://www.hdforums.com/forum/evo-c...-question.html and even though the symptoms are different (I do not get a click.. I get a buzz and a slow crank) I figured what the hell... a starter relay is cheap.

I shoudl have attempted to start the bike before trying to make any repairs, but I did not. I slapped in a new starter relay. I hit the fire button and she cranked like new and fired right up. I thought to myself that I had fixed it for cheap, but to be sure, I wanted to see what happened when I put the old relay back on the system.

Unfortunately... even with the old relay reinstalled she continued to work like she should and cranked just fine. I was hoping that maybe I had a loose or corroded connection and just playing with the relay fixed the problem, but I am never that lucky.

Last night I went for a nice long ride, and the buzzing and slow cranking came back. But this time, it was intermitant. I stopped several times over the ride and only half of the time did she buzz and then crank slow. And I have not seen smoke since last fall. The rest of the time, she turned over fairly quickly and fired right up. WTF!!!

The battery is new and has been load tested. The starter solenoid was replaced last year in an attempt to repair this issue. The cables are all clean and bright and the grounds are solid. Could the starter be giving up the ghost? Is the starter serviceable?

Originally Posted by Dr.Hess

You ever dig into the Dreaded Click issue? Next time it is acting up, jumper from the battery terminal to the small wire pull in terminal on the solenoid with a screwdriver or whatever (clip leads, etc.) and see if it doesn't turn over properly.

Originally Posted by Tom84FXST

With the symptoms you describe...either the starter drive has died, or the arm that pushes it out has broken.

Originally Posted by machinehed

As i see this ... your bike has mega miles , you have replaced the starter solenoid last year and have also replaced the the start relay . You have checked the battery and wiring and all associated connections .
The only thing left is the starter motor which in my opinion has served you well and is probably worn beyond rebuilding. I would remove it and tear it down to check if whats left can be resurected after the smoking you noticed.
I would assume the brushes and armature are toast and a new starter is required.

Originally Posted by Dr.Hess

Sounding like the starter now. I think a quarter million miles on a starter is pretty "good enough." I'm pushing that on my Camry starter, now that I think of it.