i have a 2007 softail duece....low miles. i put a new interstate battery in it this spring as the original battery seemed to be pretty tired. recently i been stranded twice when the bike wont start. i pulled the battery and took it to interstate today for test....battery was fine, fully charged with plenty of cranking amps. i decided to put it back in, with a new battery ground cable (the original looked kinda funky) but it still won't start.

it either cranks real slow, and then "clicks" or it just "clicks" sometimes. both times that i was stranded i was able to jump start the bike from my truck, and get home just fine. i feel confident that the charging system is working fine, and the battery checked out. do i have a starter problem, maybe dragging or pulling too many amps? anyone have any ideas?? i hate to change the starter only to find out that the problem was elsewhere ($$$$$$$$$) LOL......any help would be appreciated, Rick

 

First off when you say clicks... Is it a very very faint clicking sound "starter relay"? Or is it the solenoid "Clack clack" loud sound? If it's the loud clacking of a dead battery sound and your battery is good I would say disconect the battery and check all the connections to the starter.

 

this is the "clack, clack" solenoid type sound. like when your battery is about dead......your motor tries to turn over a couple of times, but then the starter/solenoid starts clicking like you don't have enough JUICE to crank it......but the battery checks out fine. over 12 volts, and plenty of cranking amps. i checked to positive cable to the starter, clean and tight. all other battery connections are clean and tight. do i have a bad starter??

 

If all the connections check out clean and tight, then it may be the solenoid and not the starter itself.
They do burn out and when they do, they do exactly what you describe.
Best of all is that you can get a solenoid repair kit (PN=31604-91A) for about $25.00.
Worst thing that happens is that if it still doesn't work right when your done.
You will at least know the solenoid is good to go and it hasn't cost you a bunch of bucks to find out.
Last time I looked electrical parts are not returnable so paying for a starter only to find out its something else won't leave you with a nice new starter on your garage shelf and a depleted wallet.

 

Tell me they load tested that "New" battery? if they just put a multi meter on that battery it can show good but NOT be good, they need to load test it to see if it falls on its face.

 

well, i don't know if they load tested the battery or not.....they hooked it up to some fancy gadget, and got a print out of the results. 12.4 volts (i believe) and about 400some cranking amps. i assume if they checked cranking amps, that would be a result of a load test?

anyway, if the solenoid is bad, i guess i have to pull the starter to change it? i read somewhere that you have to pull the oil tank, and the exhaust system to get the starter off, is that true? not a huge deal, i can handle that, but just curious.

btw.....thanks for all the help so far, i really appreciate it. believe it or not, this is a bike i bought brand new in late 06' and it has less than 1000 mi on it. you wouldn't think i would be having ANY FREAKIN problems like this! the only thing i have had to replace was the battery, just because of age. Rick

 

Unfortunately pulling the pipes (stock) and oil tank is part of the instructions listed in the service manual for a starter removal.
But maybe if your lucky you can sneak it out without doing the oil tank, don't know if you can.
But I sure as hell would try, cause pulling the oil tank looks like it might be a PITA to deal with.

 

I had a buddy try to do his without pulling the oil tank. He later said it wasn't that big a deal to pull the oil tank compared to the access problems that leaving it in created.

You can get an induction ammeter for not much money. You put the meter in proximity to the wire running from the battery to the starter, crank it over, and check the reading. If I recall correctly, it should be about 250 but check your manual.

If you have a high compression engine, then you may have worn out your starter. If you are running basically stock and don't have a whole TON of bar hopping going on, your starter most definitely should not be the problem, barring a factory defect of some sort.

You are in the same boat as I was a while back... and if I had jumped right in to my best guess, I would still be chasing zombies and gremlins where electrical issues on modern Harleys are concerned.

Your manual will also tell you the testing procedures for your main relay and your starter relay. These are about 10 bucks each. They have a resistance expected and you need an ohmmeter to test them.

You could have a weak ground. You can check that with an ohmmeter. Your ground(s) should have 100% conductivity.

You also have an ignition switch and a starter switch in the mix, but it sounds like both are working fine if your bike is trying to turn over. They too could have a conductivity issue... not likely, but they could.

I would check the technical stuff first before I took out the starter. If you take out the starter you can see if the solenoid is working properly on the bench with some jumper cables and you can have the armature growl tested at any automotive electrical shop.

Good luck... and if you don't get any, call Willie G.

C#

 

- you can't, at least not on a FLS
- and it is a major PITA!
Did a starter last month and it was definitely more time consuming than anticipated, but it's done properly.

 

That statement tells me there's nothing wrong with the starter.
If it cranks by jump starting it then the problem is something electrical on the bike.
It's either the battery, a bad connection or something is wrong with the charging system and it's not putting out enough power to recharge the battery but enough so the bike will run.