Starter troubles

[TooLax]

1981 XS 1100 Special

Have replaced the starter, pretty sure its good! have replaced starter clutch springs (new). Still when trying to start it egages and then disengages at times even more so when hot.

Any ideas or like problems .

Thanks, DY

[Yard Dogg]

Perhaps the solenoid is acting up. Does it look smoked? Do you see any where it might have gotten hot?

[trbig]

Sorry to hear about this still being a problem.

Just for info, guys, his starter clutch has new springs and rollers, and the shaft the rollers pinch is free of any burrs or defects. He paid me good money to rebuild this starter clutch, and it's apparently still doing the same thing. Everything else in the motor looked good when I had it apart. I couldn't get it to do what he's saying while test riding it afterwards, but it has gotten bad enough that he doesn't trust his XS.

Any suggestions?

Tod

[cywelchjr]

Sorry to hear about this still being a problem.

Just for info, guys, his starter clutch has new springs and rollers, and the shaft the rollers pinch is free of any burrs or defects. He paid me good money to rebuild this starter clutch, and it's apparently still doing the same thing. Everything else in the motor looked good when I had it apart. I couldn't get it to do what he's saying while test riding it afterwards, but it has gotten bad enough that he doesn't trust his XS.

Any suggestions?

Ok, I know this is going to sound off base but so be it. What kind of oil is he using?

[Larrym]

Details....please?

TooLax,

Still when trying to start it engages and then disengages at times even more so when hot.

To be specific, are you saying that the starter motor engages, turns the engine, then dis-engages and keeps spinning without turning the engine while you have the starter button depressed?


Or does the starter motor engage, turn the engine, then stop turning while you still have the starter button depressed?

Looking at whether to examine mechanical or electrical possibilities...

[Yard Dogg]

I know you said you have a new starter, and I'm just throwing this out there so don't tear your bike apart immediately when you hear it. I've had a few different starters in my Dodge P/U, and every so often the bendix will get stuck. It sounds just like a dead battery. You hear a small click, but it doesn't do anything. I tap on the starter it works. So it might not be a bad idea to take the starter apart and grease the shaft that pops the gear out. A long shot, but it's possible it just isn't shooting out far enough. It's a good idea to grease those anyway. Other than that, I think the solenoid would be to blame, you've replaced everything else.

Another long shot would be the positive cable has gone to crap inside the sheath.

It could also be your starter switch not keeping a solid contact. Or the wire from the starter switch is smoked inside.

I'm probably just telling you what you've already thought of. Sorry for that.

I am leaning towards electrical. It works until it gets hot sounds like a smoked and brittle wire to me.

[DiverRay]

from Yard Dogg; and every so often the bendix will get stuck. It sounds just like a dead battery. You hear a small click, but it doesn't do anything. I tap on the starter it works. So it might not be a bad idea to take the starter apart and grease the shaft that pops the gear out. A long shot, but it's possible it just isn't shooting out far enough. It's a good idea to grease those anyway.

The XS does NOT have a bendix. It uses a sprauge clutch (sp?) to spin the shaft when you depress the starter button. As trbig has rebuilt it, it should work. I tend to think it has something to do with the oil he is running. Sounds funny, but I've tried a LOT of different oils, and have noticed that with some motor oil my bike just will NOT want to start.
Also beware that some of the oils have changed the formulas, and may no longer work properly! I used to use 15W40 DELO in daily ride. They changed the formula, put in friction modifiers, and it no longer works in my bike!

[dontlikeoc]

I would replace the starter button anyway as I believe is known to fail, and is cheap to fix.

I am not technically oriented as other posters. But I went through the problems with my XS Special. The PO told me it had a bad starter but replacing the fuse box and the starter button fixed the problem.

[clcorbin]

Right now, there is a lot of guessing on what COULD be the problem. The OP needs to update his thread with a DETAILED explanation of exactly what is happening (as has been mentioned already!) if he wants any real help solving this. The description in the original post is vague at best, incomplete at worse.

[Larrym]

Best Available Data

Clint,

guessing on what COULD be the problem.

Uhh..that's called the "trial and error" method. Real fun to do on this end of things. Kinda like throwing darts and having them randomly hit on a dartboard cause we've got no bullseye to aim at. Not particularly effective or even directly related to what the guy's real situation is as far as we can fathom. But it's something to pass away the time in between his original post and the "Glad we could be of help to another owner" sign-off.

That time lag between communications is a beeyatch sometimes. I think that some folks initially seem to think that this forum works like "Live Messenger" or something where they have someone actively "on-line" and dedicated to fielding their questions and replying with only the delay of how long it takes the "Live-Chat" party to type in a response and click on <send>.

Sometimes that happens and the flow is fairly decent. Other times it's a little clunky. May take a while for the person with the direct experience or know-how to log in, find the thread, take notice of it, make a token effort to read it, and then chime in with something useful. "Best intentions" and "Best Practices" are the rules I generally follow.

I'm tired of waiting and so Screw all that:

It's his engine to frame ground connection located near the middle drive on the left side of the bike. The eyelet going to the engine is tight yet corroded. It's an electrical problem masquerading as a mechanical malfunction.


Do I Win? Was I right?? Do I win???

[fredintoon]

- - - - It's his engine to frame ground connection located near the middle drive on the left side of the bike. The eyelet going to the engine is tight yet corroded. It's an electrical problem masquerading as a mechanical malfunction. - - -

Hi Larry,
do I got one of those? I'll have to look. My starter sometimes does the Grrrr Whizzzzz thing and I'd always associated it with a low battery.
(later) And there it was! Been there untouched under my ownership at least and definately all grubby looking. I shall remove, clean, dielectric grease and replace it.
Alas, no prize from me but certainly a grudging measure of respect.

[clcorbin]

I shall remove, clean, dielectric grease and replace it.

Did you remember to use left hand grease? I hear it makes a HUGE difference on the starter wing nut!

[bikerphil]

Frame to engine ground connection....

[cywelchjr]

I didn't even have one of those on my bike, didn't know it needed it either. I thought I had a bad starting cause it didn't spin very fast. Then I found out about that ground, found I didn't have it and couldn't buy it, so I made my own with 2 10 gauge wires and installed it. It's amazing how much better the starter works with a good ground instead of trying to get to ground through the exhaust system.

PS, ok, they do. The smilies change position each time I post. I find it very annoying, as I have to actually look carefully for the smilies I want each time. Can the admins change it back to fixed positions again? I don't like this moving around stuff each time.

[fredintoon]

Did you remember to use left hand grease?

Hi Clint,
someone has been feeding you BS again.
Grease is ambidextrous.