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Mine is a 1977 FXE. I’ve got a brand new 310 cranking amp battery and a new 30 circuit breaker.
The starter wants to go but it is tripping the circuit breaker with the button or jumping it
across the solenoid. Any ideas ? I hate to pull the starter and find out it was something simple.
Thanks for any help.
Dog
Dog, in the first pic it appears you have an in-line fuse running off your starter relay (it's in the white tube) that is the same type used for automobiles (at least in the 50s and 60s). I would check that to see if the fuse in there is good or not. If it is burnt, it will trip your 30 amp running off the "+" side of your battery.
Do yourself a favor. Disonnect the battery negative terminal. Check the inside of the white tube for a bad automotive fuse. That lead coming off the starter relay with the automotive fuse was installed go to the positive side of the battery. In your case it will probably go to the new breaker you installed. You do not need 2 breakers. Remove the automotive fuse and run a new wire from the relay to your new breaker.
Last edited by panz4ever; Nov 25, 2020 at 11:28 AM.
Thanks for the help panz. The wire with the inline fuse goes from the little solenoid on the battery straight to the big solenoid on the inner primary. It has a 30 amp fuse in it and its not blown. Oh, and the wire has a splice in it, it is the yellow one you can see in the picture.
I had taken the fuse out of it 5 months ago when I started this project and put it back. I had to pull the wire off the solenoid to be able to get to fuse back in this time. I thought maybe I didnt have it in properly the first time I pulled it. So I put it back together and tried the electric start button. It turned the bike over three times, and thought it was going to go. But it tripped the circuit breaker again.
Out of curiousity, when was the last time the bike was running. When did you begin having the starting issues?
Just confirm you have a ground wire coming off your starter motor and another coming off your relay.
Next up I would check the heavy cables that come off the solenoid that go to the starter motor and battery positive side. If they are worn or cracked and the copper is exposed it could be grounding out on metal it contacts.
Next you need to check the wires in the starting system with a volt/ohm meter. If those wires are good, then you have to suspect like johnjzjz and Twizted Biker said, a bad starter motor, a bad solenoid or a bad relay
The bike didnt have a battery or circuit breaker when I got it. Maybe he didnt have a circuit breaker and put the in-line fuse in it instead.
I took off the ground to battery, battery to solenoid, and the relay to solenoid. The wire with the in-line fuse from the relay and the wire from the battery both go to the top post on the solenoid. I put new batteries in my ohm meter and set it to zero. Both wires showed continuity and a little less than 1 on the 10 scale on resistance. The battery ground showed .5 resistance.
On the relay, on the outside post, where the wire with the in-line fuse is, there is a second wire that mounts to the same post with a smaller wire that mounts to a smaller post. Is this the wires that go to the magic button (starter button) ?
I was not able to get to the ground wire on the relay.
Dog
Last edited by dogfoot; Nov 25, 2020 at 09:25 PM.
Reason: Add pictures
Need to find yourself a clamp on DC current meter, clamp it around the ground cable off the battery and hit the starter button. That's going to tell you more than everything you are chasing right now. It jumps way up there the starters smoked, brushes are gone. The Hitachi type just replace it they are cheap enough.
I got home from the family gathering just a little while ago. I left all the wires off I took lose last night. I thought I would just hook the wires straight to the battery and take the 30 amp circuit breaker out of the mix. The bike was cold and when I hit the magic button it rolled the starter over very fast and took a few seconds but started. I then put the circuit breaker back in and the same thing, tripping.
I then took the circuit breaker back out and barely bumped the magic button and she fired right up. The motor was still warm from the first starting.
So, its not the starter, solenoid or relay. They all work without the circuit breaker. But why is it tripping?
Dog
Only 3 things will trip a breaker, dead short, it's weak or the inrush amps are too high. Now we're back to checking the current draw. Pull the plug wires, jump out the breaker and hit the fun button for a few seconds, let the motor roll over like it's trying to start. Now feel the cables coming off the battery, one's heated up you are drawing heavy amps.
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