94 Sportster Electrical Problem Help.. : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

MARCUMS · 10-07-2005, 06:35 PM

I have a 94 sportster 883 with 1200 conversion kit. California model. The starter seemed to be dragging so I put in a fresh battery, no help, I replaced the starter with a new one and about one out of 20 tries it will start, the rest of the time it just clicks the starter and will not turn over. I have checked all the breakers as well as the starter relay. This one is really kicking my butt. Any help would surely be appreciated.

Mad Dog · 10-08-2005, 06:31 PM

Take off both of your battery cables, clean all the contact surfaces (not just the battery side, but also the starter and ground mounts) with some rough sandpaper and resinstall (with hot + cable first, then the ground - cable). This should clear up your problem.

If this does not, you may have a problem with your ignition switch but is not likely.

Good luck.
Wes.

Kags · 10-09-2005, 11:35 AM

Its the ground cable. Most likley the crimp at the frame. My guess.

MARCUMS · 10-09-2005, 03:54 PM

I replaced both cables and even ran an extra ground cable to a different part of the frame. On a fully charged battery it will pull the volts at the starter down to below 7 volts everytime with old or new cables.

HDMD88 · 10-09-2005, 04:02 PM

How old is the battery??
Just because the battery shows 12 or 13 volts it might not have enough amps to turn over the starter....(cranking amps.)

MARCUMS · 10-09-2005, 04:06 PM

The first battery was 1 year old and tested good under a load test but just for kicks I got a brand new one fully charged it and tested it under load and it is also good. They are both Harley batteries.

springer- · 10-09-2005, 04:11 PM

If all your connections are clean and cables are new and battery is new and it still doesn't start but it pulls the voltage down to 7 volts then your starter is bad or rsomething is binding the starter causing to to draw excessive current. Starter could be bad right out of the box though unlikely.

MARCUMS · 10-09-2005, 04:15 PM

This is the second new starter also. Its the california model and it has a vacum valve behind the carb that has two wires running from it. One goes to a ground and the other goes to the brain box. Could this thing be causing the problem and does anyone know if I can remove this without problems.

Meat · 10-20-2005, 01:39 AM

I had the positive cable rott at the starter where the conector crimps on the cable (covered by shrink wrap) take the pos cable off the batt and pull on it. mine pulled right out. I put two H-D cables on @ $23.00 each and finally made my own 2 years no problems

Murdoc · 10-29-2005, 02:11 AM

So you made sure that ground strap is good to go.. Have you pulled the starter and done a bench test? checking the pull-in, hold-in, and free draw (amps) of the solenid? how's your voltage drop at your 50 (green) terminal? If you need directions to do 'em let me know. Also check your 'C' terminal connections, from solenoid to motor. good luck man.