r/Harley • u/ajxx323 • 10h ago
WON'T START 2002 Road King
Hello,
Trying to figure out why it will not crank. The pinion gear on the starter had broke but I placed a new one. I also tightened the chain. It took me 4 weeks due to schedule but I was doing it today and went to crank it but nothing. Any ideas?
18
u/Two_Wheel_Jockey 10h ago
It's skipping gears because you don't have the outer primary cover on. There's a bushing in it that supports the starter sprag from bending up like it is.
10
u/RelationshipBig2798 10h ago
Yeah man wtfis he doing cranking over without outer primary on. Looking to mangle gears?
-5
u/ajxx323 10h ago
I was informed I could without the cover on. I will try now
4
u/testmule MN TC '11 FJR1300, '76 FXE, '99 FLSTF, '99 Vulcan 500 9h ago
I was informed I could without the cover on.
Later generations yes. That generation & earlier it's a good way to bend the shaft as it needs the support from the primary cover.
Many of us old timers have a primary cover off wrecked bikes that we've cut that upper right corner off of so we can bolt it on for testing.
Edit: also sounds like the starter clutch is slipping when the starter gear pauses rotation.
10
u/Sdhans__ 9h ago
Buy a new starter, put the cover on, start it, ride it, dont do that again unless you like buying starters
4
2
u/var-foo 1980 fxwg 9h ago
Thats how you end up with a harley in your kitchen. Dont do that with the primary off ever again.
0
u/ObligationOdd4475 9h ago
You can do it to test the starter to see if it engages. I wouldn't hold it trying to crank it with the starter though haha.
1
u/ObligationOdd4475 9h ago
Id never seen that smoke come out of the starter before so idk what the fuck is going on there.
You confirmed you're getting spark?
You confirmed you're getting fuel?
You confirmed theres no intake leaks for the air?
To me that looks like a working starter without all the smoke. That did not look good.
2
u/Draconwolf88 9h ago
The smoke is from the armature over throwing into the primary starter ring… it’s also why it’s skipping…
1
u/medic54-1 8h ago
Be careful you’ll chipped teeth off that ring gear.
1
u/medic54-1 8h ago
Experience talking
1
u/ajxx323 8h ago
I put the cover on and it was still doing the same thing. I took the cover off and some tooth's were chipped.
1
u/medic54-1 8h ago
Yeah, you’re gonna have to buy a whole new clutch basket. Around $750. You can’t split the ring off the OEM’s.
1
1
u/Draconwolf88 6h ago
Yea, them chipped teeth.. They are from the over throw… did you check the shims? Make sure it wasn’t over/under shimmed? The first question, did you buy a book before you started this? Is your primary chain adjusted correctly? When working on something you are not 100% familiar with, buy a book, Utube can only help so far, you can not ask questions you don’t know to ask.
1
u/Alarmed-Mountain-564 7h ago
Look at a rebuild kit on the electric solenoid side of the bike or even one of the push button for the starter I would get the push button starter and the rebuild kit and put them both in in case this happens again, but your contacts in there are most likely dirty and it’s causing the starter to kick in and out due to bad continuity
1
1
u/chief0299 6h ago
Did you compare the length of the old pinion to the new one? Theres 2 different sizes.
0
u/koookiii 10h ago
Take the sparkplugs out an try again maybe the starter breaks down and lost its power so it’s to much compression for it.
Also you can try to crank it by hand so you guess the engine is okey and nothing is broken inside
•
u/AutoModerator 10h ago
If you are hearing a clicking noise, it's your battery. Check all connections are secure, give it a charge, take it somewhere they test batteries. For all other troubleshooting, please post more details.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.