Hi I was wondering if anyone has had a similar problem. Today I took my 1998 softail custom for a ride and as I was pulling back into my driveway it died. I was able to fire it right back up. I took a multimeter to it and the battery read 12.58 v and when I would bring up the rpms the voltage would go up. So I turn off ignition try to turn it back on again completely dead. Multimeter says less than 1 volt. So I disconnect positive cable and out of curiosity I check my battery again. 2 volts. so I connect positive and there is 5 volts disconnect + and check there is 12.58 volts again. This is all with ignition off. Last year installed new stator, this year installed new battery and voltage regulator to try to combat starter clicking and draining battery. Any suggestions? Also I have gone through and checked ground wires as far as I can tell.

 

New battery or not, given the voltage reading when the battery was isolated, it sounds like you have a battery problem. Sounds like an internal short. That is if your volt meter is working properly..

My recommendation is to pull the battery and have it load tested..

 

I did have it load tested the other day and they said it was a good battery.

 

When it comes to electrical troubleshooting, ur only as good as ur test equipment. Check ur multimeter to a know source. AC and DC. Need to verify that first.

 

When you use your meter, are you touching the probes to the battery posts each time?

A battery does not go from 5 volts to 12 volts in a couple of seconds...

You had it tested the other day, but you had the problem today...

Charge the battery fully and have it load tested.

 

Unless there was trauma, I think a second load test is a waste of time.

Check your leads on ohms, wiggle. Leads fail. 1 volt, if a cheaper meter could just be zero, from a bad lead. Even a good meter with bad lead will read bad.

Something is wrong here. Something loose, or broken.

 

Checked the multimeter. Seems accurate.

 

Could this have something to do with ignition module? What are some of the symptoms of a bad ignition module?