help with starter solenoid

[Anonymous]

Help!! I'm working on my friend's bike, a 1983 GR650 Tempter (suzuki). The starter brushes were shot, so I replaced them, connected the starter but didn't put it in place. the only thing that happened was the solenoid clicked, so I connected it to my bike, a 1980 GS850GL and it clicked loudly and the starter turned just a little bit. I disconnected it and the connections were HOT, also it smelled hot. Well, I connected it to the Tempter and this time nothing happened the solenoid wouldn't even click. I checked my bike to make sure I didn't blow anything on it but all was ok with it. It fired right up. So now I'm wondering if I somehow fried the solenoid. I have a voltage meter but I don't know how to test the solenoid. Or what setting to use on the meter. Please help!!!!!

[vapourman]

disconnect the two heavy wires, one is from the battery and the other goes to the starter. Leave the two smaller wires connected, this is the coil. Push the starter button, the solonoid should click, then measure with an ohm meter across the two empty connections as you hold the start button down. It should read very low like less than 10 ohms. The starter solonoid should not smoke or get real hot where the coil is. If you still cant tell just buy a garden tractor starter solonoid that is about the same physical size and 12 volts. I had an intermittent solonoid on my GS and I used one from a craftsman tractor and its still working today.
If the ohms reading is really low then your problem may be elsewhere, but for 20 bucks try the tractor trick.

[SqDancerLynn1]

What happens if you use jumper cables and feed 12 v direct to the starter? You may still have a bad starter

[Anonymous]

did you haVE A QUALITY GROUND FOR THE STARTER ( oooops caps key) they normally use the case of the starter for the ground

[Anonymous]

yes the starter works fine. I've tested it with jumper cables. I had the solenoid checked and it was bad. So we bought a new one for a lawnmower and installed it. Now the starter at least turns over but it won't engage the starter clutch I think it is, basically we can hear it spinning but it won't turn the engine over. When we put the bike in gear and try to start it, the bike surges forward about an inch or two but won't start. Any other ideas??? It's almost as if the starter doesn't have enough power to turn the engine over.