Starter won't crank.

R

rmclaughlin

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Hey all. So my starter will not crank over. I have tested the stater solenoid and it delivers power to the starter wire but the power does not seem to extend throught the BRAND NEW WIRE. I did a direct test from the battery through a pigtail to the starter wire and nada. I am in the process of reasembling my bike after a long custom restoration and it has sat a few months since the last time I started it but it worked fine prior. Any thoughts? Seems odd it would just stop working.
Thanks
Rob
 
rmclaughlin said:
Hey all. So my starter will not crank over. I have tested the stater solenoid and it delivers power to the starter wire but the power does not seem to extend throught the BRAND NEW WIRE. I did a direct test from the battery through a pigtail to the starter wire and nada. I am in the process of reasembling my bike after a long custom restoration and it has sat a few months since the last time I started it but it worked fine prior. Any thoughts? Seems odd it would just stop working.
Thanks
Rob
Click to expand...

Your battery is likely discharged. Charge your battery at 1/10 of its amp/hr rating for 6 to 8 hours..

The starter motor is a "load test" for the battery. Your battery failed the test.
 
Hey RT. Thought of that so I charged the battery over night and still nada. There was about 12v yesterday and much more today. I can hear the starter solenoid clicking and power does go to that terminal when I push the starter button. I tried going directly from the starter to the battery and nothing. Could it be a connectivity issue. It worker before so I'm not sure how something would come loose. I'll did deeper. If you have any thoughts please pass them on.
Rob
 
12 volts is pretty dead. 12.7 is full charge. A good battery should sit close to the 12.5 mark at rest. Could be the starter motor itself. But I would try a known good battery. Make sure you charge at about 1 to 2 amps only. More will boil the battery and destroy it.
 
I have a battery tender. The battery is about 13.5v at the moment. Even before when the battery was getting low the starter would slowly crank. At the momment its totally nothing. Not a chirp. Everything else works, ie the headlight, blinkers etc.
 
If I hard connect the battery to the starter it should turn over. As if now it does. I have done this test before whn trouble shooting. Gonna get under the bike to see if something came loose.
 
rmclaughlin said:
I have a battery tender. The battery is about 13.5v at the moment. Even before when the battery was getting low the starter would slowly crank. At the momment its totally nothing. Not a chirp. Everything else works, ie the headlight, blinkers etc.
Click to expand...

That voltage reading means nothing. Even the fact that the lights work means nothing.

Your battery may not be able to supply the approximately 75 amps needed by the starter motor. A true load test means having a high amps load such as 75 to 100 amps, and measuring the voltage across the battery terminals while the large current flows from the battery. If the battery voltage drops to say 9 volts or less, that means the battery is worn out (cells may be shorted, etc.).

You can use your own VOM to measure the voltage for the test, or you can take your battery to a store that sells batteries, and they will most likely have a proper load tester.
 
Rob

I don't understand what you mean by 'BRAND NEW WIRE ' ??:confused: what wire would that be ? what does it connect to what ? Perhaps I missed a previous post ?
Is your wiring standard or modified ?

By 'starter wire ' are you referring to the 12v+ feed from the open side of the solenoid switch which supplies the 12v+ from the solenoid to the starter motor ?

The solenoid is just a simple single pole switch . All you need to do is to momentarily short out the two larger terminals on the solenoid which will effectively bypass the solenoid switch and feed 12v+ straight to the starter motor.It should crank

Alternatively just momentarily connect a wire from your battery 12v+ terminal (red)and touch it on the starter motor terminal (the one with the wire connected from the solenoid) and the starter should immediately crank. (You could use a jump cable )

If the starter then cranks ok the fault lies with the solenoid switch or the wire from the solenoid to the starter motor or it lies with the 2x wires that control the solenoid switch, ie the Blue/White from your starter button or the Red/White wire from your Safety relay ,thats assuming you still have one fitted ? If you do then the safety relay could be stuck open .
Is the yellow wire from your stator connected to the safety relay ?
 
Yes, new starter wire. I have tried jumping from the starter using that wire directly to the positive terminal and not a peep. No safety relay, just the solenoid. I may add the safety relay later but it started with this set up before.
Thank You
Rob
 
Okay, so the engine wasn't grounded. Solved that problem. Every piece of the engine is grounded now. Used the test light everywhere and it lit up. I powdercoated the frame so I found a mount that grounded perfectly. Tried the starter again and nothing. So it's either the battery or starter as you said. How can I perform a load test at home?
Thanks again
Rob
 
rmclaughlin said:
Okay, so the engine wasn't grounded. Solved that problem. Every piece of the engine is grounded now. Used the test light everywhere and it lit up. I powdercoated the frame so I found a mount that grounded perfectly. Tried the starter again and nothing. So it's either the battery or starter as you said. How can I perform a load test at home?
Thanks again
Rob
Click to expand...

In post #!0 , I explained...................VOM reading voltage across battery, and then run the starter motor.
 
Hey all. So I had the battery tested and its fine. The bike is grounded. The starter motor will not crank at all. Its probably not a mechanical issue but an electrical one I imagine. Any insight to how to check and or replace electric parts in the starter motor. Thanks everyone for all of the help and insight. Also it worked perfectly fine before I powdercoated the frame.
 
Sounds like bad grounds to me. The powder coat must be removed from motor mount to frame points. I ran a 8awg wire from battery - to the rear motor mount engine bolt. Just to be sure I had a nice solid ground. Shitty ground will work great on a low amperage cct. But a high amperage not so much. Either that or the motor actually did fail.
 

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