| Author | Message | ||
     Huck_farley |
My low mileage '97 S3 won't crank. It is close, but just clicks. Battery is a season or two old, always on a tender. It tested good on Yuasa powersports battery meter. I've checked the cables of the battery and the braided ground, what's next. Battery tender goes back to green after a short time so I really doubt it's the battery.Thanks for any ideas. | ||
| 01x1buell |
try wiggling your relays under the seat. they sometimes come loose or go bad.. one is for starter one for fuel pump. also try to switch them and see what happens. | ||
| Kc_zombie |
Check the starter relay, sometimes it get corroded in its little clip and loses ground. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Sounds like to me the the big fat red wire might cave come loose on the starter. Failing that, perhaps the solenoid in the starter's big copper contacts might be fuzzy. When it works just right, you don't notice but several things click before power is actually applied to the motor. Rube goldberg: turn on ignition to allow power to button on bars push little button on bars to click black relay black relay clicks to allow several amps to flow into starter's solenoid (another relay!) starter's relay goes KLUNK, pushing the gears into the clutch and then closing the 150 Amp relay that pushes the motor. But anyways, it sounds like the black relay is clicking. Is the KLUNK in the starter happening? | ||
| Hootowl |
Couple of things it can be, besides what is offered above. Your ignition switch may have some burned contacts, and is not capable of passing enough current to the windings of the starter solenoid, so it just clicks. The starter solenoid contacts may be unevenly worn, coupled with the insufficient current making it to the solenoid, making it impossible for the plunger ring contact to connect with the side contacts in the solenoid. Disconnect the main wire from your positive battery terminal. Remove the starter solenoid cover. Three little machine screws. Make sure the solenoid plunger is in place properly after the cover comes off. It is spring loaded. Inspect the ring (on the plunger) and side contacts. One side usually wears more rapidly than the other, forcing the plunger to rock sideways in its bore in order to make contact at the end of its travel. Weak solenoid current caused by fried ignition switch contacts will cause the plunger to not have enough force to make contact. You can test for a bad switch by unplugging the switch and hot wiring it. Reconnect the battery. Turn the ignition switch on (or bypass the switch, and try to start normally), and manually push the plunger to engage the ring contact with the side contacts. If your battery is not dead, and the starter is not shot, the starter will spin and engage the gear behind the clutch, spinning the motor. Be careful when you jerk your hand away after the starter catches that you don't lose the plunger. If it touches the side contacts on its way out, there will be a very large electric arc, and you may damage things. Best to be mentally prepared for the noise, and not jerk your hand away  I suspect it is a combination of a bad switch and worn solenoid contacts, if you've already tried swapping the relays near the fuse block. Replacing the solenoid contacts may compensate for a marginal ignition switch. | ||
| Huck_farley |
Thanks for the quick responses, as soon as it stops raining I'll shuffle some bikes around and get it on the lift.I remember the ignition switch being replaced under warranty on my first S3, but it was jumping to parking light mode and killing the battery.This bike only has 3500 miles hopefully it's something simple, age or corrosion related. | ||
| Kilroy |
get the battery load tested. could still be bad. I've had a year old battery go bad, still showed good voltage until you tried to crank it. | ||
| Hootowl |
Oh, yeah, check the main ground connected to the swing arm mount. That's the path the current will take to the starter. (The electrons flow back to the battery on the positive terminal. Screw you hole theory guys Electrons move, holes don't.) | ||
| Psykick_machanik |
I'd put a multimeter on the batt and hit the starter, see how low she goes. (my new Batt died on the tender this winter) Then pull the plugs, put her in gear and rock or roll her a few feet. Then try the starter again. Deff check all grounds, clean with SS wire brush. Hope its an easy one. | ||
| Huck_farley |
Easy fix for a change. I wire brushed the terminal from solenoid to starter, even though it wasn't corroded. Wiggled the relay under the tank and it fired right up. I also may have not had the key in the fully run/start position.The parking light mode is one click from off, then run/start. I would love to know what motorcycle battery company lobbyist fought to get bikes to have a parking light mode.That piece of legislation from the 1970's has sold thousands of new batteries. Also I'm very guilty of not running this Buell enough, too many bikes can be a curse at times. Thanks again for your quick responses | ||
| Huck_farley |
Went to ride it again, and wouldn't crank. This time battery tested "bad/replace" on a Yuasa tester. My benefactor at Yuasa hooked me up with a "blemish" from the factory and the bike fired fired right up.The battery that went bad was a Parts Unlimited brand battery, didn't last two seasons on the Tender all the time. Another case of being a cheapskate biting me in the ass again, should have went with a name brand battery the first time. |
