04 Softail tries to start without touching the start button
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Stage IV
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
From: WV
04 Softail tries to start without touching the start button
I have been trying to locate the problem with no luck so far. I have a 2004 Fatboy EFI that often but not every time will attempt to start on its own if the battery switch is on. I will turn on the ignition and then the battery rocker switch and the motor starts to turn over, sometimes the motor will run but there will be a "jet engine" sound from the front of the primary. I turn the bike off try again a couple of times and then the bike runs normally. I have replaced the starter, has a new battery, replaced the handlebars last winter with all new switches. The ignition switch was also replaced thanks in advance for any help
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 21,131
Likes: 12,691
From: South Carolina
Guessing is not the way to solve electrical problems, guessing is why people replace starters, switches and other components unnecessarily.
Jamie:
There was no need to replace the starter, that is like replacing a light bulb because it won`t go out...
There are three switches involved with the starting circuit: the ignition switch, the kill switch, and the starter switch (button).
Are you saying that when you turn the kill switch on, the starter cranks without pressing the start button?
Does it stop cranking if you turn the kill switch off?
Jamie:
There was no need to replace the starter, that is like replacing a light bulb because it won`t go out...
There are three switches involved with the starting circuit: the ignition switch, the kill switch, and the starter switch (button).
Are you saying that when you turn the kill switch on, the starter cranks without pressing the start button?
Does it stop cranking if you turn the kill switch off?
Last edited by Dan89FLSTC; Apr 11, 2019 at 08:36 AM.
Tourer
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 329
Likes: 56
From: Fulltime RVer, Wherever!
It could quite simply be a short in the wires. Sounds like the most logical to me.
Once its started, do you have times where it continues to "try to start", like turning the key in a car ignition while the engine is already on?
Once its started, do you have times where it continues to "try to start", like turning the key in a car ignition while the engine is already on?
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 21,131
Likes: 12,691
From: South Carolina
A short does not cause a component to be energized, a short is when the power is diverted back to ground before the component, and since the shorted circuit does not have the resistance of the component in the circuit anymore, the fuse blows...
Last edited by Dan89FLSTC; Apr 11, 2019 at 09:35 AM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 21,131
Likes: 12,691
From: South Carolina
If the starter stops cranking when the kill switch is turned off, I would agree.
The OP is hard to follow in his posting because he made up his own names for the switches...
The OP is hard to follow in his posting because he made up his own names for the switches...
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Stage IV
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
From: WV
When it is acting up yes it will continue to use the starter even after the engine is running. I quickly shut it down and go through the start up process again. It may take two tries sometimes more and it will start and run fine.
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