Shovelhead starting problems
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Stage IV
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
From: Morris Illinois
Shovelhead starting problems
My 1984 Shovel turns over hard, brand new battery. Sometimes it won't turn over at all, starter solenoid gets hot, acts like its drawing tons of power. Than after a little time for the solenoid to cool it might start. Also sometimes the starter sticks on and even turning off the ignition switch doesn't stop it from running.
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,854
Likes: 20
From: Eagle River WI
It still sounds like a weak battery Once the starter is engaged to the ring gear on the clutch a weak battery will not turn over the motor and the starter will not release It has nothing to do with the ign system
Advanced
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 73
Likes: 1
had the same,on my 72,she locked up and silinoid started smoking,by the time i grabed some water,flames were shootin out the end of the silinoid,i said damner! she would'nt start till i replaced the starter-silinoid-all the wire=ing.oh ya,i put a qiuk disconect on my ground just in case. then the other day i ran to the store and started and starter kept running,once i unplugged and got it home,pulled the silinoid and it was toast,the contact plate had been welding itself to the terminals,pulled primary-starter shaft-linkage,all good. slapped a harley[not aftermarket] silinoid,bamn back in action! oh ya and a fresh battery.that fixed mine ,good luck
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 63
Likes: 1
the contacts that supply power to the starter are probably dirty. dirty contacts have high resistance and will get hot and may weld under high loads. clean contacts have low resistance and will handle high loads with out heating up.
Club Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 66,114
Likes: 51,397
From: Niles Canyon Ca.
When they start welding themselves like that it's a battery cable connection somewhere . Low voltage DC acts way different from house type wiring , what happens when a connection starts to loosen or corrodes ( grounding cables are real bad about this ) while still getting 12v the starter has to pull more AMPS to turn over hence everything getting hot . The solenoid as it heats loses it's ability to stay pulled in tight so the contacts in there will start arcing as they lose contact and will weld themselves together hence the run away starter . When we start pulling everything apart the connection problem is most times not noticed but kinda fixed . Older battery cables have a bad habit of corroding inside the rubber cover and where they are crimped on the lugs , while looking ok your starter may be pulling 2-3 times the amps really needed to turn over . Here's a little test tip , pull the plug wire's so the bike cannot start , work it out where you can hold the cables one at a time and hit the starter button. Faulty ones will heat up fast , good cables won't . Clean ALL contact's till brite and use star washers for good contact . I personally run a second ground cable directly to the starter , what can it hurt ? If the starter is original it may getting to it's last legs on brushes but that usually won't cause things to fry up stream in the starting system . What we think to a bad battery most times are the result of the above problems overworking it , bike batteries are small and don't like being treated this way hence overheated too much and premature failure . Hope this helps a bit good luck .
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Stage IV
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 4
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From: Morris Illinois
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Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2010
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check th grounds, i believe there is one on the back side of the primary also that is always missed.
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Stage I
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 1
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From: England
Bloody thing. Bad battery ???
Hi guys, im new on here so please forget the lack of SPECIAL WORDING u lot might use.
ive got an 81 fx lowrider, pretty much stock.
My indicators (turn signals) packed up on me and so did the horn. I put a charger on the battery and pressed the indicator and straight away everything worked fine. I started to wonder if it was an earth (ground) problem. Then i thought i figured it was the regulator/rectifier, got a new one and went for a spin. 20 miles in, i thought that should all be fine now, so pressed the left indicator, nothing !! Pressed the right, nothing !! Same with the horn (get the f#ck out my way button) nothing again !!
Got home and took the batt out and a couple of cells were very slighty low, nothing major. Put it on charge for about 10 hours while i hit the boozer. Got home and disconnected. Next day i wacked a multimeter on it and got a reading of 10.4v. laughed to myself and said "bollocks ive lost the warranty on the batteery" haha. Its only 9 month old.
Now im pretty sure its a knakard battery but am i missing something ?? I dont wana fork out 80 quid for no reason. Cheers for any help/info
P.s. Ive done a reading straight from the stator/altinator and thats all ok
ive got an 81 fx lowrider, pretty much stock.
My indicators (turn signals) packed up on me and so did the horn. I put a charger on the battery and pressed the indicator and straight away everything worked fine. I started to wonder if it was an earth (ground) problem. Then i thought i figured it was the regulator/rectifier, got a new one and went for a spin. 20 miles in, i thought that should all be fine now, so pressed the left indicator, nothing !! Pressed the right, nothing !! Same with the horn (get the f#ck out my way button) nothing again !!
Got home and took the batt out and a couple of cells were very slighty low, nothing major. Put it on charge for about 10 hours while i hit the boozer. Got home and disconnected. Next day i wacked a multimeter on it and got a reading of 10.4v. laughed to myself and said "bollocks ive lost the warranty on the batteery" haha. Its only 9 month old.
Now im pretty sure its a knakard battery but am i missing something ?? I dont wana fork out 80 quid for no reason. Cheers for any help/info
P.s. Ive done a reading straight from the stator/altinator and thats all ok