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No power to starter motor. (Read 158 times)
Trouble
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No power to starter motor.
10/16/13 at 00:27:40
 
Pretty new to motorcycles all around, bare with me.

86' 14000mi or so.

Problem:
Power isn't getting to the starter motor.
Battery has a fresh charge.
Starter motor works when powered directly.
When I hit start, I can hear the Solenoid/decomp click on/open, then the Starter Relay click on, Solenoid clicks off, then when I release the button the Starter Relay clicks off.

That much all sounds like it's in order to me so I'm not quite sure where to proceed from here.


Context:
This all started when I got myself in a bind by running out of gas in the middle of the 205 bridge into Washington. A helpful stranger offered me a few gallons, which I of course accepted. It wasn't until I'd gotten a few minutes down the road and the bike started coughing and sputtering and generally losing power (engine power rather than electrical) that it occurred to me that I should have checked the gas out a little better. Could very well have been two-stroke from the way it was smelling. It died on my way into the gas station, where I dumped the tank and filled it up fresh. Got it running for maybe 30-45 seconds before it slowed and just cut out. Then I ran down the battery trying to get it started again. Carefully tried jumping the bike from a car. No luck. Not sure for certain but that could have been the point where I stopped getting power to the starter.
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Re: No power to starter motor.
Reply #1 - 10/16/13 at 07:32:31
 
Trouble wrote on 10/16/13 at 00:27:40:
Starter motor works when powered directly.
When I hit start, I can hear the Solenoid/decomp click on/open, then the Starter Relay click on, Solenoid clicks off, then when I release the button the Starter Relay clicks off.


Sounds like you have a pretty good understanding of how it all works.

1st, running the starter for a long time can burn it out.  literally.  I think I read minute on, 10 off.

even though you've heard it all click through, check with a volt meter.
and it could be... your decomp is out of adjustment causing the starter to stall on the compression stroke.
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Re: No power to starter motor.
Reply #2 - 10/16/13 at 11:09:36
 
You didn't have the car engine running when you did the jump,.. did you?...
That wouldn't be good...
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Re: No power to starter motor.
Reply #3 - 10/16/13 at 15:13:46
 
Starter works when powered directly.  Directly from the bike's battery or from a car battery?

Either way that should rule out a burned out starter motor since it works with power applied.

Since you're getting all the normal clicks, the wiring harness and fuses should be fine.  You're losing it in the big power areas.  
If you can get to it, try jumping the + in to the + out (big wires) on the solenoid.  If the starter turns, bad solenoid.  Check your connections at the battery.  Check connections at the solenoid. Check connection at the starter and check the ground connection to the bike right behind the clutch cover.

I'm thinking either dead solenoid or bad connection at solenoid.  I understand that the solenoid is firing but that doesn't mean it will carry power.
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Re: No power to starter motor.
Reply #4 - 10/16/13 at 16:47:20
 
Serowbot wrote on 10/16/13 at 11:09:36:
You didn't have the car engine running when you did the jump,.. did you?...
That wouldn't be good...

Steve H wrote on 10/16/13 at 15:13:46:
Starter works when powered directly.  Directly from the bike's battery or from a car battery?

Car was off, that much at least I know better.

I took the starter motor out and ran some alligator clips directly from the bikes battery. It gave enough of a kick that it almost jumped out of my hand.


Steve H wrote on 10/16/13 at 15:13:46:
I'm thinking either dead solenoid or bad connection at solenoid.  I understand that the solenoid is firing but that doesn't mean it will carry power.

Thanks for that clarification. It wouldn't have occurred to me otherwise because it still sounds like it's working.

Wait, did you mean the Decomp Solenoid or the Starter Relay? The Solenoid only has two small wires and a ground going into it last I checked.
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Re: No power to starter motor.
Reply #5 - 10/17/13 at 03:18:23
 
I meant the starter solenoid (relay).  It should have a large + cable straight from the battery and another large cable that runs straight to the starter.  I have seen cables get loose and not carry enough power and I've seen solenoids click perfectly and not carry any power.  That's why I said try jumping across the two big cables on the solenoid. All you do is bypass the internal parts of the solenoid.  It will tell you if it's bad.  Expect some sparks when you jump it if the starter works when you do it.

Of course, the starter will have to be installed on the bike when you do this. Make sure it's in neutral.  You're bypassing all the safeties.
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Re: No power to starter motor.
Reply #6 - 10/17/13 at 22:50:08
 
So I found the most effective method for me to bypass the Starter Relay was to detach the cables from the relay and just stick them together. The results were less resounding than I would have hoped. With the ignition button pressed (to engage the decomp solenoid), I connected the two main relay cables. The starter motor did roll over, though quite weakly despite my multimeter reading a full 12v from the battery and I wasn't able to get anything resembling fuel ignition from this test.

Steve H wrote on 10/17/13 at 03:18:23:
Make sure it's in neutral.  You're bypassing all the safeties.

You're assuming I haven't already bypassed all of the safety features on this bike, like the sidestand and clutch switches. <.< >.>
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Re: No power to starter motor.
Reply #7 - 10/17/13 at 23:41:15
 
The engine problems you described in your
original post may be telling us something.
Is it possible that you have a good starter trying
to crank a partially seized engine ?
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Re: No power to starter motor.
Reply #8 - 10/18/13 at 11:34:27
 
It's true that I am assuming that you still have the safeties in place.  But, in either case, would rather give a litle warning than have something happen to you or the bike because I didn't.

A fully charged 12v battery should read 13 to 13.2 volts.
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Re: No power to starter motor.
Reply #9 - 10/18/13 at 12:58:04
 
Pull the plug, put it in gear & roll it..
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Re: No power to starter motor.
Reply #10 - 10/27/13 at 13:32:22
 
After stumping an electrical engineer for a couple of hours, we determined that both the starter relay and the battery were in need of replacing. And so far that seems to have done the trick. Now I just need to sus out why my carb has started puking gas when my petcock is in the on position. *sigh*
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Re: No power to starter motor.
Reply #11 - 10/27/13 at 19:32:30
 
Stuck float?  Try rapping on the bowl with the handle of a screwdriver.
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Re: No power to starter motor.
Reply #12 - 10/27/13 at 23:39:54
 
You have the stock petc0ck? If so go to the Tech section and do the full "testing your petc0ck" steps.
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