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1989 FLTC Not Starting Intermittent Problem

Have you checked voltage drop at the battery when trying to crank the bike without the jumpers? My brothers 89 flhtc was having the same issue, we put a new regulator new glass matt battery we bought at checker (we were on the road at the time) cleaned the contacts in the selenoid all that! turns out that the brand new battery,that checker even put on a load tester and said was fine was not up to the task it would drop to like 9 volts when cranking. So we went to the bike shop bought a good 100+ dollar battery and no more issues. The bike has run great ever since. Just put your multi meter on the battery terminals and crank the bike and observe the voltage drop. Just a suggestion! Good luck, let us know what you find.
 
@TQuentin1:

Well.. thanks for that. I'll keep the celebrating on hold for a bit though still. Electrical issues can be so finicky.

I'm certainly still planing on the HD manual. I just checked the site again tonight, and it looks like they have a "new" one for the model and year for $60 bucks. The Clymer's here seems very good, but reading through some of the chapters I can see where more detail specific to the bike would be very helpful. Can't ever have too much information.

@NEWHD74FAN:

Honestly the "getting hot" suggestion is what convinced me to replace the green and little black wires irregardless. When I did the "hold start and see what gets hot" test those were the two that really got hot. The green one most of all. I figured if they were getting that hot I should replace them even if it doesn't fix the bigger problem. I hoped that since the battery cable connections stayed cool that it was one more indication they might be alright.

@hogrotten:

Thanks for the suggestion. I think you are very right on the cheaper batteries not really being worth the savings. When I took the older genuine Harley battery ($130 bucks or so) and the brand new Everstart I bought in a pinch ($50 bucks) to Autozone today for load testing they both tested about the same voltage-wise, but the Harley battery had over 500 CCA, while the Everstart was barely at 200 CCA. That extra umph is well worth the extra few bucks to me. Given the choice in the future, I think I'll go with the better batteries from now on.
 
Thank you for the followup Magister...your observation about the HD battery verses the economical replacement says a lot. Many times we make our choices based on solely on economics...but sometimes the materials selected are the lower cost item of a repair, compared with the labor expended trying to fix problems with sub par replacements. So choose wisely...if you decide to substitute from tried and true OEM without full research...there are risks...knowledge is power!
 
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Congratulations on getting to the stage of it being a lot better than it was whether it is fixed or not only time will tell
personally for me i prefer the clymer manuals but do have both and cross reference them at times

Brian
 
@fin676:

Thanks, mate. Wouldn't you know it's been raining here pretty much non-stop since last night. I'm hoping tomorrow I can get her out on the road and give it a proper test.

@NEWHD74FAN

NP ... I have always been one of the "cheap" ones. I'd buy the $50 dollar one before the $130 dollar one every time - no questions asked. Truthfully I've never really thought about it when it comes to batteries. This little episode may have convinced me to be a little less Scrooge like when it comes to the batteries at least.
 
Congrats Magister!! :yahoo

You need to have more confidence, even if all the bugs are not worked out, you have definately made considerable improvement!!! :bigsmiley12:

Hope it stops raining soon, I know what if feels like to have one down and finally get to the point of wanting to try it out.

How long have you owned your bike? What other modifications does she have?

Just curious! :D

CatWoman
 
Have you removed the cover on the starter solenoid and looked at the contacts inside???

The click you hear is the contacts, which means that everything upstream of the solenoid is working, you are just not getting power from the battery to the starter.

Check the condition of the contacts.
 
@Catwoman

Thanks ... Because the issue started as intermittent, I'm still going to keep my hopes under check until I get some miles, and a number of good starts under my belt.

I've only had this bike a few months. It was a deal too good to pass up (aren't they all), and I'm beginning to see why. She's certainly needed some TLC. The new clutch assembly the most major so far, and this wiring thing the most recent.

I posted a few pictures in the Touring gallery. The bike needed a bath in the pictures and the lighting wasn't the best, but you can get an idea.

One of the pictures can be found here: My 1989 FLTC - Harley Davidson Community Members Gallery

...

The bike has the typical amount of chrome, and a custom paint job (metallic dark blue, with silver tribal flame things) the last guy had done. The paint's in ok shape all things considered, but there are some road chips on the bags and fairing. An all new paint job is planned for the future though.

Engine wise, the numbers match on the 80ci Evo, but there is a high performance S&S carb on there. There is also an aftermarket HD cruise control that is currently disabled and on the remove list.

I've been jokingly saying I'll use the wires that are already there from the CC for an LED light bar or two. The toggle switch is already installed in the inner fairing. Not sure I'd I'm willing to actually go for the "light bling" though or not.

The last guy also installed a nice Saddleman two up seat. It's a bit hard for my tastes, but its in nice shape and matches the look of the bike. Maybe when I win the lottery I'll get one of those nice Mustang couches.

What initially impressed me was how little rust, and how well maintained the frame, engine, and tins look. To look at it you wouldn't know it had 20 years on it.

All in all the bike has potential. It's going to take a little elbow grease, and a few bucks to truly realize it, but hopefully in the end it'll be worth it for a cleaned up "classic".

@Dan89FLSTC:

Thanks for that. Honestly, no, I haven't removed the covers and looked at the contacts. It was on my list of things to do as I worked through the possible issues. I've been hesitant to disassemble the starter or the solenoid because of lack of facilities, and honestly experience doing it.

Keeping my fingers crossed my latest attempt keeps working. If the problem does persist I'll certainly take your advice and inspect (or have inspected) the solenoid much more closely.
 
Wow .. You guys all got quiet.

Anyways guys ... thanks again for all the advice.

I did a just under 400 mile round trip Sunday, and have put around 800 miles on it since replacing the wires. Starting to feel a little better about the bike.

Pretty soon (with a bit more elbow grease) it might be able to take it's place alongside my '86 Electra as my preferred go to scooter.

Merry Christmas all!
 
Having the same problem with my 95 fltcui. Replaced relay, rebuilt solonoid, replaced start off switches, all connections cleaned and greased.still happens . Go from battery to solonoid connection starts every time. Have just replaced the ignition switch but haven't had much time to test it. about 14 inches of snow in wisconsin. I'll let you know in a day or 2 if it helped. This was the subject of a recall and the switch was included.
 
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