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Ok so one of my smaller issues that i am working through is Cranking my bike with the handle bar controls.
I have cleaned or redone all connections even replaced some wires that had been hacked up. The "5 Pin" relay that triggers the starter solenoid is my culprit i believe. I have replaced it only once it worked great like maybe 3-4 times then nope. So i was digging and reading and looking.
I do not have the (Ford Style) Starter relay that is also supposed to be on the bike.
I assume that the little "bosh 5 pin" will not pass enough juice/amps to the solenoid to engage the starter. Is there a newer style one that will? Is there one from a car or other that will?
I have a centimental silver eage coin on my bike key and i usually just use that to jump it out. I got yelled at the other night someone thought i was stealing my own bike, I almost had to fight the guy he ran up on me while yelling a little to quick. He calmed quickly with my reply but the incident did put this needed repair fresh in my mind.
Check and clean the ground connections to the ice cube & big relay. All the little relay does is power the coil for the big ford relay to pull in. Dirty grounds will do what you are fighting ......
Those little relays are were originally horn relays and rated at 30 amps. If one was substituted for the "big Ford relay" then this is the chain, the handlebar button triggers the relay, the relay triggers the solenoid, the solenoid triggers the starter and the motor should crank. By the FSM, the pick current of the solenoid is 40 amps then the hold is 20. So those ( probably made in china) relays are not up to the task.
Check and clean the ground connections to the ice cube & big relay. All the little relay does is power the coil for the big ford relay to pull in. Dirty grounds will do what you are fighting ......
Is there a substitute for the big relay or do i need to get one Twisted? The bike never had one from when i got it. I will check all my grounds again. I know the motor is grounded well because I just went through checks on my charging system.
There should be one of the leads coming out of that relay plug that goes straight to ground. That bad ground will make the relay not work. Make sure it is going to a good ground and not to an insulated area, i.e. rubber grommet, etc.
Hello heres a simple wiring diagram of the starter relay thats on both my 83 Wide Glides . . .
the relay is mounted to my battery tray & the ground is connected to 1 of the starter housing through bolts.
TN=Tan wire
BK=Black wire
GN=Green wire
hope this helps at least to get it wired right !
Those little relays are were originally horn relays and rated at 30 amps. If one was substituted for the "big Ford relay" then this is the chain, the handlebar button triggers the relay, the relay triggers the solenoid, the solenoid triggers the starter and the motor should crank. By the FSM, the pick current of the solenoid is 40 amps then the hold is 20. So those ( probably made in china) relays are not up to the task.
The start relay will never see starting amperage. It just a tool to keep voltage drop to a minimum on the control wiring side. The actual work ( full starter motor current draw) is done at the starter solenoid.
The starter solenoid sees high current, the start relay just sees control current. It takes little current to pull the coil of the start solenoid, sometime called the activation wire.
Last edited by Redrodyankneck; Sep 12, 2021 at 11:25 AM.
Reason: typo
The solenoid pull in coil draws 40 amps. resistance is given as approximately 0.3 ohm. once picked the hold coil is 20 amp draw. Those are the loads the relay has to contend with.
I will picture up what we do tomorrow i dont have the pictures on this set up
John I do believe that I used one of your replies and pictures from a different post same type topic to refrence, then printed it and placed it in my binder in the garage.
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Starter Relay question
