She no start...Electrical help please!

Ok - After having the engine apart on my ELR and Larry Cavan doing the valves on the cylinder head, (Thanks again Larry!) I finally got her all back together. But all I got when I first tried to start her was a click from the starter relay. I hadn't touched any electrical except for removing the coils when I had the engine apart, so this was strange.

I replaced the relay with a new one and got same thing at first. Pissed, I walked away and returned the next day. This time she cranked for a bit, but didn't fire, which I expected because it's cold. Tried again and the relay started clicking from that point on and never once was I able to get her to crank again. :S :woohoo:

I replaced the relay again with a known good one and still no change.

I've checked all fuses - good
12v from the battery - good
All connections and ground - good
Starter Lockout switch - good
Starter switch - good

I'm thinking the next thing to check is the starter, but before I pull it, isn't there a way to bypass the relay and jump straight to the starter?

Not wanting to fry my electrical system on my bike, I thought I'd ask the experts on the proper procedure first.



Thanks fellas

Try this:

Starter Solenoid Checkout

Some simple steps to determine what is working and what's not:

1.Fully charge and test the battery(most bike shops can load test the battery, and then use a floating ball hydrometer to check specific gravity in the charged cells).

2.Clean all battery terminals of corrosion.

3.Tighten all starting related connections(Positive RED(+) battery terminal, Negative BLACK(-)terminal) and from the terminal to the engine case. All connections must be clean and tight.

4.Clean the cable from the starter solenoid to the starter motor.

5.Clean and check the "bullet connectors" going to the coil side of the starter solenoid.

6.Try again to start the bike.

7.If no luck, go to step #8

8.Wearing eye protection, bridge with pliers or a screwdriver the two heavy duty(large)terminals on the solenoid. If the bike cranks, your solenoid may be bad.

9. If the starter won’t turn over, one of several things has happened; The starter motor has seized due to brushes binding up, lack of lubrication in the bushings of the motor, the battery is weak , the engine has seized or it could be a combination of any of the above. Some websites for starter motor rebuild kits are:

A. www.mawonline.com/newsite/rick_s_motorsp...-starter_brushes.htm
B. www.cyclewareables.com/pages/street_star...kits/startmtrkit.htm

10.The dealer may want $$$ for a new solenoid, but take your old one along and visit the nearest riding lawn mower shop. They have solenoids for about $15 that with a little work will fit.

11. I’d recommend upgrading from the existing battery cables to at least 6 gauge welding cables.
They are available in two colors(RED and BLACK) have more flexibility due to being constructed with finer conductors, and will fit in tighter areas.

12. The welding cable is sold by the foot, so take careful measurements or bring your old cables along. Most battery shops might be able to supply the cable too, so call to find out. The battery shop should be able to crimp/swage on the end of the welding cable the terminal ends or lugs using either a dedicated crimping machine or a tool that looks like a bolt cutter that has special dies to terminate the cable.

13. Check the related wirng from the right handlebar start switch as some riders have found dead bugs/corrosion on those contacts. Look inside the headlight housing too as many electrical connections are there.

Check out your battery first of all by swapping it with a known decent one!!!
Tommotbird

Tommotbird wrote:

Check out your battery first of all by swapping it with a known decent one!!!
Tommotbird

Thanks - I forgot to mention that I did swap out with another battery and also hooked up my truck battery with truck off and it made no difference.

Bad ground connection?

I agree with MFolk, particulary with items #1 and #3. For me this has almost always been a bad battery ground connection. If you jumped from the truck battery to the bike battery connections, a bad connection elsewhere will still effect it. Since it cranked a bit the next day, I would think that the starter itself might be okay. Check all connections for greas, dirt or corrosion (which you can clean with a mix of baking soda and water, then sand them). Might help!

Alright, I'll give it another run through tomorrow. Thanks for the help fellas, I'll let you know what I find. :kiss:

Jump the starter at the solinoid and see if it spins. If Not Guess What??

Mentalmike aren't you the one who has the cop chop ?

chance wrote:

Mentalmike aren't you the one who has the cop chop ?

cop chop? Nope

MentalMike wrote:

chance wrote:

Mentalmike aren't you the one who has the cop chop ?

cop chop? Nope

Sorry wrong mental...:blush:

Alright, I finally figured out it was the starter that went bad by swapping it out with one from another bike and she cranked over no problem.

So my question is this.

If I rebuild the bad starter with one of the standard rebuild kits, am I guaranteed a properly functioning, like new starter or could there be more bad with the starter than a rebuild can fix?

I'm just wondering if investing in a new starter is a better guarantee since I plan on keeping the bike until I no longer can draw a breath.

Any thoughts?