1979 Harley Davidson XLH 1000 Sportster Logo
Posted on Jul 24, 2010
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1979 harley won't start .... nothing happens at all when i try to start it

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  • Master 4,565 Answers
  • Posted on Jul 25, 2010
Anonymous
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If your bike isn't doing anything, it sounds like you may have something wired up incorrectly. Didn't I send you a wiring schematic for that bike off forum?

Anyway, to start off trouble shooting the problem, take a test light and touch the small terminal on the end of the starter solenoid. When you press the start button, you should have power there. If so, you have something wrong with your starter solenoid.

If you do not have any voltage at this point, you may have a problem with the starter relay. The relay should be a round relay with three terminal connections on it as well. When you turn the switch on, the large terninal with the two red wires on it should have voltage on it. Now, there are two other wires that go on the relay and both are black. When you press the start button, one of the black wires should have voltage on it. This wire should go to the small terminal on the relay. The other black wires runs from the remaining large terminal on the starter relay to the small terminal on the starter solenoid.

When you press the start button, the black wire running to the small terminal on the starter relay goes "hot" and energizes the relay. When the relay closes, the large terminal with the black wire on it goes "hot" sending voltage to the small terminal on the starter solenoid. This energizes the solenoid and pulls in the starter motor.

On the starter solenoid, there are two large terminals. The longer terminal is where the large battery cable connects. The shorter large terminal is where the cable that runs to the starter connects.

Check all of this and let me know what you find and we'll go from there.

Steve

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