Author Topic: Battery draining when starter is engaged.  (Read 19182 times)

PentatonicNova

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Battery draining when starter is engaged.
« on: September 17, 2016, 10:18:27 pm »
Today I had the privilege to fire my bike up for the first time after months of wrenching on her. It was pretty satisfying to get her running, unfortunately I've ran into a bit of an issue, and I'm wondering if you guys can point me in the right direction.

Early this morning I hooked up the new battery, engaged the starter, and after a few tries, she fired right  up, idled fine, sounded really tight. But now when I begin to engage the starter, it drains the battery and the starter just clicks or just doesn't have enough juice to turn the engine over. I got out my voltmeter and checked the battery right after each start attempt, and the battery continues to show around 11.76 volts. When I engage the starter, that number drops to about 5-7 volts.

Any ideas? I'm kinda puzzled. Not sure if it's the starter solenoid or the starter magnetic switch, or it could be something completely different. I did notice that the magnetic switch had a blown fuse when I first started working on the bike.

J6G1Z

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Re: Battery draining when starter is engaged.
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2016, 10:24:49 pm »
The battery should have about 12+ to 14 volts.

You may have a faulty battery. See if you have a battery store nearby that can perform a load test. One of my bikes came with a brand new Chinese lead/acid battery, but would not start. The battery had a dead cell.

If the battery is the problem, consider buying a sealed AGM type of battery.

Good luck
J.