Sportster starter motor clicks before starting
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Novice
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 18
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From: New Orleans
Sportster starter motor clicks before starting
I have a 2006 Sportster 1200. The starter has been replaced with a Terry Components starter motor, from day one, the starter will click when the start button is pressed but motor will not start. It will sometimes take up to 6 tries to start before it the motor fires.
Other times, the motor will fire on the very first press of the start button. It is a really intermittent problem. There is no telling what will happen when I hit the button. sometimes a click and nothing, sometimes it starts right up.
here is what has been changed trying to chase down the problem:
-positive and negative battery cable replaced with Terry Comp performance cables
-new fully charged HD battery
-all cable and wire connections checked and tighten down.
-connectors on relay in fuse panel cleaned and reconnected.
The starter is only 30 days old. My mechanic who did the work is puzzled as to what is the problem. still the started clicks when button pressed and no start up.
Any ideas?
Other times, the motor will fire on the very first press of the start button. It is a really intermittent problem. There is no telling what will happen when I hit the button. sometimes a click and nothing, sometimes it starts right up.
here is what has been changed trying to chase down the problem:
-positive and negative battery cable replaced with Terry Comp performance cables
-new fully charged HD battery
-all cable and wire connections checked and tighten down.
-connectors on relay in fuse panel cleaned and reconnected.
The starter is only 30 days old. My mechanic who did the work is puzzled as to what is the problem. still the started clicks when button pressed and no start up.
Any ideas?
Thread Starter
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Novice
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 18
Likes: 1
From: New Orleans
My mechanic thinks it might be a defective starter but only because he can't figure it out. my mechanic is still skeptical it is a defective starter because he stands by his work and the Terry brand he has used in his shop for years.
The starter is under warranty but will cost me money to get replaced and reimbursed.
So maybe the relay? just to be clear, the relay is the grey cube-shaped "fuse" plugged into the fuse panel just behind the battery cover, right? Has this been know to become an intermittent failure?
The relay is OEM. Never been replaced.
The starter is under warranty but will cost me money to get replaced and reimbursed.
So maybe the relay? just to be clear, the relay is the grey cube-shaped "fuse" plugged into the fuse panel just behind the battery cover, right? Has this been know to become an intermittent failure?
The relay is OEM. Never been replaced.
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Novice
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 18
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From: New Orleans
my mechanic called the manufacture who said if the positive battery cable post on the starter is over tighten then it would misaligned the contact with the plunger and could cause the plunger not to depress fully completing the circuit. the clicking noise was the plunger hitting the positive battery cable post.
My mechanic was skeptical about this, however. he suggested a new starter since it is under warranty.
today i disconnected the positive battery cable from the starter. gripping the cable post with pliers and gently turning the stud in the "loosen" direction literally a hair, reconnected the battery cable only hand tight, the starter now fires instantly. I hope this fixed the problem.
Has anyone ever heard of such a thing happening? my mechanic has been in the biz for decades and he was very hesitant that was the problem, yet so far it seems to have worked.
...any thoughts?
My mechanic was skeptical about this, however. he suggested a new starter since it is under warranty.
today i disconnected the positive battery cable from the starter. gripping the cable post with pliers and gently turning the stud in the "loosen" direction literally a hair, reconnected the battery cable only hand tight, the starter now fires instantly. I hope this fixed the problem.
Has anyone ever heard of such a thing happening? my mechanic has been in the biz for decades and he was very hesitant that was the problem, yet so far it seems to have worked.
...any thoughts?
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,541
Likes: 11
From: Elyria, OH
Makes sense now... the post is held in place by a nut, then you have the other nut for the cable end. If you tighten the nut after installing the cable and the first nut wasn't tight, it will let the whole stud rotate. The contact is on the other end of the stud and if rotated far enough it won't let the plunger travel far enough to bridge both contacts, or it will rotate one side of the contact out of the way so the plunger misses it. Hope this makes sense. If you want to see for yourself how they operate, go to your local auto parts store and ask if you can dismantle a starter core. I had this problem on a car starter that I had.
Last edited by Gpsjr10; Oct 8, 2011 at 08:20 PM.
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