M
Motorcyclemodeller
Guest
Well after years of accepting that my motor does not like too crank easily; and crank when cold as quickly as most other bikes I decided to look into this.
Every year I take the starter out, open it up check the brushes and empty the black dust that accumulates over a season.
I brought it to a friend of mine who owns a starter/alternator shop, to have a closer look at it.
I bought this starter 10 years ago from a wrecker for $60 CND.
He phones me back a couple of days later, and tells me to drop by, I do.
He pulls out the starter, and shows me the following.
1. Where the positive lead attaches to the starter, the bolt with two nuts. This was over tightened somewhere/somehow. The whole assembly, turned internally and caused a breakage of where this post attaches to 2 of the four magnets. Resulting in power arching and half the power, hence the slow turning speed under load.
2. The above caused overheating and inturn heated the armature up, causing the solder to flow out of the armature winding contacts, causing cold solder joints.
3. One bushing at the end was worn and needed to be replaced.
Well we all know what these starters are worth.........lot's of peso's! So he says leave it with him and he will repair.
1. Post and binding, broken magnet contacts
2. Resolder the entire armature
3. Order and replace worn bushing
4. Clean and resurface all contact areas
5. Genaral revitalization
Well I am thinking fine..........but how much?
He says give me $50............I say pardon?
$50.........Your joking
No $50 is fine.
Now when I said he is a frind, I meant I brought him a couple of car alternators over the years, we don't go out for beers or anything like that.
Now he rebuilds for auto garages, I ask what would you normally charge for this? He says about $75 to a $100 for a rebuild for a starter or alternator, depending on type and damage. But in turn the mechanics usually triple the price of the part and charge labour on top.
So all in all I got a fully reconditioned starter for my GS for $50.......and I am very happy.
No more cranking woes..........I hope!
Dr. Dre
If anyone needs any related work done in the Toronto GTA area, let me know and I will set you up with this guy.
Every year I take the starter out, open it up check the brushes and empty the black dust that accumulates over a season.
I brought it to a friend of mine who owns a starter/alternator shop, to have a closer look at it.
I bought this starter 10 years ago from a wrecker for $60 CND.
He phones me back a couple of days later, and tells me to drop by, I do.
He pulls out the starter, and shows me the following.
1. Where the positive lead attaches to the starter, the bolt with two nuts. This was over tightened somewhere/somehow. The whole assembly, turned internally and caused a breakage of where this post attaches to 2 of the four magnets. Resulting in power arching and half the power, hence the slow turning speed under load.
2. The above caused overheating and inturn heated the armature up, causing the solder to flow out of the armature winding contacts, causing cold solder joints.
3. One bushing at the end was worn and needed to be replaced.
Well we all know what these starters are worth.........lot's of peso's! So he says leave it with him and he will repair.
1. Post and binding, broken magnet contacts
2. Resolder the entire armature
3. Order and replace worn bushing
4. Clean and resurface all contact areas
5. Genaral revitalization
Well I am thinking fine..........but how much?
He says give me $50............I say pardon?
$50.........Your joking
No $50 is fine.
Now when I said he is a frind, I meant I brought him a couple of car alternators over the years, we don't go out for beers or anything like that.
Now he rebuilds for auto garages, I ask what would you normally charge for this? He says about $75 to a $100 for a rebuild for a starter or alternator, depending on type and damage. But in turn the mechanics usually triple the price of the part and charge labour on top.
So all in all I got a fully reconditioned starter for my GS for $50.......and I am very happy.
No more cranking woes..........I hope!
Dr. Dre
If anyone needs any related work done in the Toronto GTA area, let me know and I will set you up with this guy.
I was trying to get some brushes for my bike's starter and he said it was a waste of time trying to solder them on as high current draw when things aren't up to snuff would just make the solder melt. The solder also wicks up the wire which makes it less flexible. 