Hey everyone, i have a 1997 Fatboy 42,600 miles that every so often in the morning just decides not to want to start. Sounds like the starter is trying to turn it over, but just can't quiet do it, like it is trying to start on a very high compression stroke if that makes sense. It is starting to turn the motor, but just cant seem to turn it even one full revolution. Any Ideas?

1. Already swapped battery, its less than a week old.
2. Will start up fine most all times.
3. Battery is fully charged, had been putting on the tender at night last few nights because i thought the battery was possibly low like i had a alternator/charging issue maybe.
4. Checking voltage while running and charging great.
5. So far only happens in the morning 2 times, Temp outside from 68-72 F.
6. Starter does get warm after trying several times.
7. Even hooked up to a big charger to just test if it was battery amperage, no luck.

 

If your confident in the health of the battery and the starter then I would look the battery cables end to end for any corrosion, breaks, tight connections. Also consider swaping out the 30 AMP circuit breaker .

While not a substitute for the Service Manual there is a lot of good troubleshooting informaiton in this manual:

https://serviceinfo.harley-davidson....roubleshooting

 

Thank you, i am planning on tearing apart and looking at connections tonight hopefully. As far as the condition of the starter, i can't say i am confident the starter/solenoid are NOT the problem, but its just weird for it to start fine most of the time then just all of a sudden 2 mornings act like a really weak starter ya know. I'm hoping for a corroded connection somewhere.

 

Keep us posted!

 

 

If you're going to go after the battery cables, have a look at the Sumax cables. I replaced my wimpy Harley cables with the Sumax and I love them..

 

all batteries are not created equal. my 89 used to do that, changed to a high output battery, no more problems. i did eventually also put a high torque starter in it, and never had an issue again. evo starters are easy to put in, just fyi

 

 

What oil tank trick??

 

Having to loosing all the bolts and hold it or strap it up to the frame to allow room to slide the starter out a lot easier.