Starter weirdness help please.

badyellowvette

Active Member
Solenoid rebuild did nothing to help, maybe made it worst now it wont start at all. The rebuild kit form DK is a piece of shit, used three parts out of it used the stock parts for the rest. Thinking I should order a battery and a starter. Any thoughts?
 

Sven

Well-Known Member
Car battery to jumpers on bike battery. Car off, just borrowing a larger storage of 12v. So that's jumper on large red wire down to the starter motor, past relay or at the lug of the relay with the cable to bike's starter motor.
Jumpers are on car, you now hold the ground of the jumper. This is going to spike and arc, so better you find a hidden ground where arc is for sure going to patina when that starter motor is about to be benched tested in the bike. I mean this is going to melt the lead on the ground side of the battery you go there. That's why you want to bolt a tang? Drill it and bolt to ground. The flat steel gets the sacrificial arc. And the least arc is the faster, most sable stab, and don't flinch, you won't get shocked.

Hold it there... if it keeps turning over the engine, it's not the starter as a variable to a start issue.
 
I replace my rotor, stator, voltage regulator and 15 amp breaker. Now my bike starts right up. No grinding of the gears. I went through four starters and four batteries before I figured out the problem. Now you might just be able to replace your voltage regulator first and see what happens. But I just went and replaced the whole charging system and voila starts right up every time and no more grinding. Good luck to you.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
 

Th3InfamousI

Administrator
Staff member
Solenoid rebuild did nothing to help, maybe made it worst now it wont start at all. The rebuild kit form DK is a piece of shit, used three parts out of it used the stock parts for the rest. Thinking I should order a battery and a starter. Any thoughts?
DK Dennis Kirk?

The one listed on eBay for $169 wont fit, it says it fits but it wont. It's a harley starter on the 05+ they are completely different. Starter nose is different, mounting is different, gear is different, drive clutch is different, jackshaft is different. Basically the entire ball of wax.

We just received a shipment of new starters. You can go with either version the oil drain groove (cheaper) or the billet nose. In my opinion the billet nose is a better option. Oil drain groove doesn't help once oil enters the starter it doesn't come out. Just look at hows its mounted, oil will go to the lowest part first which is the field coil assembly. The entire starter has to fill up with oil before it starts to drain out and that's when it's just a mess on your floor. The nose is cast and it has broke on me in the past where it bolts to the primary, for some reason the manual calls for anti-seize I think a little blue loctite is a better option especially with the cast part. Once you buy one of these with the billet nose you can swap it out going forward if you choose but it would last longer than the lifetime of the bike.

Both come with a 1-Year Manufacturer warranty! For an electrical part that's about as good as you can get.

It wouldn't hurt to test your charging system like the previous guy mentioned. If you are getting 14.2-14.4 at 2k RPM you are probably 100% fine. If you are not, then that's a different story. A lot of people just assume it's the VR and find out it's the stator. In my opinion going that route replacing both at the same time is the best option saves you money and time down the road. Give me a call if you want to talk 620-680-0395


 
Last edited:

Th3InfamousI

Administrator
Staff member
Also, I did this video which explains the difference. Hopefully the visual representation makes it easier for people to see the differences.

 

badyellowvette

Active Member
Car battery to jumpers on bike battery. Car off, just borrowing a larger storage of 12v. So that's jumper on large red wire down to the starter motor, past relay or at the lug of the relay with the cable to bike's starter motor.
Jumpers are on car, you now hold the ground of the jumper. This is going to spike and arc, so better you find a hidden ground where arc is for sure going to patina when that starter motor is about to be benched tested in the bike. I mean this is going to melt the lead on the ground side of the battery you go there. That's why you want to bolt a tang? Drill it and bolt to ground. The flat steel gets the sacrificial arc. And the least arc is the faster, most sable stab, and don't flinch, you won't get shocked.

Hold it there... if it keeps turning over the engine, it's not the starter as a variable to a start issue.
I did just like you said put a ground tab on the starter bolt. Used the battery out of my truck, with the Positive lead on the solenoid lug where the battery positive bolts to and ground on to the lug I got nothing. When I switch the positive lead to the lug on the starter the starter spins but of course not engage to turn the engine over. So it sounds like a solenoid problem? The rebuild kit done nothing to help.
 
Last edited:

chubs

Guru
I did just like you said put a ground tab on the starter bolt. Used the battery out of my truck, with the Positive lead on the solenoid lug where the battery positive bolts to and ground on to the lug I got nothing. When I switch the positive lead to the lug on the starter the starter spins but of course not engage to turn the engine over. So it sounds like a solenoid problem? The rebuild kit done nothing to help.
Inside the solenoid where that green wire connects, there are small bare looking wires that go back into the solenoid. Those little wires are what energize the coil to magnetically pull the “plunger” back against the spring, and make the copper disc touch the two big copper lugs. Anyhow,,, my starter somehow managed to break one of those little wires and the starter to not work . A very smart man, (MrWright) ,told me to solder the broken wire back together, and guess what! On the road again! And yes , I am still indebted to Shannon! He has saved my butt several times because that’s just the way he is, A truly good person and friend!
 

badyellowvette

Active Member
Inside the solenoid where that green wire connects, there are small bare looking wires that go back into the solenoid. Those little wires are what energize the coil to magnetically pull the “plunger” back against the spring, and make the copper disc touch the two big copper lugs. Anyhow,,, my starter somehow managed to break one of those little wires and the starter to not work . A very smart man, (MrWright) ,told me to solder the broken wire back together, and guess what! On the road again! And yes , I am still indebted to Shannon! He has saved my butt several times because that’s just the way he is, A truly good person and friend!
Thanks, I will have a look at that.
 

badyellowvette

Active Member
I did just like you said put a ground tab on the starter bolt. Used the battery out of my truck, with the Positive lead on the solenoid lug where the battery positive bolts to and ground on to the lug I got nothing. When I switch the positive lead to the lug on the starter the starter spins but of course not engage to turn the engine over. So it sounds like a solenoid problem? The rebuild kit done nothing to help.
Thanks, I will have a look at that.
Wires in the solenoid all look good. It appears I have a bad solenoid, thinking I need to replace the starter.
 

badyellowvette

Active Member
Am I thinking correctly? If I am putting more than 14 volts from my truck battery directly to the starter, not to the solenoid and the starter spins but is not engaging the starter gear then my gear or jackshaft is broken.
 

Mikeinjersey

Well-Known Member
Am I thinking correctly? If I am putting more than 14 volts from my truck battery directly to the starter, not to the solenoid and the starter spins but is not engaging the starter gear then my gear or jackshaft is broken.
From your overall description I would guess your starter gears are broken. Good news there inexpensive and easy to replace. If you also have a bad solenoid just get a slam button .
 

badyellowvette

Active Member
New starter from Derrick and Donna fixed me right up. Can't believe how fast it was here. Old starter gear was pretty chewed up so I took off the primary and flushed it out, a lot of metal shavings in there and I had just changed the primary oil two weeks ago. Thanks for the help.
 
Top