[ed2hess]

Turned off/on switch nothing. Took screwdriver and shorted across starter terminals nothing. Got booster battery on it still nothing. Put voltmeter on starter showed 12 volts. Ok got another starter off shelf tested it with my battery booster good to install. Pulled engine up to make Iit easier

.

Got it in and it wouldn't start. Then light went off........what about ground. Bolt loose on the ground wire at the frame. Had to sand surfaces to fix. Three hours but found 2 out of 3 motor mount bolts loose reducing drive belt tension. I thought I had a weak drive motor.

 

[ricky86]

If anyone ever claims, they never got fooled by a bad ground, they are FOS.

 

[.147989]

Sounds like you had a fun day. I had a similar issue with an MC. Electrical system was grounded through the key switch. When it lost contact nothing worked. Like you 5 min repair that took hours to find.

 

[herler]

One other thing I've learned is to test the old starter after getting it off and before putting the new one on.
Fortunately you had one laying around, I've ran down the road to get another at the store, and torn between having to make two trips I took the old one with me so as to get the core charge taken care of... Run back and install the new one, come to find out it's not the starter...

Of course with a weak ground you still get current, just not enough and the symptoms are awful similar...

Lesson learned:
It's almost never the starter.

 

[ed2hess]

One other thing I've learned is to test the old starter after getting it off and before putting the new one on.
Fortunately you had one laying around, I've ran down the road to get another at the store, and torn between having to make two trips I took the old one with me so as to get the core charge taken care of... Run back and install the new one, come to find out it's not the starter...

Of course with a weak ground you still get current, just not enough and the symptoms are awful similar...

Lesson learned:
It's almost never the starter.

And when I took the old one off and hit it with 12volts the gear didn't slide all the way out......but maybe it came all the way out and I missed it.