New Member - 83 starter problem

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May 14, 2006 | 12:09 PM

1911shooter

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New Member - 83 starter problem

Hello everyone new to this forum but a longtime Shovelhead owner! Anyway looks like some good info here! ANyway I have a 83 FXSB with a starting problem. When I push the starting switch I get a "click" from the starter solonoid and the starting motor does not spin. This is intermittant however and sometimes it will engage and turn over the motor just fine. The "Bosch" starter relay seems to be working ok and when I remove the relay and jump the relay socket pins (to eliminate the relay as a problem) it does the same thing. NOW when I pop the rubber cover off the solonoid and jump the relay connection stud to the battery cable stud it slams in with authority and spins the motor like new. Any ideas or am just being lazy at looking for an old fashioned bad connection somwhere between the relay and the starter? Thanks!

May 14, 2006 | 10:21 PM

pococj

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From: Texas! Ya mean there's someplace else?

RE: New Member - 83 starter problem

Often the contacts in the solenoid start going bad, but directly jumping them will still make 'em work OK. Eventually, they'll get bad enough to not work at all, and then you get to push start the ol' gal. You could ask me how I know this, but I'd just lie to ya, and tell ya I heard about it!

It appears you've eliminated the relay as the culprit since it fails when you jump the relay . I'd buy a solenoid rebuild kit, or just cop a new solenoid. Stay away from the cheap imports, and spend the dinero on an Accel unit.

And being the tinkerer that I am, I usually eliminate the relay altogether. I install a good quality toggle switch and run a wire from the large battery terminal on the solenoid, to an inline fuse, to the toggle switch, and back to the small terminal on the solenoid. (Actually, I hardly ever stick the fuse in the circuit, but I thought it'd be better to throw that in, just in case someone tries it and has something short out. Kinda like, "Do as I say, not as I do" thing.

)

May 15, 2006 | 01:45 PM

1911shooter

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RE: New Member - 83 starter problem

Hey thanks for the reply but I think I have found the problem - nothing more than needing a new battery! Spins like new now - funny thing is it would not necessairly work when jumped with a shop battery - which could be bad also and jumper cables are not the tightest connection. I like the toggle switch idea of yours. I have considered the idea of eliminating the starter switch and relay altogether and wiring a heavy duty momentary contact switch from the small relay stud on the solonoid to the + battery side with some 10 ga. wire and making a nice stainless mount for the switch below the ignition switch. Either way I think I mostly eliminated the problem with the new battery.

May 15, 2006 | 10:24 PM

pococj

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From: Texas! Ya mean there's someplace else?

RE: New Member - 83 starter problem

I hate dead batteries!

Jun 11, 2006 | 01:01 PM

dracos

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RE: New Member - 83 starter problem

I have an '83 FXSB also. Exactly the same problem. When I hit the starter button it just clicks. I have been riding this bike for 18 years now and it has done this the whole time. Have had new batteries, new solenoids, new starters and everything else. When I push the starter button and bump the kickstarter, it spins right over. Just got used to doing that and don't even think about it anymore.

Jun 11, 2006 | 02:30 PM

1911shooter

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RE: New Member - 83 starter problem

No doubt an aggravating problem. A new battery seems to have corrected the problem - maybe 99% - but the other day it "almost" did it again - it clicked momentairly and then the solonoid engaged. As I mentioned before when I jump the solonoid it engages just fine which to me indicates a voltage drop or other resistance somewhere in the starting circut. I may live with this for the summer but then in the winter tear into it and replace all starting circut wires with new, heavier wiring. Also I am not particularly fond of the way the solonoid is built. I took a bad one apart and could see where several improvements could be made and may experiment with machining a better contact plate for the solonoid as this is a problem area and the existing contact burns badly.