2018 Starter Fix Thread - Continued.

[Doc Brown]

Originally Posted by Skyrooster

Grease one side of the gasket and use high tack on the other side and it will come off without tearing and you can use it over and over.

Brilliant idea, I'll try that. Thank you!

[Gasser Nate]

Or just wet mod it and not have to worry about grease.

[GG221]

Originally Posted by Gasser Nate

Or just wet mod it and not have to worry about grease.

What exactly is the wet mod?

[Gasser Nate]

Originally Posted by GG221

What exactly is the wet mod?

Seal up the drain on the bottom add a vent to the top and pour about 50-75 ml?s of oil (synthetic gearbox oil works well). Everything stays well lubricated and the bendix flies out and engages nice and quick.

[GG221]

What did you use to seal the bottom and where/how did you do the vent line.
Any pictures?

[Gasser Nate]

Two part epoxy to seal the drain, I just added a small vacuum fitting at the highest part of the case. Pretty sure I posted a pic to this thread way up there somewhere. Or another similar thread.

[Jacob 'Berg]

My bike (2018 xc250) did not like to e-start when cold, or for the first 20 minutes of each ride. It would e-start just fine after it warmed up.

I polished up the inside of the bendix cover and added some grease and it starts cold, in-gear, warm with no issues now. Great solution that took about 5 minutes of my time to address.

Thanks to everyone that contributed to this thread.

[Skyrooster]

Ok so a quick update on my friends starter on his 2018 300 2 stroke.

He bought this bike in late October and the starter is fried, the brushes are melted, the flywheel looks like the bendix is not engaging correctly and he has previously replaced the battery and the bendix cover. His dealer remapped it when new and it has the added heavy negative cable. I'm servicing his bike for a 9 hour race and I have little to no confidence that a new starter will be a lasting solution.

This set up reminds me of the KTM noise makers that almost never worked. Well they worked in ideal situations just not when the bike was cold or hot or after the warranty had expired.

Does anyone know if GASGAS stands behind this starter and is there parts available that can provide a lasting fix? If so who should I tell him to get in contact with?

[ssaulnier]

The starter motor brushes are most likely fried due to too much friction in the Bendix end cap bore. The too tight tolerances on the end cap to Bendix shaft creates too much friction which bogs down the starter so too much current flows through the starter. This is called the locked rotor current and is orders of magnitude greater than normal motor running current so is unsustainable and causes damage to current carrying components like the brushes.

I suggest polishing the bore on the new end cap as described previously and/or discovering the cause of the friction that is binding up the Bendix and starter.

The other fixes that were done are all good and correct and necessary but if there is too much friction in the Bendix cover and/or assembly then you will still have problems.

I think the basic components and design are sound but require proper tolerances, lubrication and assembly.

Mine required polishing the Bendix end cap bore and now starts from cold. It would only start before when hot after the Bendix end cap had warmed up and the bore expanded, reducing friction enough to decrease the load on the starter, leaving enough battery capacity to activate the ignition and spark the coil.

[shawbagga]

Originally Posted by ssaulnier

The starter motor brushes are most likely fried due to too much friction in the Bendix end cap bore. The too tight tolerances on the end cap to Bendix shaft creates too much friction which bogs down the starter so too much current flows through the starter. This is called the locked rotor current and is orders of magnitude greater than normal motor running current so is unsustainable and causes damage to current carrying components like the brushes.

I suggest polishing the bore on the new end cap as described previously and/or discovering the cause of the friction that is binding up the Bendix and starter.

The other fixes that were done are all good and correct and necessary but if there is too much friction in the Bendix cover and/or assembly then you will still have problems.

I think the basic components and design are sound but require proper tolerances, lubrication and assembly.

Mine required polishing the Bendix end cap bore and now starts from cold. It would only start before when hot after the Bendix end cap had warmed up and the bore expanded, reducing friction enough to decrease the load on the starter, leaving enough battery capacity to activate the ignition and spark the coil.

I'm doing a top end very soon & would like to inspect/clean/grease/improve the starter on my '18 XC250. Did you have pics on what to do as I've never touched one of these things before.