Hey Ripsaw. I am jumping onto that wiring issue that I posted a week or so ago.. so I had the battery load tested at two different places, they both say the battery is ok. One place load tested it and it came up fine. As I said before, I had to push the bike home, would get it started with the solenoid push starter button and then ride for a bit and the bike would die. About the fourth time it wouldn't start and i just push the bike the rest of the way. Today I took all the ground wires off and cleaned them and re-installed them with some die-electric grease. Still nothing. When I turn the bike on, my volts gauge only registers 10 volts. And when I push the starter button I get "one click" and that is it, nothing after that. To me 10 volts showing on the gauge isn't enough to get the bike to start. I have a 107 high compression motor with compression releases. So after cleaning the negative side, nothing changed. Now when I use the plunger on the solenoid the bike fires up but only runs for about 10 seconds and then quits. Could that be because the battery is actually pooched, even though the tests came back as ok? Any help would be great. I am thinking of getting an other battery from Battery Mart. This one is only about 1 year old. Also there is a new 1.4 watt starter on the bike and a new starter relay.


My thought?? You are so far from stock.. I would be a little lost here. However a good battery on a TC88 stock motor will pull the battery down to 9.8 Volts or so at the first grunt before the cylinders get moving and the first one fires to help and then the second and it starts on a FI bike. Mine needs you to hold the starter in for just a fraction of a second or you will get a false start. If I were in your case with a modified high compression motor and I am a do it yourself will work on it till I fix it and you sound the same. First thing I would do is pull the battery and get my charged car or truck battery and hook that up. The you will know for sure if you have enough amps or a bad starter or connection. I know we pulled my good battery out of my 25 year old 12 HP ridding lawn mower and put it in my sons 18 HP mower so he could cut his grass. That battery only made a grunt on his 18HP motor...added a jump with the charger and it started.

 

I am going to check the solenoid and see what it looks like. Today I fired it up with the solenoid plunger and the bike would start up but only run for a short period of time and then die. Thanks Ripsaw I will try a different battery and see if it starts or not, it is great weather right now and I am down, go figure. One step at a time.

 

Check the cables to see if they are corroded inside. You need to do a volt drop test on the cables. Put a volt meter from battery end of pos. cable to the other end of the cable on the solenoid. Turn the engine over with out it starting reading should be .5 volt or less, check neg cable the same way. Battery has to be fully charged first. Probably not the problem but you will know for sure if the cables are good.

 

Just what is a short period of time? That may have noting to do with starting issues.Are we talkins a 2000 FI motor that is now now 107..What was done to ignition and fuel to support all the extra engine?

 

Ok the bike was a F/I but had it changed out to carb, it has a Dyna Digital ignition. This change was done about 8 years ago, so it isn't a recent change. When I fire the bike up with the plunger, now it runs for about 10 seconds and then quits. Is that a sign of a dead battery? Or is it a short somewhere. The weird thing is I can start it again right after it quits.
OK now this is weird, this morning i went out to see if it would stay running, yesterday it would run for about 10 seconds and then quit, did it 3 times in a row. Today first thing, the handle bar button wouldn't work, just one click. Plunger started the bike and it sat there and idled. Shut it off and then tried the handle bar starter and it fired right up, did it again with the handle bar and it started up. Third time not so lucky. Nothing. Does this sound like a wiring short?? Suggestions please.
The bike has run flawlessly for years, it was in November of last year when the issue started giving me grief.

 

If the battery has enough juice to start the bike, it will have enough to keep it running. I had an old shovelhead that would start and run as long as the battery had enough juice to barely turn the headlight element orange. When it starts like that and dies, what does your voltage gauge show the voltage is?

It sounds like the solenoid is bad to me, but that doesn't explain why it dies.

A short would blow a fuse, but a bad ground is a possibility.

Good luck

 

I still think it could be a weak battery. I had a bike that did that same thing. Would start and run for few minutes then die. But if you tried to restart it you only got a click if you tried to restart it after it died. New battery and never had the issue again. Good luck, hope you find it!

 

OK the saga continues. Sorry for being stupid with wiring, it just ain't my forte. Well I put a new battery in and the problem didn't go away. Same thing as before. So I found a post from Digger in May of 2011 where he put in a second relay to get rid of the Dreaded Click. Before I wired in the second relay, I took off the plunger cap off the solenoid end of starter,there was a bit of corrosion on the plunger and the two contacts see picture ( if it down loads) I clean those up with emery cloth and got them clean. The I used Digger's thread and wired in the second relay, this is long winded, please forgive me. I had the old starter rely tested and the guy said it was ok..bought a new second one. Here is what I did. This is on the new relay.
Post 87 to the solenoid where a single green wire was
Post 86 to ground
Post 30 to Positive side of battery with a 30 amp inline fuse
Post 85 to the green wire that came off the solenoid.
The bike didn't start but the click was louder than before. Before after about 2 pushes on the start button the power went off. Now the is definitely a stronger sounding click and it doesn't die after a few pushes of the start button. Then one time I just gave it a few quick clicks and it bike started. AHHHHH. but then about 5 seconds it died. Didn't that a few times repeatedly and then quit for good.
Electricity and me are like the Hatfield's and McCoy's. Is it time to just knuckle under and haul it to the shop?

Not my day, pictures didn't download either. What's next??? Oh I one pic loaded.

 

You would be better off with ONE good Harley OEM relay. There is a difference here between OEM , aftermarket and least of all reworked. Harley does make a replacement set of contacts and plunger. However to properly do it, when installed you need to highspot blue it to ensure you have good contact and if not tweak the tabs.

 

If the bike doesn't keep running after it starts, there are three possibilities:

1.The starter isn't the problem and there is something else wrong with the electrical system.
2.There is something wrong somewhere else in the electrical system and coincidently with the starter.
3. There is something electrical wrong with the bike and coincidently something non-electrical wrong with the bike.

Since I'm not a big believer in simultaneous coincidences, I'm putting my money on #1. I might have missed it, but I haven't seen any posts where you mention actually using a digital multi-meter. Throwing parts at an electrical problem will usually get you nowhere in a hurry. You really need a DMM and at least a basic understanding of how to use it to troubleshoot problems efficiently. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with Harley electrical systems to provide pointers and my EWD hasn't arrived yet

Step one, like others have said is to put a meter on the battery and watch the display while its cranking and once it starts, even if it immediately dies. The reading should rest at over 12V static and shouldn't drop below 10V or so while cranking. As soon as it starts, it should come right back up to over 12V. From what you've said, the battery doesn't sound like the problem to me, but step one is step one...