Electrical Problem - '03 Ultra Classic

S

Salsa Jo

New member
Hello
I have an '03 100 Anniversary Ultra Classic. It's only got 18,000 kms on it but I have a very serious electrical problem. The bike dies with zero electrical power. Supposedly Harley changed the main relay from a 40 to 50 amp, but even after increasing the amperage to 50 amp, my bike still dies with no warning (or lights of any sort) until the relay cools enough for it to reset and allow me to restart the bike (about 1 minute). So much for city or night driving. Here's what I've had done to it by certified Harley shops: All the grounds were inspected andretorqued, all main wiring was traced and inspected for wear, the ignition was toally stripped down and inspected, the relay was upgraded to a 50 amp (twice), the battery was changed, all wiring inside the faring was inspected,and acomplete diagnostic was performed (all OK). My problem does not seem to be related to distance driven, speed, air temperature or weather. From reviewing the electrical diagrams at the lastest Harley shop (Leo Harley in Montreal, who worked very hard to solve my problem) it appears to methat other than the fuses off the relay, only the ignition and starter go directly off the relay. And I have'nt blown one single fuse. I had trailer wiring installed this spring (before the problem started) but it was inspected by Leo HD who says it's fine. Also my problem happens with and without the trailer in tow. I love the bike but unfortunately I'm losing confidence in it (I nearly had a bad one with my daughter on with me). I am considering selling it but won'tuntil the problem is resolved, asI don't want to expose someone else to a potentially serious accident. I've spent $1000.00 so far and no closer to resolving the issue.
I would apprciate it if anyone has a suggestion the I can follow-up on to find the source of my problem.
 
I had a simular problem with mine. I still had all the electrical but the motor would quit while riding. I traced mine down to the crank sensor. Not sure if yours is doing the same.
 
With everything you mentioned that was changed, what about the battery cables themselves. It's entirely possible to have a poor connection within the connector on the cable end itself causig the problem and that would be temp sensitive also so a cool down would cause a reconnect . Time to check it out is when it is in that condition or do a resistance check when you crank it over with an ohm meter in parallel to the connectors/cable to see if you register anything.

Either that or just replace the cables with a good quality cable set if you're not sure how to test them. What's a few more bucks at this point.

Worth a look.
 
I agree. Sounds like a cable problem to me with your lights going completely out. Run an OHM test on both positive and negative battery cables.

If your cables are fine,check your ignition switch.
 
i have an '03 ultra i bought about six months ago and sounds like yours is doing the same thing mine was, the dash lights, lights and all power would go off about once a month ...and then it started doing it a couple of times a week. after looking through the wiring diagram, i decided to replace the ignition switch, the main power relay, and the 50amp circuit breaker that had already been replaced twice before i got the bike.....i replaced all these parts myself for less than a hundred bucks and so far ,it hasnt happened again.....i honestly believe it was the ignition switch because it was really loose ....hope this helps..........my bike never blew any fuses either, it would just shut off and after you turn the switch off,a few seconds later you could turn the switch back on and it would start back up...
 
Thanks for the reply. When you say the Ignition Switch, do you mean the Ignition? If soI had it completely torn down, inspected and reassembled - all appeared OK. Also, when you say main relay, I was of the opinion the 50 amp relay, which mine has, is the "Main Relay". I was told only later models had the 50 amp Breaker. Can you please help me here?
thanks
 
yes, i was talking about the ignition/key switch....it was about 80 bucks, so i just replaced it because i was tired of the problem and figured it was worth a shot......the 50 amp thing you are talking about is a circuit breaker and it is in front of the battery and has two threaded posts pointing up with wires secured with nuts, this is the item HD had a recall on, i believe they were originally 40amp and were replaced with a 50amp breaker.....the main relay i replaced is on the left side of the battery i believe.....there are two relays side by side...one is the main power relay and comes off the ignition switch and im not sure what the other one is......the main power relay has a plug on the bottom with four wires going to it......i think the wire colors are 1 red, 1 black,and 2 red w/black stripe.......and they are pretty thick wires.....this relay was only 6 bucks so it might be worth a try......i hate having to chase a problem by just replacing parts because that can be expensive, but a problem like this is hard to troubleshoot.....whenever it happened ,i never had my tools ora voltmeter with me so i just had to let it cool a minute and hope it started again....i replaced these parts for about a hundred bucks and it seems to be fixed......yours could very possibly be something else, but i would definately thinkk about replacing these.....the relay or circuit breaker could be getting hot and breaking down.....hope this helps
 
It's not a relay but a breaker (main breaker) that opens if it is overloaded. There was a recall in the early 2000 bikes and they were upgraded to the 50 amp from a 40 amp to eliminate premature opening. Heat from the engine can also effect the breaker too.
 
I have had the same problem with my '03, although it occurs about once every three months or so, usually several times in one day, and then i go for months without a problem. Just like yours mine acts like a bad breaker but since it has been replaced three times i kinda doubt that. clueless here.
 
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