broken starter motor - fixed at no $

[rkubik]

Hi all, finally traced the problem of starting my '82 GS650 to the starter itself. Symptoms - slower and slower turning, until finally just the relay clicked, so it sounded like the battery was going dead, although it tested at full charge.

Upon opening up the starter motor to check the brushes, I found that one of the (four) magnets had come adift from the case, and the bottom fourth or so of it had broken away. It clearly tried to spin itself around due to new magnetic poles being formed. Result was it had jammed the armature, and chipped another of the magnets.

Cleaned everything up - those hairs of magnet are hard to remove, sticking as they do to other magnets and anything steel. But compressed air, WD40 and rags finally got them out. Epoxied the big part of the magent back in place, although it shortly after ocurred to me that I could have used my red loctite. The brushes were still only about half worn, so I'll wait a while to replace them.

And now, ta da - the starter works works just fine! And upon spooling up to 2000 rpm, the charging system tests OK too!

Tinkering happily away,

Rick

[BriTXbike]

I hope that for my sake I run into an easy fix myself. I'm currently at the same problem with a click and full battery charge. I'll be checking my starter soleinoid today also to make sure.

Mine might be different b/c I can jump with the help of a car battery and it will turn the motor to start. Whatever it is I hope it doesn't require a "NEW" part 8O

[bwringer]

Any 12V starter solenoid that will fit is a fine replacement for the stock GS solenoid. Electrically, they all do the exact same thing.

I think a garden tractor solenoid is about $11.

[Planecrazy]

You might want to check your "half worn" brushes again ... I discovered recently, when I rebuilt my own starter, that there is a design flaw in the springs that press each of the four brushes against the armature.

The "rolled" ends of the spring, which press directly against the back of each brush, is not rolled as tightly as it should be. The result is that when each brush gets to about the "half worn" point in its life the sharp corners of the springs begin to catch and grind against the brush guides, eventually getting stuck.

Once that happens the brushes no longer make proper contact -- this either causes the starter to spin much slower, or it chews up the brushes and kills the starter outright.

I was able to very carefully roll the spring ends more tightly, so that the edges will never contact the brush guides. When my new parts arrived there were new springs as well, but I reused the old ones because I had already modified them to avoid future trouble, and when I tried the same trick on the new springs the ends snapped off rather than rolling further.

My rebuilt starter works great now, and I am confident I'll get full life out of the new brushes.

Regards,
Steve 8)

[BriTXbike]

Can those of you that have replaced your brushes look at this Schmatic and answer me a question:

http://houseofmotorcycles.bikebandit.com/partsbandit/oem_schematic_view~mp_id~~mscssid~BFTJQMKP6DDX8GG6LHHDD11VEA1MA28F~schem_dept_id~710349~section_dept_id~1~section_dept_name~OEM+%28Stock%29+Parts~dept_type_id~2~model_dept_year~1983~model_dept_mfr~Suzuki~model_dept_id~703640~model_dept_name~GS850GD.asp

For parts, do I need 5.Holder Set Brush AND 3.Terminal Set, BR or just the holder set?

[rkubik]

parts

it's kind of a fuzzy drawing and hard to tell. But I think just #5.

[jimcor]

BriTXbike, you might try this: check out www.stockers.com . That's Stockers Starters. That's all this guy does is repair/replace/sell new parts for starters. He has a phone number to order if you don't want to on-line purchase. Well that # is the office at the shop. If you have questions you can ask them before you order. Stocker's prices are comparable or lower than the bandit's.

Guy answered my questions

Service is fast, they ship ups ground.

[BriTXbike]

Thanks Jim! I'll give him a call on Monday to verify the brushes I need to order.

Hoping this solves my starting issue [-o<

[earlfor]

Yep, $11 at Lowes. Got one on each bike now. (1100,1150)

I think a garden tractor solenoid
is about $11.

[BriTXbike]

Are you saying I can get a complete replacement for $11 at Lowes!? I'll buy extras for that price!

[Planecrazy]

That's just for the starter solenoid (relay) that sits next to your fuse box ... not the starter itself, or any internal parts!

Regards,
Steve 8)

[BriTXbike]

Much to my dismay I replaced the Starter brush unit and after checking all my connections for about 30 minutes I went to start it and I'm no further then when I started

So maybe the Silonoid is the issue, although I tried connecting the positive terminal of the battery to the silonoid to jump and all it does is click once and sparks(like it's trying to send jucie accross the terminal). I tried jumping from the truck and still the same issue. I went to the auto store and picked up a 3 point 12v lawn mower silonoid and will try to mount that tomorrow but I'm running out of ideas here. Anyone help?