starter motor question

Hi

Sometimes (but not allways) the starter motor (its a Gen 3 93 model) will spin but not engage and start the engine.

Is this common and what is the usual reason.

Cheers

 

In a car it would be a weak Bendix spring. Not sure if a bike starter opperates the same way! Look at the manuel and see if the starter has a spring behind a drive gear.

 

Your starter clutch is slipping. Bike starters work differently than car starters do. There is no Bendix gear on a bike starter,the gear drive is permanently engaged on a bike. The starter clutch assembly isn't actually on the starter itself. The starter clutch locks up during starting then releases and rotates freely once the bike is running.
Here's a pic of what the starter clutch assembly looks like on my '03 6th gen. VFR800.

The Green arrow points to the starter shaft and the Red arrow points to the starter clutch assembly. I'm thinking that your '93 should have a fairly similar set-up to this Tris1948.

 

Look more carefully at your service manual, Stosh.

The red arrow points to timing disc on end of crankshaft; the starter clutch is the large gear in contact with the starter drive gear, above and to the left.

starter clutches can fail due to cracks or weak springs or damaged rollers that the springs push on.

 

Squirrelman,you are technically correct that the Red arrow in my first pic in this thread does indeed appear to be pointing to the timing disc on the end of the crankshaft. It was my intent to show Tris1948 the location of the starter clutch assembly in that pic. What I was trying to show him wasn't the timing disc,but what's BEHIND the timing disc. That's the starter clutch assembly. In "Honda-Speak" it's considered to be part of the pulse generator assembly. That's what I was pointing at. My bad if the Red arrow in my pic confused you. :redface:

Here's a pic with the starter idler and reduction drive gears removed. The Green arrow points to the starter shaft,the Red arrow points to the starter clutch assembly,and the Yellow arrow points to the starter clutch driven gear. On my bike the starter clutch driven gear rotates freely when it's rotated counterclockwise and it locks up tightly when it's rotated clockwise. It works exactly the way I explained it to Tris1948 in my first post.


Here's a pic taken right out of my Service Manual. In this pic the bolt and timing disc have already been removed and the starter clutch assembly is being slid off the crankshaft.


The starter clutch assembly on Tris1948's '93 is considered to be part of the pulse generator assembly,same as on my '03. It doesn't look the same,it isn't designed the same,but the principle of how it works is exactly the same. I checked all of this against the Honda parts fische before I made my first post in this thread. Look it up for yourself.

 

Thanks Men

Sounds like I have a winter evening ahead reading the manual and then a day or so in the garage

 

WELL, i was way wrong on that one !! Sorry.

i definitely learned somethin' there, Stosh.

They changed a whole bunch of stuff from the gen 2s i'm most familiar with....... sorry.

 

Don't worry about it Squirrelman.
No harm,no foul.
You learn something new every day.
That's life,right?


:focus:
Good Luck with your starter clutch Tris.
Post up if you find anything interesting.

 

Cheers Stoshmonster

just a further bit of guidance please

I've had a quick look for the price of bits to do the job. I find that all the springs pins and rollers add up to about 20 quid total.
The bit that they all engage with - the outer comp start according to the price list (whatever that is) - is about £120

What part is usually worn out?

Tris

 

Same issue

Read the post. Same problem.Pulled a gen 2 clutch out and it was the same, installed and running fine since. Have another if needed.:thumbsup:

http://vfrworld.com/forums/first-se...424-chatter-noise-cold-vf750f.html#post209068

 

Thanks for the pic TOECUTTER.

Could be worn rollers and springs. Could be a worn or damaged starter driven gear. Could be anything really. There should be a spec in your Service Manual for the maximum wear limit on that gear. Here's a pic from my Service Manual showing where you measure the gear.


The pic that TOECUTTER provided of the cracked sprag housing is pretty graphic evidence of the ugliness that might be going on inside your starter clutch Tris.
Before you start spending your money on parts,get in there and get that starter clutch apart. Inspect it carefully and then decide what parts you're going to need.