(Solved) Rebuilt Starter Won't Spin - B/c I'm an Idiot

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Been a while, but I've been working on another bike in the garage but was finally able to give some love to my '75 GL1000.

The starter was making a weird screeching noise and then wouldn't do anything, so I took it off and rebuilt it. All I did was clean it up really well and put in new brushes; nothing looked burned or anything like that, but I did find the usual "coffee grounds" in it. I cleaned it up really well, put in the new brushes in the right place/where they should be, lined up the notches on the case and tried to bench test it, and Nothing. Battery reads 12.80 volts...it should spin, but it's not.

The commutator and armature are nice and shiny, none of the wires are broken...however I did find four thin washers on the armature side (are there supposed to be only three?) and the usual three on the commutator side.... the starter was working/spinning before I replaced the brushes... I put them back in thick-thin-thin-thin- ARMATURE- thin-thin-thick - what am I missing? The starter bearing turns smoothly...How do I know if this is fried?

Other than that, the OEM starter (31200-371-005) is 'Unavailable', DB Electrical also doesn't have them, and that leaves me with Caltric on Ebay; anybody have good luck with those? For hopefully under $100?

[cfairweather]

If you opened the end with the gears, that is the issue. You didn't get them lined up correctly. The end will go together, with no problem, even if the gears are not properly aligned. You should be able to turn the shaft with your fingers.

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Yeah, that's not it - but thanks for the tip! Actually it was due to me not using the right size wire to test it. DOH!! (wait a minute, let me wipe the egg off my face...) I was trying to get it to spin over with some (probably) 16-gauge wire, which was WAY too thin...I put some thicker wire on it, like, 8-gauge - and it spun right over..."It's the simple things," y'know...?

Starts a lot better now. Now I just have to figure out why it backfired and the whole left-side exhaust is cold. I'm thinking no spark, but it could be gremlins, or inflation, or the Fetzer valve...(it's been a long day).

BTW, I read in the Clymers manual I have that it's almost impossible to reinstall the starter once you take it out unless you lay the bike on its kick stand so the starter spindle will line up with the sprocket in the engine/starter hole- well, I put mine on the centerstand on the lift table, dropped the left exhaust and took out the removable frame piece on the left side to get the starter out, and it pretty much went right back in after I rebuilt it. I kind of angled it to catch the sprocket, but I had no problem. Maybe I got lucky, I don't know. Just sayin'.

[Whiskerfish]

Have done several on the center stand. Sometimes a bit tricky but usually not an issue.

And yes the fetzer Valve is certainly acting up today!

[Sagebrush]

Throw away the Clymer manual and get a copy of the Honda Service Manual. I'm sure someone who has a PDF copy of one will be glad to share.

[pidjones]

Didn't I tell you to burn that*(&%(% Clymers manual?

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Oh, No, Dudes...! It was just the "manual at hand" while I was looking for tips on getting the starter out. Having done the same operation on a previous 'wing I just couldn't remember the procedure. All is well now, except of course for the really rich exhaust and cool left-hand exhaust pipes, but I checked my idle mix screws and brought them back into spec as per Randakk (1 3/8 turns out) - I have no idea why I set then previously to, like, 2 1/2 turns out! (Could explain the really rich exhaust). I'll go back in and futz with them tomorrow, see if I can't get her to behave. I may have a spark problem, but like Sherlock Holmes I have a bit of sleuthing to do. I laid a spark checker across all my plugs and seemingly have spark on all four, but just like my EX-wife the answer is never clear.

[redglbx]

How did you solve the fetzer valve issue ? That thing gives me fits ! And it’s amazing how many things they are used in !

[Dr. Frankenstein]

I know, right...? There was nothing wrong with it, I just wanted to check it, but it's a real PITA to get to. I could see it with a flashlight and it looked okay...I was a little low on blinker fluid too, so I topped those off; they work great now! Got rid of that annoying 'tick-tick-tick' noise.

I still need to go back out there though and see if dialing in the mixture screws makes any difference with it running. Would the mixture screws being 2 1/2 turns out before I set them to 1 3/8 turns out have anything to do with the really gassy smell? I noticed last night that 2 and 4 were bone-cold, while 1 and 3 were hot, and I got a pretty decent backfire out of 2 and 4, I believe that's where it came from - and yet I have spark going to all four, at least as much as my inline spark checker showed me...so if I have spark (seemingly) going to all four, why isn't it combusting in all four? Bad plugs, maybe? That's the only thing I can think of, but IIRC I did have spark on all four when I took them out and grounded them...I will of course check again, but what else would cause it to run really rich...the idle screw being out of adjustment?

[CYBORG]

I had a rich problem once...then I realized I hadn't changed the air filter in forever. Problem solved

[Dr. Frankenstein]

No, the filter is new, barely 60 miles on it. I keep thinking spark or timing, both of which I'll check when I get the chance. But what else would make it run really rich? I'm trying to eliminate all possibilities. The carburetor floor is dry, btw, as it should be, so my passages should be okay.