It dims lights, engine dies sometimes restarts
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Intermediate
Joined: Jun 2006
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From: Salt Lake City
It dims lights, engine dies sometimes restarts
Riding my 2004 Heritage with 10K miles home from a local hangout I noticed lights up front dimming and then coming back on. When I let off the gas the engine died. I started the bike back up and a mile or so later all of the lights switched off and the engine quit. 5 seconds later the bike restarts and the lights come back on. This happened 2 more times and then it just quit altogether. This morning it cranked up, lights on and 10 seconds later everything was dead. 10 minutes went by and it fired up. I have 12 volts at the battery, it drops to 11 when it starts, and with the engine idling I have 14 volts. I have an intermittent electrical problem. When it starts okay I have 12 volts to the center of the ignition switch, it seems like when it doesn't want to start I have 4-7 volts at the center of the ignition switch. Loose connection at the starter maybe????? Ideas?????
Tourer
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 422
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From: Brookville, Ohio
You may have already done this but clean the battery terminals and make sure the connections are tight. A piece of emery cloth or a wire brush is needed to make sure the contact points are clean.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 5,578
Likes: 4
From: Northern California
After you check the battery connections, go to the run switch at the handlebar. The intermittent problems are the hardest to run down. A manual with the wiring diagram would help running it down.
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Intermediate
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From: Salt Lake City
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Intermediate
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From: Salt Lake City
The battery was good and held a charge, the charging system is working fine and regulating at 14 volts even when you vary the rpm's, so I changed the circuit breaker. I fired up the bike and backed it into the driveway to take it for a ride and it quit. No lights, no fuel pump sound, etc. I immediately put a meter on it and found only 2 volts getting to the circuit breaker. I rolled it back into the garage and put it back on the lift and removed the battery and battery wires and the wires off of the starter. I wire brushed all ends and even wirebrushed the battery terminals and reassembled it. I temporarily stuck a DC ammeter (on sale Harbor Freight $3.99 
)in series to make sure I didn't have too much load going through the circuit breaker. It showed about 15 amps going through the 30 amp breaker so I figured it was ok. I've taken it on 2 rides now and its been fine. So.....maybe its fixed???? The rides will get longer and longer until I'm satisfied that it was a dirty connection that I cleaned up.
)in series to make sure I didn't have too much load going through the circuit breaker. It showed about 15 amps going through the 30 amp breaker so I figured it was ok. I've taken it on 2 rides now and its been fine. So.....maybe its fixed???? The rides will get longer and longer until I'm satisfied that it was a dirty connection that I cleaned up.
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