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Starting difficulties. ... RESOLVED

Steve

Steve

GS Whisperer
No, you didn't miss part 1 that outlined the difficulties, it's all HERE, in this thread. :encouragement:

For some time, my wife's bike has had a bit of difficulty starting. Sometimes it would just take a stern look at the starter button to get it going (as it should), other times we would push the button and it would sound like the battery just tanked to about 6 volts and just would NOT turn the engine over once more. Even after an overnight session on the battery tender, it was a 50/50 proposition whether it would start easily or not.

A couple of weeks ago, we stopped at the Post Office on our way to lunch. Bike had started perfectly on the way there. Trying to leave, not only did it not start, the solenoid was making noise. Not the usual chatter (due to low voltage), but a distinct HUM. Pushed the bike to get it started, it worked, but we decided not to chance it going to lunch, so we pushed it to a corner of the parking lot, went home and got the trailer.

This past weekend, I finally got a chance to put in the spare starter. Tested it, it worked perfectly. :dancing: Put the chrome cover on, tested it again, NOTHING.
banghead.gif

Got out my clamp-on ammeter, clamped it on the battery-to-solenoid lead. Pushing the starter button, I found it pegging at about 180 amps.
eek.gif

I then started to remove the chrome starter cover and noticed that the far end of it was rather warm. :-k
After removing the cover, I noticed that there was a small burn mark on the inside, that happened to match up with the melted insulator over the starter wire. Evidently, there has been a weak spot in the insulator that has occasionally been allowing a few electrons to flow through it, instead of letting them do their job in the starter's armature.

I hammered a dent in the cover where the burn mark was, to allow a bit more clearance.
Put the cover on, now the bike is back to starting with just a stern look at the starter button. :encouragement:

Sorry, no pictures were taken in all the frustration, I think the mental pictures will suffice.

.
 
yes tight clearance in there and if that little plastic bolt cover is missing then watch out.
 
My cover has a hole burned clean through. Didn't happen at the bump, more like a 12 o'clock position.
I don't know for sure what happened. Was it reassembled with the pole sticking straight up and then the cover screwed down ? That would take stupid to a whole new level.
Was the motor not screwed to the crankcase and kicked out of position ? Who knows.
 
The plastic cover was there. Has a neat little hole burned through the top-most point.

There is always the chance that the terminal on the starter was "clocked" incorrectly, but on two separate starters? :-k

I checked the one that came out, the index markers on the body and ends were all properly aligned.

I also opened it up to check the brushes, they looked good, so I just cleaned up the armature a bit and set it aside for my spare.

.
 
Thanks for that post Steve.

I've had one or two instances of something similar on the 650 this year, and now I have another avenue to explore.
 
BigD_83 said:
..., and now I have another avenue to explore.
Click to expand...
That was the whole reason for posting it.

We can't be ranting about the latest Sawzall "artist" all the time, once in a while we need to post some help. :encouragement:

.
 
Steve said:
That was the whole reason for posting it.

We can't be ranting about the latest Sawzall "artist" all the time, once in a while we need to post some help. :encouragement:

.
Click to expand...

...and those of us who need the help, appreciate it, even if it doesn't get said often enough.
 
Get some thin rubber sheeting and use contact cement to make an insulating patch glued to the cover Steve.
 
There was already too little room. Without hammering a relief to provide the extra room, it would only squish that thin rubber sheet into submission, too.

I will get some pictures to show the extra room I created. Will just have to get a shot of my 850 and one of hers. :encouragement:

.
 
Steve said:
There was already too little room. Without hammering a relief to provide the extra room, it would only squish that thin rubber sheet into submission, too.

I will get some pictures to show the extra room I created. Will just have to get a shot of my 850 and one of hers. :encouragement:

.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure I did some ball pein hammering of that relief myself at one point or another.
 
OK, picture time.

This is my bike. So far, no problem, but note the factory relief at the far end of the cover:
Starter%20cover%201_zpsmr2l8vto.jpg


This is her bike:
Starter%20cover%202_zpsincrfaxe.jpg


Just in case you can't see the 'doctored' area:
Starter%20cover%203_zpsyfghlkim.jpg


Could have been done a little bit neater, but nobody usually looks very closely at that area. :-\\\

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