starter motor trouble

[bladredhead]

Greetings all
This is regarding a gl1100 I recently acquired that has sat for an unknown amount of time. Years is a safe bet. Possibly 10 years as the last registration sticker is from 2010. It allegedly Ran When Parked. I am suspicious. It has a bit shy of 90k miles on it.

I got it with the caveat that it "needs a starter, alternator, and a battery" so I'm starting with the starter because diagnosing a Stator is easier when the engine runs and there are no kickstarters on gl1100

That said, I've tried 2 different starters that both spin well on the bench with 12v. Both starters have been apart, the brushes are ample in size, bearings are smooth, no obvious damage to the stator or magnets. Both starters have also sat for long periods so could still be the root cause.

When I put power to the starter (I am applying power directly to the starter, bypassing the wiring of the bike completely) all I get is about a half turn (guessing) and it stops like something is stuck.

I know the engine spins fine because I turned it both by pushing the bike in gear, and using the 12mm bolt on the stator. It doesn't have any unusual resistance there.

The jumper battery is a 12v ATV battery that lives on a tender. If i want to get medieval, I can borrow the battery from my truck but that's probably solving the wrong problem.

So what I'm wondering is if this is another Starter sprag clutch failure mode? i'm aware of the mode where it doesn't engage at all and the starter just spins, how about a "glued to the cases with old goo preventing things from moving" mode?

cheers all
thanks for your time!

[CYBORG]

First thing I would do is make sure all battery connection are clean and tight. Especially the one to the frame. If all that checks out, I would have the battery load tested. The starter clutch has to be activated by the starter to engage the engine. Locking up in my experience, would be very unlikely.

[robin1731]

How many CCA is the ATV battery? It may not be big enough. But yes, as Cyborg said, start with all cable connections.

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[dontwantapickle]

.... I can borrow the battery from my truck but that's probably solving the wrong problem.

Try That!
It will solve the question of if the engine turns over with the starter or not.

Like robin stated, your battery may be too small to do the job.

[Track T 2411]

.... I can borrow the battery from my truck but that's probably solving the wrong problem.

Try That!
It will solve the question of if the engine turns over with the starter or not.

Like robin stated, your battery may be too small to do the job.

If you jump it, don't run the starter too long with an oversized battery. Just saying...
You could also pull the spark plugs to reduce resistance as a quick check of the starter clutch, etc...

[bladredhead]

There aren't really any connections to check right now, I'm using cables to go straight to the positive terminal

[robin1731]

There aren't really any connections to check right now, I'm using cables to go straight to the positive terminal

There is the ground cable. It is one of the first places to look. Cale from battery to the frame at the rear motor mount that upper rear bolt goes through.

Or how are you grounding the battery to the starter?

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[bladredhead]

There aren't really any connections to check right now, I'm using cables to go straight to the positive terminal

There is the ground cable. It is one of the first places to look. Cale from battery to the frame at the rear motor mount that upper rear bolt goes through.

Or how are you grounding the battery to the starter?

.

I've used the ground cable and the bolt the cable connects to with identical results. ATV and truck battery also give identical results. I stopped by a starter/alternator repair place today, which I was shocked to find still exists in this area. Upon disassembling it he said the brushes and bearing were fine, blamed any weirdness on the positive terminal shorting to the housing (I dont think it was and for sure isn't now as a new insulating bushing was installed) and he put it on his little test rig and proclaimed "sounds strong"

Well there goes $40 wasted. No change.

I'll try pulling the plugs tomorrow but I'm not expecting.much

[robin1731]

Not $40 wasted. You eliminated one thing and know it is now in good shape.

Yes, take the plugs out. Sitting that long everything is dry and turns over hard from friction. I never turn an engine over that sat for unknown length of time like that without removing the plugs. Same goes for a freshly rebuilt engine. That gets oil circulating where it needs to go.

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[bladredhead]

Well that'll teach me. Do all the things you can think of before asking the internet....

Plugs out this morning, hose in some Seafoam (of course 1 exhaust valve was open so that cylinder leaked out) and tried it again tonight. Enthusiastic spinning!

Plugs back in and it struggled almost as bad a s before. So I probably need a bigger battery. Such is life.

Some rusty oil came out (exhaust is off) of one cylinder so i might have gotten this one just in time before it seized up.