[soupy1957]

Up on the lift she goes this morning...........

Had a family gathering yesterday and wanted to ride the bike there...........but once again, I unplugged the "Tender" and rolled the bike out to the driveway and turned the key..........

Indicator lights came on, and all I heard was a rapid click.

I quickly turned the key off and tried again.........nothing...........

So, either the Battery Tender's "green" light is lying to me, and the battery is too far gone (in which case, I would have hoped that my "Battery Tender" would have shown "red" to warn me. Maybe that's a flaw in the design of the Bettery Tender, I dunno); or there is something else going on that I just don't realize yet.

I'll put the bike up on the lift, pull the battery, and do a Load Test (if I remember "how") and see if its just a "new battery" that I need.

I HOPE that's all it is!!

-Soupy

 

[Dodsfall]

The battery tender just checks for the proper voltage, not for available amperage. A bad battery can show plenty of voltage but not have enough power to turn over the engine.

 

[soupy1957]

Checked the battery with a Volt Meter, and it read good.

Pulled the Starter Relay Switch, (where the "clicking" seemed to be coming from) and will replace it "just on principle." (the 30 AMP fuse was "fine").

Next, if that doesn't "fix" things, I'll go to the Starter Motor and pull IT, and replace.

Hard to find any Parts place open at all today ("Memorial Day"), and most of the Auto Parts places wouldn't have this item anyway. Will try a Honda Dealership Parts Department IF they open up today at all. If not...........oh well.

Tried to locate one online at Jafrum.com and J&P but couldn't find what I was looking for. Will attempt to call their Customer Service phone line, if all else fails.

On a side note.........I'm amazed at how many fuses are all over the motor of this bike!!

-Soupy

 

[Dodsfall]

The first step would be to test the battery before replacing a bunch of random parts. Many auto parts or battery stores will test it for free.

 

[soupy1957]

Why (Dods) would the Starter Relay Switch give me multi-clicks, if the battery was not completely up to snuff?



-soupy

 

[Dodsfall]

A battery with low amperage or a bad connection can activate the relay and not turn the starter, making the clicking noise.

 

[Luvs2Play]

It doesn't take much amperage to run a relay switch, but it takes a lot for the starter.

 

[Oz]

Soupy, maybe you'll find this Cyclepedia Starter System Troubleshooting video helpful.

 

[hogcowboy]

Checked the battery with a Volt Meter, and it read good.

Pulled the Starter Relay Switch, (where the "clicking" seemed to be coming from) and will replace it "just on principle." (the 30 AMP fuse was "fine").

Next, if that doesn't "fix" things, I'll go to the Starter Motor and pull IT, and replace.

Hard to find any Parts place open at all today ("Memorial Day"), and most of the Auto Parts places wouldn't have this item anyway. Will try a Honda Dealership Parts Department IF they open up today at all. If not...........oh well.

Tried to locate one online at Jafrum.com and J&P but couldn't find what I was looking for. Will attempt to call their Customer Service phone line, if all else fails.

On a side note.........I'm amazed at how many fuses are all over the motor of this bike!!

-Soupy

I'm sure you know what you're doing but could I ask how you know the battery is really good? How did you do a load test specifically?

I've had a battery meter fine but put a load to it and nothing due to a dead cell.

Hope you don't change all these parts just to find you had a battery like mine.

 

[soupy1957]

Next step: Load Test

I'll I did was check it with an Ohm Meter (Volts)

Appreciate the video.

-Soupy

P.S.: Hope if you had your flag at half staff, you put it to full staff at noon today (Monday).

 

[Dodsfall]

A bad battery can show plenty of voltage but not have enough power to turn over the engine.

Post #2 had that info in it.

 

[yahmyxs]

Bad connection on the solenoid sounds about right.
or-
you have a powerdrain, usually known as a SHORT somewhere.

I trace shorts through ground, and it takes about half the time than trying to m it and miss such a small, electrical system.

so assume the power is ok, cause the worries ain't worth it. after all, you do have a tender and it reads OK right?

bad connections account for 80% of power drains.

good luck twuhbleshuting.

 

[Luvs2Play]

Just try to jump it with a riding lawnmower battery and that will tell if it's the battery.

 

[Unkle Krusty]

Click no click

The battery can be new and in good shape, yet the bike will not start.
The red hot wyre has to go through the key switch, the kill switch and a few connectors. Plus it has to check in with the neutral and side stand indicators.
Plus turn on a few bulbs.

After all those side trips a red or red yellow wyre may go back to the solenoid.
It should have zero volts with the key off, and reasonable volts with the key on.
If the volts with the key on are too low to get the solenoid excited, it will go click, or no click. I would test that first because it does not cost any more than a decent volt meter.

If you have low volts back at the solenoid then you can start checking backwards down the wyres, checking for resistance.

Unkle Crusty*

 

[Deven07]

Why (Dods) would the Starter Relay Switch give me multi-clicks, if the battery was not completely up to snuff?



-soupy

I just ran into this...iffy battery with decent charge would buzz the relay no problem, not a turn on the starter. New battery, fresh full charge, turned the starter right over.

 

[soupy1957]

I just ran into this...iffy battery with decent charge would buzz the relay no problem, not a turn on the starter. New battery, fresh full charge, turned the starter right over.

When my wife's cousin gets back from his Honeymoon in a couple of days, (he's a Service Manager at a car dealership), I'll ask him to "do me a favor," and bring my motorcycle battery into his shop, and ask one of his guys to do a "Load Test" on it. If it falls below 9.6, I'll buy a new maintenance-free Gel battery or something with a good number of CCA's, and re-assemble everything and see what happens.

If it STILL fails, I'll replace the Switch Relay. Hopefully I won't have to go the THIRD step, and replace the Starter!!

Meanwhile, I'm keeping my eyes open for any loose ground wires.

-Soupy

 

[Unkle Krusty]

Check for volts.

Soupy, I had the same problem with my 79 XS11. Put in two solenoids. Battery was already new. Sometimes click, sometimes no click. Was a bad connection.
Cost nothing to fix. The starter button wyres were also intermittent. Bad connection, cost nothing to fix. The headlight quit. Was a bad connection. Cost nothing to fix.
When I say nothing, I did use some solder and heat shrinks. On my bike the bad connections were behind the steering head under the gas tank.
Fortunately there is an excellent XS11 site, and one of the guys told me which connections to check, and what colour wyres to look for.
your Honda may have the same Hitachi 170-40 solenoid with the same red/yellow wyre soldered on. That is the one to check for volts with the key on. Too low and it will go click. Much too low and it will not click. the kill switch is also another place where the switching parts can get corroded.

Unkle Crusty*

 

[soupy1957]

ty Crusty

-Soupy

 

[yahmyxs]

yes another truck story....
there was this old 32 truck that noone could get to turn the started over...it turned out that the solenoid wire had been bent over to keep the manifold from melting it, and all the strands had broken except 1. I had tugged on that with ajpair of big pliers, and was sure it was ok, but after the first try and it didn't turn, I took a large screw driver and pryed the starter gear/flywheel to get it to turn, and it was stiff but free. I pulled the solenoid and the connections just broke loose as I pulled it out. so check any connections that cause the starting sequence, include the safety set and make sure its not in gear or something dumb like that.....yeah starters use alot of power....and I mean alot, if you touch a starter wire after you crank for a few seconds it will burn you.

 

[soupy1957]

Battery load tested steady at 6 volts. Should be 12. First step...get a new battery

-Soupy