Update gentlemen or ladies. After testing as I was instructed to do, with the volt meter on the pos and neg, cranking with full throttle I got anywhere between 9 volts on 2 tests, and 11 volts on one test. So I removed the battery and checked with a volt meter/load tester. It shows to be good, until I hit the load button, at which point it shows as weak. So I hooked it up to the trickle charger again. As I stated before, this is a relatively young battery, as I replaced the last one several months ago, not years. Not many miles on this one.So at this point, after trickle charging, should I assume I should hook it back up to the load tester, push the button and see where I'm at? The last battery, failed at that point which is the reason I have this battery.Are you all still thinking bad battery, or cell? Or solenoid, or compression relief valve? BTW, thanks for hanging with me...I hope you don't think I'm not grateful for the support, because the fact is, I am! Confused, or purplexed aside.Ken
Mike, I don't know if his starter switch is bad. But mine was arc burned and it caused it to drag and intermittently lose contact . I cleaned it and fixed it. You may argue with my switch if you like, but I was there......................
Never say die Mikey, Never say die Like a good cur dog on a pig
Quote from: Gumbo on February 07, 2012, 04:31:14 PMNever say die Mikey, Never say die Like a good cur dog on a pig gumbo please dont post mindless animated pics. Thats reserved for reddragon
Mike, I actually had two different factors causing the problem. First, the travel on the switch got to where it exceeded the contact points. In other words, if I pushed it all the way to the stop, the switch was open and it wouldn't crank. The other issue was arc burns on the contacts. As the switch was pressed and released it would intermittently open and close. If you stopped it in a sweet spot, it'd crank like it oughta. If you stopped it in a bad spot, the switch would be open and it'd quit cranking. The effect, as the switch was pressed and released, was that the starter would engage and disengage, cycling back and forth quickly. It would sound like it was cranking slowly, and at times it wouldn't crank. After I cleaned the contacts and reassembled the switch, and learned not to push the button all the way to the stop, it behaved "normally" and cranked the way it should.
Quote from: hipshot on February 08, 2012, 05:29:10 PMMike, I actually had two different factors causing the problem. First, the travel on the switch got to where it exceeded the contact points. In other words, if I pushed it all the way to the stop, the switch was open and it wouldn't crank. The other issue was arc burns on the contacts. As the switch was pressed and released it would intermittently open and close. If you stopped it in a sweet spot, it'd crank like it oughta. If you stopped it in a bad spot, the switch would be open and it'd quit cranking. The effect, as the switch was pressed and released, was that the starter would engage and disengage, cycling back and forth quickly. It would sound like it was cranking slowly, and at times it wouldn't crank. After I cleaned the contacts and reassembled the switch, and learned not to push the button all the way to the stop, it behaved "normally" and cranked the way it should.
Update: after the load test and a fresh trickle charge I reinserted the battery. Started quickly and crisply a few times before I left the garage. Rode it to my business, about 30 minute ride with a short freeway drive. After getting what I needed from my business, I got back on, which mean it sat just a matter of a few minutes. It sounded like it wasn't going to start. Shouldn't it be well charged after riding it? Ken