Harley-Davidson FXSTB Night Train
Harley-Davidson FXSTB Night Train

2003 Harley Davidson FXSTB Night Train Problems Solutions

How hard to remove starter clutch?

how to remove starter on a 2003 softail harley davidson

It’s a lot of work.

First, disconnect and remove the battery. Don’t want to lose a finger.

Drain the primary and remove the outer primary cover.

Remove the small bolt that holds the jackshaft onto the starter and remove it if you can. If it won’t come out, you’ll have to take the nut off the clutch assembly and slide it out just far enough to get the jackshaft out. To get to the nut, remove the clutch rod adjuster in the center of the clutch assembly by removing the snap ring.

Loosen the nut, left handed threads. When retorquing 60-80 foot pounds, left handed. There is a coupling that connects the jackshaft to the starter, mark which way it comes out.

Tapered end towards starter.

2003 night train fxstbi starts fine but sputters at low speeds. 2003 fxstbi starts fine. Appears to be somewhat of a sputter when operating at low speeds. But when full throttle and moving at high speed, sputter does not appear.

After reducing speed, sputter appers again and more noticeable throughout the low speed operation.

We have a 2006 street bob checked the battery replaced the voltage reg. and it still has the ticking noise when you try to start it. What do you think? The Stater? and how hard is something like to replace

Don’t keep replacing parts like that. It gets way too expensive. To check the charging system, with a fully charged battery, start the engine if you can.

Put a volt meter across the battery terminals, red meter probe to positive, black meter probe to negative, DC 50 volt scale. Rev the engine up a bit and you should read about 14.5 – 15.0 volts across the battery. If you read this much, your charging system is fine.

If it’s not, contact me directly at wd4ity@bellsouth,net or repost here and I’ll tell you how to test and replace the stator if necessary.

Harley-Davidson FXSTB Night Train

Get your voltmeter back out. Look at the end of the starter on the right hand side of the bike just below the oil tank. You’ll see a pentagon (5 sided) shaped piece of metal with a single green wire going into a plug at the top of the piece of metal. Unplug this and stick the red meter probe into the connector with the wire in it. The black probe of the meter goes to a good ground on the bike.

DC 20 volt scale. Turn on the igntion switch and press the start button. You should hear a click from the starter relay and your meter should read 12 volts.

If not, replace the starter relay, about $15 at the Harley Shop.

If you get the 12 volt reading and still the starter won’t start the bike, there are three screws holding the pentagon shaped plate on the back of the starter. Acutally, this is the solenoid. The starter motor is the round piece just below it. Remove the plate and you’ll see the plunger inside.

Using a large screwdriver with an insulated handle, push the plunger inward towards the left side of the bike. The starter should turn the engine over so make sure that your transmission is in neutral. It won’t start unless you have the ignition switch on, you don’t have to have the switch in the ON position for this to work.

As long as the battery is good and it’s connected, the starter should turn the engine using this method. This proves that the starter motor is fine but your problem is in the solenoid. Most shops just replace the entire starter as replacing the solenoid requires that the starter/solenoid assembly be disassembled and reassembled with a new solenoid in addition to the standard starter replacement labor.

I’d do the same thing if this proved to be the case, replace the starter. Before you do, contact me and tell me the results of the test you did and we’ll try to verify that it is indeed the starter or something else. If you take the starter off the engine, you can take it to most any auto parts store and they can test it for you.

Starters are not cheap. Whenever you’re going to troubleshoot a problem by parts swapping, start with the cheap stuff first and work up from there. Better to do a little Mechanicing.

Good luck and let me know something.


Harley-Davidson FXSTB Night Train
Harley-Davidson FXSTB Night Train
Harley-Davidson FXSTB Night Train
Harley-Davidson FXSTB Night Train
Harley-Davidson FXSTB Night Train
Harley-Davidson FXSTB Night Train
  • 2012 Harley-Davidson Touring FLTRX Road Glide Custom motorcycle review…
  • 1995 SOFTAIL SPRINGER
  • Icon 1000 Iron Lung Harley-Davidson Sportster Custom
  • CVO ROAD GLIDE
  • Harley-Davidson Rocker And Rocker C – Motorcyclist Magazine