2019 EC 300
Starter worked flawless, even with a smaller Shido battery. It never ever hesitated or had similar issues as the 2018's. On Saturday I rode with a friend and the starter worked flawless. After the ride I washed the bike as usual.
Today I changed the jetting and when I started the bike it hesitated almost exactly like in the well known video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXXj...terPowersports
It just turned the engine half a turn then stopped and made a whining noise. I tried several times and always waited about 20 seconds between the starting attempts. As the voltage indicator on the dash said the battery is empty I measured the voltage which was 13.2 volts. However, I charged the battery and tried again once it was full. Funny that though the battery was full (13,75 volts), the dash showed it was empty. I tried to start several times, but always the same problem, the engine did not crank, just half a turn or so and the bike made weird whining noises as long as I kept the button pushed.
I then tried a different battery of my friends GP 300 but still no joy, just a few turns then a whining noise.
So i checked and cleaned all connections from battery to starter relay and so on, but this did not change anything. I decided to take the starter and bendix cover off. I realized that the starter was pretty hot when I took it off and it smelled like burnt metal. I held it against the engine and pushed the button and it spun. I cleaned the gears, bendix and starter shaft applied some fresh grease and put the starter motor back in. Needless to say it did not start.
I kicked it and it started immediately. I warmed up the engine riding up and down the road as I wanted to see if the starter motor will crank the engine when it was hot. When I tried to start the hot engine all I heard was a clicking noise from the starter relay.
Close to kicking the fucking bike from the stand I went for a break.
When I had cooled down I measured continuity of the starter and immediately knew it was toast. The starter smelled like burnt copper and insulation paint. When i opened it the first thing that fell out was piece of copper wire.
Called my friend and asked him if I can take his starter for testing and he said no problem. So installed his starter, pushed the button and BINGO! It cranked the engine over like mad. I tried ten times. I removed the spark plug cap and tried and it cranked like mad. The starter did not even get warm though I let it crank for almost 10 seconds at least 6 times.
I am puzzled now as I can not imagine why my starter motor failed to crank the engine. A new starter motor is on order and should arrive on Monday. As far as I know a starter motor is either good or it doesn't work. In 45 years of wrenching I have never heard that a starter motor gets weaker.
What do you think? I'd be happy to hear your opinions.