Silver Fox, you stated your starter relay was "acting up." Was it making a single loud click, accompanied by a slow crank? (my apology for jumping in, but I am having the same issue) Thx

 

Don't have anything to add but I have had that same thing happen. 2012 FLSTN. That was several weeks ago; hasn't happened since.

 

Sounds to me like two issues. The clanging sounds more like a loose compensator. They need to be torqued down pretty tight. And the slow to start is weak battery, which a loose compensator will accent.

 

The 07's, 08's, and 09's did have the clang/bang on every start up. I believe MoCo went to the Heavier SE Comps in 10 or 11.

I read back in 07 when almost all 96''ers banged on every start up was first noticed as a problem.
But if tuned with SERT the tuner could set the timing at Zero Advance at Zero RPM's and it will stop it..
So I had my tuner do it and it worked, it does turn over a bit slower on the first rpm of the motor, meaning slower load up on the Comp during the start.
It eliminated the bang on start-ups and will save Ur starter and stator from wearing out as fast.

Doing this is a optional fix instead of installing the SE comp on the first 3 yrs of the 96''ers.

43K on her now and never had any starter issues.



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Not slow cranking. It was more like it would start to crank then quit. With a klunk thrown in every once in awhile instead of starting to turn over.

 

Same for me as txcaver. 2010 Deluxe and the battery was shot after one year. Could've been a bad battery from the factory. New battery and 10k later have never experienced the problem again.