Starter Clutch RE-assembly: Round 2

[poorgradstudent]

So I finally got around to installing the new clutch assembly housing on my 1980 Suzuki GS1000g and buttoning up the bike. I went to start...and nothing!


I removed the right contact breaker cover to watch the ignition pickup while engaging the starter, and all it's doing is wiggling just a bit. It's not spinning the crankshaft or turning the engine over.


So one of two things is happening here:

1. The rollers in the clutch housing are not engaging the gear and the starter clutch is free-spinning on the crank shaft.
2. OR I have a bent rod and the starter can not physically turn the engine over. While somewhat difficult, I can manually turn the engine over by turning the ignition pickup with a wrench. Also, I've checked TDC on all cylinders by measuring the distance from the spark-plug hole to the piston head. Everything appears to be "normal."

That being said, I think need to replace the entire starter clutch set and not just the clutch assembly housing.



Here's a picture of the one I installed:

http://i.imgur.com/D4jl0zD.jpg

You can see the deformations from the rollers. Is this thing toast? Is there anything else I could be doing wrong?

[blowerbike]

if you have a "special needs" shaft model and install parts from another model SC... you may not have engagement of the SC internals.
DO NOT rotate the engine with the plugs in from the ignition side or you will be purchasing another advance unit.
i have ran pure junk and was still able to have the engine rotate when pressing the starter button.

[poorgradstudent]

DO NOT rotate the engine with the plugs in from the ignition side or you will be purchasing another advance unit.

Whoa, whoa, wait..what?! Am I damaging something over there? And if so, what have I damaged?

[Guest]

Don't panic... pull the plugs so there is less resistance. Use the left side to rotate. Or with care, the right side. The right side is just not as robust... Or raise the rear wheel, put her in gear and use the tire to rotate...
Curt

[Guest]

Back to the starter clutch... Noises such as spinning starter motor without engagement... loud clunking? Battery drained? Pull the plugs and see if it will spin... Pics of starter gear engaging or not?

[Guest]

Just reread your post... starter spins but no engagement...Hmmm. Rotor nut tight on crank? No broken starter bolts? No extra parts laying around?(I've done that)?
Curt

[blowerbike]

Whoa, whoa, wait..what?! Am I damaging something over there? And if so, what have I damaged?

there are 2 small ears on the advance unit that engages into the 19mm nut you are turning.
the key words here is "small ears".
they can twist off.
remove the plugs and no resistance/no worries.

[poorgradstudent]

Understood, thanks guys!

Rotor nut tight on crank? No broken starter bolts? No extra parts laying around?(I've done that)?

Since you mention the rotor nut, I'm thinking this might be the problem. When I went to reinstall it, all I used was the impact driver. The manual says to tighten it to 65 - 72 ft-lbs, so I set it on the kickstand instead of the center stand and then put it in 2nd gear to tighten it. I noticed that as I tightened the nut clockwise, the engine turned over...

At the time I didn't think anything of it, but after talking through each step with my buddy, the crankshaft shouldn't have moved if the bike was in gear.

So basically, I'm an idiot and I didn't tighten the rotor nut properly because I wasn't in gear BECAUSE I didn't reinstall my clutch cable correctly. Or so I'm thinking...

[blowerbike]

there is to much drive line give for the crank not to turn...in gear or not...plus the chain slack and the suspension lift ect..
i use a 1/2" drive air impact with a 6hp compressor and with the compressor fully pumped up i hammer on the nut for several seconds.
that's all i have ever done...no problems...

[Guest]

What he said... red loctite on crank nose and on the nut. And pound it on.
Curt