Quote:
Originally Posted by Gasser Nate
A really good easy test to see if a starter motor has the grunt to work in place is take the starter out and hook it up to a set of jumper leads. Then push the starter gear into a piece of hard wood. It should be able to grind its way through easily. Yours does sound funny in your video. Are you holding the button down in the second video or stabbing at the button?
|
Short question, Nate - Is it OK to run these motorcycle starters without load?
-------
Long version - My bike wouldn't start, so I tried turning it over 5-6 times with some rest in between for the starter to cool. The last time, all I got were "clicks". I thought the battery went dead. Turns out, the starter burned up (windings were fried).
Then, while waiting for a new OEM starter to come in, I tried one of the $49 versions (for a KTM, which btw fit fine. It was a bit larger in diameter - so had to slightly move the ground cable where it rubbed to get the splines to line up correctly). I don't want to bad-talk this starter, because I didn't know how to reverse polarity correctly, and took the thing clear apart. Getting the brushes back in was not easy, and I may have messed something up. But it never did crank well. I pulled it out of the bendix gear and turned it over "free-wheeling", without any resistance. It died/fried just free-spinning! Click-click!
New OEM replacement starter came. Installed, it ran backward. My dealer called and said they got a bad batch, and a new one is coming. But now the "backward spinning" replacement has a faint "burnt electrical" smell as well - and it never saw any load!
This makes me wonder if (a) running them "free" creates friction from spinning too fast, or (b) if there is some other problem with my electrical system that sends too many amps to the starter. The battery is showing approx. 13.9 volts.
Can a regulator (or something) go bad and fry starters? I don't want to wreck the new one when it comes!
Thanks,
Jeff