Starter still spins under 40 degree F

[Snow]

Hi All,
I posted a little while ago that during the winter, my starter clutch would seem to disengage when under about 50 or 60 degrees F and that switching from 20w50 to 10w40 and adding some seafoam seemed to fix it.

Well, now the temperature is dipping down into the 30's and 20's in the morning here. Once the magic number of about 38 degrees rolls around, that darn starter clutch starts a'slippin' again.

There were some easy alternatives listed that one could do that do *not* require splitting of the cases... such as draining the oil and putting kerosene in the motor, then running unloaded on centerstand (if I remember correctly).

Any other thoughts?

[jkorn]

How about leaving it in the garage...

That is a bit cool for me these days...

jeff

[Snow]

Believe me, I would if I could - I'm currently trying to clear some credit card debt so that I might be able to mortage a house with garage and get out of the apartment complex.

Heh heh, I can see it now, tucking my bike in the garage with blankets and love every night

[mitch]

Just a thought

In Canada the auto stores have a magnetic block heater you can buy. If you put one of those on your starter ( i think the case is metal ) and pluged it in i bet the heat would cure your prob !! Might be hard to find one in Florida but its worth a shot HTH......MITCH

[Snow]

Might be just a tad hard to find, it's almost impossible to find ice-scrapers down here.

[mitch]

PS :

I think your name is a bit ironic seeing your living in florida lol....MITCH

[Snow]

Perhaps a little clarification will shed some light - I'm originally from the Winter Wonderland, born in and raised near Kalamazoo. Some of my fondest memories revolve around my brother riding his dirtbike in the snow with me on my metal sled being towed behind...I almost ate tree a few times as the rope was a bit long and the speeds a little too high.

[mitch]

Block heaters

They are just a heating coil in reality go to an auto place and buy a block heater for a Saturn SL1 they are made to go on the outsde of the engine and lay against the block ! Make a bracket to hold it to your engine on the bike so it will heat your oil. Problem solved......MITCH

[John]

Block heater

Growing up in Maine, (burrrrrr) I remember an oil heater that you could insert through the dipstick tube. You could fabricate some kind of plug for the oil fill port on the engine and insert the heater into the oil itself. You did say that when the engine warms up , you no longer have the problem, right? Maybe warm oil would be the answer.

[Garry W.]

So you call that winter!!!

Hey snow you should be so lucky that your starter spins at 40 deegres F. My xs is tucked in the garage nice and warm. Today is a beautiful day here in Manitoba,it's 10 below F. One week ago today it was Minus 38 degrees F. I garuntee you starter would'nt spin at all that day.
All kidding aside. Try taking your starter off and cleaning the shaft that the starter drive gear slides on and lub it with some light oil. I did that with my son's pickup truck and it seemed to help.
Enjoy your riding we,ve got at least another 3 months before we get out on the rode.

[John]

Starter gear

Garry, the starter on the bike is different than that on an automotive engine. The drive gear does not slide back and forth, but stays put, and is always engaged. It is driven by an overriding clutch, that is housed within the cranckcase. The starter on the truck has the overriding clutch built into the drive or "Bendix' as some folks call it.

[Garry W.]

John your right. I should have remebered that. It's been a while since I've had the starter off my bike. Thanks and happy trails.

[TonimusMaximus]

I work at Checker Auto out her in AZ. I'll see if I can get you a ballpark price for that block heater, both the one for tyhe SL1 and one for say a SB Chevy. I'll let ya know.

[mitch]

Saturn

The saturn one has a bracket to mount it all u need to do is find a bolt u can use in the right spot . A saturn SL1 1992 to 1999 will work HTH.......MITCH

[D. P. Larmee]

This might not be very useful now that the weather has finally warmed up a bit but I've had this same problem and found an easy fix. I have found that a 100 watt lightbulb on a lamp timer works great as a makeshift engine block heater. I usually set the timer to turn on a few hours before I need to leave and have had good results on all but the most brutally cold days. It seems to work even better with the bike cover on to hold in the heat