Starter motor knackered??

[johnnybgood]

The 1000 Fazer has just had the water pipe relaced, the one next to the oil filter. It's been standing in my garage for a week or three and now won't start. Fresh battery, solenoid seems to work. The starter seems to be whizzing away on its own without engaging in anything. Any ideas please? Thanks

[PerkyJim]

Evening John, and welcome. If you have no joy fixing it yourself, then I can recommend a local, family run business and Yamaha specialist to you, as they've looked after my 2005 FZS1000 for MOT's, fork bushes, seals etc. and don't charge the earth. Just watch their dog doesn't eat your gloves..... Good luck, Jim.

Ivan & Joyce Barker
[color=rgb(34, 34, 34)]Motomax[/color] [color=rgb(34, 34, 34)]33[/color] Motorcycles
Unit 14, Chadkirk Business Park,
Vale Road, Romiley, Stockport, SK6 3NE


0161 484 5503


www.[color=rgb(34, 34, 34)]motomax33[/color].com

[dazza]

Have you tried arcing across the solenoid terminals with a screwdriver? I had a similar problem last year,  drove me mad,  replaced the solenoid, Still nothing on the button but would engage when arc'ed across the solenoid terminals. Think my starter was on the way out because eventually it made a terrible noise and bellowed out a load of smoke. Replaced the starter and still wouldn't start so I disconnected the meta alarm system and was back in business.

[Falcon 269]

The starter seems to be whizzing away on its own without engaging in anything.

If you're sure that it's spinning but not turning over the engine, then it's not the starter relay.  Personally, I'd be reluctant to short out the relay for fear of damaging one of the other electrical components, not least the ECU.

The starter motor is permanently engaged with the starter ring on the clutch basket but I think there's some kind of sprag gear in the mechanism which locks it to turn the motor over when the button is pressed.

I'd remove the starter motor and inspect it for anything obviously wrong.  You probably won't see anything, so next step I'd try is to tap a few times on each end of the motor free off the sprag mechanism if it's stuck.  Refit and try again.

Before anything else, though, be 100% sure that the battery is fully charged.  Starter mechanism failures aren't that common - most starter problems turn out to be battery-related.