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auto start! wont shut off..

GSM2

Member
so my bike was making funny noises on the road so i turned into a gas station and tried to shut it down but it kept wanting to start and wouldnt shut down. so i got back on the road, and drove it about 500 feet. it finally died completly, the battery was fried. so we got a new battery and installed it and it automaticly tried starting over and over again until the battery was again disconnected. so we thought maybe the start relay failed open. well i got a new relay and pulled the old one out. i left the relay out and installed the battery and it started again by it'self without the start relay in.
also wanted to start automaticly with the relay in too, so i know its not the start relay. what do you thinK? i think the actual starter is bad maybe contacts inside the starter are touching causing it to automaticly start once the batter terminals are connected bypassing the relay.

what do you think?
 
Sounds like a bad solenoid. Try disconnecting the small green wire from the plug and reconnect the battery. If it cranks again, the problem is in the solenoid. If it doesn't crank again, the problem is on the bike in the wiring.
 
Starter solenoid is shorted, repair or replace it is a direct link to the battery via the positive cable, it will destroy the cable from heat and destroy the battery:s
 
I've had this same thing happen and replaced the starter, and all was fine. Could be the solenoid to, but probably the starter. Hope this helps. :cheers
 
The solenoid is a big coil. When the starter relay activates that coil it slaps a copper washer across two contacts. This applies the voltage to the starter motor.

The copper washer is welded to the contacts keeping voltage to the starter.

Be prepared to replace starter and solenoid.
 
Sounds like a bad solenoid. Try disconnecting the small green wire from the plug and reconnect the battery. If it cranks again, the problem is in the solenoid. If it doesn't crank again, the problem is on the bike in the wiring.

I have a 1985 FLTC with solenoid separate from starter and I have same problem. Had to disconnect battery cable from solenoid because it keeps running when connected no matter if bike ignition is on/off. SO, is the solenoid possibly stuck?
 
I would disconnect the solenoid "trigger" wire and see what happens. It just may be that the solenoid is being "told" to engage..

Thanks Hoople, I can't wait to get out of work today so I can work on it and I will definately try that first. If it is being told to engage could that be the handlebar push switch that engages starter? Do they get stuck?
 
If it is being told to engage could that be the handlebar push switch that engages starter? Do they get stuck?

Absolutely. You may even have a "cube" relay right after the push button that is stuck closed. Solenoids themselves require several amps to pull in. The original design may have 2 stages (cube relay & solenoid) in order to spin the starter or it may be just 1 single stage (the solenoid) to get the starter spinning.

On my 2009 I have the handle-bar button,, a starter cube relay,, and the high current solenoid itself.
Yours may be the same or less.
Either way I see you getting this bug resolved quickly.:p
 
This is pretty much what you have...

StarterRelay.jpg
 
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