Posted: 2/27/2010 4:06:03 PM EDT
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My 1982 FLHS will not crank over. It started & ran fine three weeks ago???
I removed the battery and had it checked, It's at a 100% charged. All the wiring connections are tight/clean. Since I'm alone. attempting find the problem & my Clymer is not a big help,I will ask here. The only sound that I hear is a soft "click,click" when I push the electric start button.I think this sound is coming from the starter,I'm not sure. clicking may be coming from the starter's solenoid. Before I start unbolting parts,not knowing where to start. I'm seeking techs with Harley exp. Any help, is deeply appreciated. Jimmo I followed your advise. When touching the positive wire to the starter, we discovered it works, but when the same wire is touched to a large bolt on the solenoid - Nothing. 
Once Again Thank you to everyone Jim |
| Use jumper cables to directly power the starter (Make sure it's in neutral though). This bypasses other electrical circuits and will let you know if its a starter problem or an electrical problem. The starter bendix has been known to go out in these bikes from time to time. |
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My shovel had a little 12v cube relay on the RH side that then went to the solenoid on the LH side. If you have a soft click, then the relay may be pulling in, but the solenoid isn't.
I'd take booster cables and touch the hot one directly to the solenoid and see what happens (make sure its in neutral first) |
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I had to work until 5;30pm but when I arrived home I went to the shop and unbolted the battery cover, removed the battery along with the tray, so I can see the starter. I think the relay is the small box that was bolted to the tray.(three wires connected to it)
After removing the wires from the starter. I connected the jumper wires to the starter. Making sure the bike was in neutral. I clipped the neg. wire. then I touched the positive side with the jumper. at first the starter spun without engaging, then it sounded normal. attempting to start - But the dipstick shot out of the oil bag so I disengaged the battery. After picking up and cleaning the dipstick, I tried again & the dipstick flew out again??? The oil is thick from the cold. Before spring I'll clean the lines & oilbag,pump's screen The starter works. but I noticed a mgf. date of 2002 on the starter, so I'm going to pull it off to inspect it for wear. As You can guess, I'm not much of a mechanic, but I will try to fix what I can .Some think it's the relay? I'll have to take it to work & have a Elec. tech inspect it. As far as the solenoid being bad, I have no ideal how to check it for defects...But willing to try.. Any more advice ? Thank you in advance. Jimmo |
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The solenoid is mounted on the primary drive housing. It has two big posts and one small one. The small post should go to the little relay. One of the big posts should be connected to the battery and the other goes to the starter motor.
Basically what happens is that the little cube relay on the battery box provides power to the small post on the solenoid when you press the start button. That then causes the two big posts on the solenoid to connect to each other inside the solenoid and spin the starter. At the same time, a plunger inside the solenoid moves and causes a fork to push the starter drive gear against the clutch basket, which then causes the primary chain to spin, which causes the motor to spin. Theoretically, if you apply 12v to the little post on the solenoid, then the starter should function normally. If you apply power to the big post, the starter should spin freely (although it will sometimes catch from the centrifugal force). The cheap starters don't last very long especially if the motor has been stroked or compression has been raised. |