'75 FXE Starter stays running
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 605
Likes: 441
From: BRIGHTON, ENGLAND
all shorting the terminals on the back of the starter switch will do is to show if the starter switch works, & your better off using a multimeter
If your talking of shorting the terminals on the solenoid, it shouldn't engage the bendix or ring gear or turn the motor over at all...
the solenoid pulling in does 2 jobs at the same time, 1. it shunts high Amps & Volt to the starter motor, & 2 the solenoid moving in at the other end is swinging out the starter clutch throw out arm,.. if the solenoid is new & the throw out arm isn't cracked or bent it should all work despite it being a lashed together bunch of parts that never worked in a reliable form from new.
a battery with a low charge can also get the starter stuck on till the batterys dead, often this burns out the contacts in the solenoid that get hung up & sort of stick together, this is obvious if ya take it apart, if its all burnt it can be cleaned up & contacts replaced,....... the throw out arm can get bent & even crack it doesn't take much for them to need replacing, & theres the starter clutch it'self,
..
If your talking of shorting the terminals on the solenoid, it shouldn't engage the bendix or ring gear or turn the motor over at all...
the solenoid pulling in does 2 jobs at the same time, 1. it shunts high Amps & Volt to the starter motor, & 2 the solenoid moving in at the other end is swinging out the starter clutch throw out arm,.. if the solenoid is new & the throw out arm isn't cracked or bent it should all work despite it being a lashed together bunch of parts that never worked in a reliable form from new.
a battery with a low charge can also get the starter stuck on till the batterys dead, often this burns out the contacts in the solenoid that get hung up & sort of stick together, this is obvious if ya take it apart, if its all burnt it can be cleaned up & contacts replaced,....... the throw out arm can get bent & even crack it doesn't take much for them to need replacing, & theres the starter clutch it'self,
..
Thread Starter
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Novice
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 21
Likes: 1
From: Cambridge, Illinois
OK, just keeping this updated. So far, this is what has happened. I ordered a new push button for the handlebar starter button. Installed it and nothing happened. The starter didn't engage or anything else. It was like I didn't have the wire connected. After checking everything again with a volt meter, I was at a loss. I had 12 volts going through the wires for the starter, but it didn't engage it. So, now I'm ready to give it back to a Harley shop and see what they can come up with. I called my neighbor over and he looked at things and then read through the wiring diagram. We took apart all of the components in the handlebar cluster. While checking and shorting out wires together to see if we can get the started to engage, we both heard the static of voltage shorting out inside the on/off button and the circuit breaker clicked off. It came back on in about 5 seconds which told me that there is a short inside this button. I've ordered one of those. When I get it soldered in and all put back together, we'll continue to see what happens. So far, I now cannot get anything to happen when I push the start button or short out all of these wires together. Lucky me.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 38,586
Likes: 6,435
From: Honah Lee
I think your problem is China quality parts. And more then likely, all the Harley shop has.
Back in 69, I got my first new car. About at 70K, the starter started giving you nothing but a solenoid click.
Always be conservative, I pulled solinoid apart and the big washer was silver plated. I clean it up and it was short lived, so I got a auto part store one.
About 15K later, I hit the starter and it would not stop running. Turned key off and of course gas motor stopped but starter kept running.
I jumped out and popped hood. Realizing on what was going on, I unhooked battery.
I pulled starter for 3rd time and took solinoid apart. Nothing but a copper plated steel washer..
My guess is all your electric non OEM parts are junk.
Dan's electric diagram is butt simple.
Your problem is the dealer is not going to do any better.
And I sm not sure were you can get a quality part.
Our original blow by blow way back up there is flawed because your antique does not work like everything I have worked on. Normal, the small start button drives the solinoid.
So in your case, it's probably the solinoid stick in just like my car. Once those contacts stick, nothing cuts power off.
But your start button is bad because of what else is going on. Along with new one .
Back in 69, I got my first new car. About at 70K, the starter started giving you nothing but a solenoid click.
Always be conservative, I pulled solinoid apart and the big washer was silver plated. I clean it up and it was short lived, so I got a auto part store one.
About 15K later, I hit the starter and it would not stop running. Turned key off and of course gas motor stopped but starter kept running.
I jumped out and popped hood. Realizing on what was going on, I unhooked battery.
I pulled starter for 3rd time and took solinoid apart. Nothing but a copper plated steel washer..
My guess is all your electric non OEM parts are junk.
Dan's electric diagram is butt simple.
Your problem is the dealer is not going to do any better.
And I sm not sure were you can get a quality part.
Our original blow by blow way back up there is flawed because your antique does not work like everything I have worked on. Normal, the small start button drives the solinoid.
So in your case, it's probably the solinoid stick in just like my car. Once those contacts stick, nothing cuts power off.
But your start button is bad because of what else is going on. Along with new one .
Last edited by Jackie Paper; Apr 7, 2022 at 05:05 PM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 21,173
Likes: 12,740
From: South Carolina
Are you using a wiring diagram?
It sounds like you are just guessing.
Last edited by Dan89FLSTC; Apr 7, 2022 at 05:07 PM.
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Thread Starter
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Novice
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 21
Likes: 1
From: Cambridge, Illinois
Junk japanese parts? You are so correct. I can't stand putting those junk japanese parts on my Harley. BUT it's all I can get. When you can hear the electricity jumping across wires in the on/off button, you know there;s a short in there somewhere. That's why I'm putting in a new one. After that, I'll see what else is ging on.
Yes, we are using a wiring diagram. When you connect the on/off button wires to the starter button wires, it should engage the starter and it doesn't.
Lets just stick with trying to help people on here instead of trying to knock someone down or being sarcastic. Most of the people on here really have tried to help and I thank them for it. If we didn't have great forums like this, some of us would have no where to go or no where to turn to. Thanks again for all of the help I get from this forum and the people trying to figure this out with me. And if you need to kick me off of this forum for speaking my peace, I can accept that also.
Yes, we are using a wiring diagram. When you connect the on/off button wires to the starter button wires, it should engage the starter and it doesn't.
Lets just stick with trying to help people on here instead of trying to knock someone down or being sarcastic. Most of the people on here really have tried to help and I thank them for it. If we didn't have great forums like this, some of us would have no where to go or no where to turn to. Thanks again for all of the help I get from this forum and the people trying to figure this out with me. And if you need to kick me off of this forum for speaking my peace, I can accept that also.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 6,157
Likes: 2,564
From: CT/FL
I had a problem with aftermarket switches where one of the terminals stuck out too far and contacted the handlebar. Tough to troubleshoot because the problem went away when I removed it.