| Author | Message | ||
     Gkostolny |
I have an 08 12xt that I've owned since new. It currently has about 16k miles on it. For the last year or so it's been starting hard, and occasionally clattering/banging when I try to start it. The dashboard lights also dim and almost go out before they come back up and the bike turns over. After replacing the battery to no effect and based on advice from this forum & others, I diagnosed it as a failed starter/starter clutch, so I recently ordered up a new denso 1.4kw unit, and did the replacement. Unfortunately after replacing the starter, the behavior was the same, so I ordered a new high-powered Shorai battery on the theory that perhaps the old starter had ruined the battery. Unfortunately after installing the new battery this morning there is no change. While installing the battery I detached the negative ground and sanded the contact areas also, but it had no effect. At this point I'm stumped. Any thoughts or guidance would be much appreciated. Thanks! Gabe | ||
| Panhead_dan |
clean all connections for grounding between the battery and the starter. In fact, clean the plus side too. There may be some up on the neck as well. | ||
| Griffmeister |
You can't blindly diagnose a tricky electrical (if that's what it is) problem. Get a multimeter and start tracing the system. Assuming you inspected the clutch and ring gear when you had the starter out for mechanical problems, you need to confirm power. The starter only has two leads, the large hot lead from the battery and the small signal lead from the relay. Ground the negative test lead to the battery negative "post" and try to either hold or clamp the positive test lead to the starter post, not the wire terminal, and watch the meter when you crank the engine. Do the same test with the positive test lead on the signal post. Finally, put the positive test lead on the positive battery post and crank again. If you see a significant voltage loss at the starter on either lead compared to the reading across the battery, then you have a connection issue somewhere. Keep in mind that the engine should be turning over when you do these tests. If it comes up on compression and stops then the starter is at full stall. The starter is capable of drawing 450 amps at full stall but since the battery only puts out 200 amps then that is the load and you will see a significant voltage drop no matter what. Another thing to keep in mind is that the battery is the absolute positive and negative so by keeping one test lead on the battery post, you can put the other test lead on any connection point down the line and measure any actual voltage loss, providing you determine you have one, and pinpoint the location of the loss. Good luck. | ||
| Mnrider |
You could put a jumper cable between the starter ground and the battery ground to bypass the bikes grounding system. Seems when I sand between the seat frame and the main frame mine spins faster. |
