Electrical problems on an FXDX.

[Helmetbolt]

Can any give me some advice on a problem I have with my wifes 03 1550 FXDX. I t has had some starting problems lately. Sometimes it cranks over no problem & starts, sometimes it doesn’t. I was told the rectifier was on it’s way out. So I bought a new one & fitted it last week. Saturday morning the bike started no problem. She did 10 miles to the petrol station, filled up & it started no problem again. Did 70 miles of fast roads & stopped for a cigarette break. Switched on & there was nothing. No ignition lights or anything. Even the alarm warning light in the clocks would not flash. Press the starter & just a clicking noise. I thought it must be a dead battery. We managed to jump start it & she rode it the 70 miles back home without a problem. Got it in the garage & turned it off. Then turned it back on & the same thing. No ignition lights or anything. Sunday I had a look at it & it started straight away. Put a tester on the battery & while the bike was running it read 14.6 v. Turned it off. Put the tester on the battery & it read 12,8 v. So the battery seems fine. Turned the bike on & nothing again.. Could this be a fault with the circuit breaker..??

Has anyone else had this problem & what can I do to fix it.??

[chilly]

Can you do it by elimination,ie-- By pass the circuit breaker etc with a wire and a couple of Crocodile clips ,or even better a multi meter to check voltage or continuity ,when you have the problem,this will maybe show it up.Also check for a good contact at all the terminals, starting at the battery.
Bearing in mind that i'm no leccy wizz kid by any means,but i'd have a go at that meself first,don't think you'll come to any harm,but if you do my real names Baza .

Good luck
Chill ;)

[banquo]

Hi HB - as you know (;) ) I'm certainly no expert on anything H-D, but if it was me, I'd check, and if necessary replace, the lead from the negative side of the battery. Symptoms are typical of a bad earth connection, with everything working when it's working, and then failing to make the connection again after being switched off.
It could be a duff battery too, but I'd check the battery leads first.
Would be good to check the heavy cable on the positive side too, although it always seems to be the negative or "earth" cables that go first...
Simple check for the 'earth' cable: find a point on the frame where there is bare metal on which to make a good connection. The point where your existing negative bolts to the frame is a good starting point. Make sure the metal there is bright and clean, and scrape the surface clear of rust and powdercoat. Take a length of insulated wire, and screw firmly on to this point, so it has a good contact. strip the other end of the wire, and hold it firmly to the negative terminal on the battery (clean that too, if required).
Turn on the ignition, and see if the lights light now. If they do, your negative cable is dead, and needs replaced.
Don't hit the starter when your thin wire is connected, or you'll fry it....
Oh, and while you're at it, you should dismantle all the connections between cables and battery, and cables to frame, clean the contact surfaces with some wet and dry paper, until you see bright metal on both contact faces, and then re-assemble.
Low voltage systems (and 12V is low voltage) are very prone to dropping out because of contact resistance. You might lose several volts across a bad contact, which doesn't matter so much when you have 240V to play with, but is disastrous when there's only 12V. Batteries are best checked by substitution, which is effectively what you did when you jump started, so it could still be a duff battery that's failing under load.

[S.T.Chapman]

I've had similar, where every thing checked out voltage wise but as soon as I turned on the ignition everything was dead.
very frustrating but eventually I traced it back to the battery terminal actually being loose.
point being that from a static position ie everything being off, it showed proper voltage,
but the moment any strain current wise was placed on the circuit it broke down.
the point being that there is difference between voltage and current.
sorry if this doesnt help only I found it to be an unusual one.

taking this example yes it could be a circuit breaker, actually any loose wire connection could cause a similar fault on the main critical circuits,
you have nothing to lose by checking every thing from the battery down is tight and secure, give all a dammed good wiggle as a tester wont reveal the source of the fault, because the only way you can test is in a no load situation.
frustrating I know.

[CrazyIvan]

I had very similar with my 01 Sporty and in that particular case it was the circuit breaker. When it happened I would turn the ignition key and hear a fairly loud click (the CB breaking) followed by loss of all electics. It always reset, eventually, but sometimes it would take over an hour

[S.T.Chapman]

thats because it was faulty

[CrazyIvan]

Originally Posted by S.T.Chapman

thats because it was faulty

That's why I said it was the circuit breaker!!!

[Helmetbolt]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm going through all the electrics tonight. Hopefully I will fix it.

[Phil]

If the lights would not come on, but the solenoid would click it does not sound like a main circuit breaker.
It does however sound like a poor ground, or earth.

Had a similar problem on my '00 FXDX. Do you have a mate with an HD or do you have one because...if you take off the electric box cover on the left side there is a grey 'thing' (that's as technical as I get with electrics!!) about 2cm x 3cm with 2 prongs. If you can swop it with another bike that 'might' be the problem - it was with mine. Wish I could remember what it is exactly!!

Lynne.