A
a3tripod
Guest
Thought I would share some of the issues I encountered and how i repaired my mitsuba starter. Thanks to everyone who helped me ensure i was testing it properly before going down the path of restoration.
I had the starter off the bike because we are tearing it down to clean it up and rebuild into a cafe racer. To test the starter, I clamped it in my bench vise and used a jump start pack to apply voltage. Black grounded to the starter body, red to the starter post. No worky. We decided to disassemble it to see what we could see. It was completely filled with soot and the brushes were worn to a nub:
After a quick inspection it was obvious that it needed thoroughly cleaned (air hose and electric parts cleaner) and needed new brushes. A rebuild kit was cheaper than just buying the brushes alone, so i went that route:
Discovered that the coil springs were going to be problematic, pushing the brushes out into the way of the armature while trying to reassemble. So I cut up an old credit card to use as a make-shift spring retainer for all 4 brushes:
All four held in place and the starter reassembled. I replaced every o-ring, shim, and washer that the kit provided. The brush assembly has little bent tabs that are unevenly spaced. Line them up with the notches on the starter housing. It should fit almost flush when inserted properly.
All done and tested! It's aliiiiive!!
Here is a quick video to the bench test after the rebuild. Sorry for the poor quality, its so dark in my garage which only has one light and its dreary outside. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry-jSPH5eq0
I had the starter off the bike because we are tearing it down to clean it up and rebuild into a cafe racer. To test the starter, I clamped it in my bench vise and used a jump start pack to apply voltage. Black grounded to the starter body, red to the starter post. No worky. We decided to disassemble it to see what we could see. It was completely filled with soot and the brushes were worn to a nub:
After a quick inspection it was obvious that it needed thoroughly cleaned (air hose and electric parts cleaner) and needed new brushes. A rebuild kit was cheaper than just buying the brushes alone, so i went that route:
Discovered that the coil springs were going to be problematic, pushing the brushes out into the way of the armature while trying to reassemble. So I cut up an old credit card to use as a make-shift spring retainer for all 4 brushes:
All four held in place and the starter reassembled. I replaced every o-ring, shim, and washer that the kit provided. The brush assembly has little bent tabs that are unevenly spaced. Line them up with the notches on the starter housing. It should fit almost flush when inserted properly.
All done and tested! It's aliiiiive!!
Here is a quick video to the bench test after the rebuild. Sorry for the poor quality, its so dark in my garage which only has one light and its dreary outside. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry-jSPH5eq0
