starter issues?

[Rocnsanman]

OK, I need some help here. I have a friend who recently purchased a 06 FJR that had been sitting for a couple of years. We decided to first change the battery as the old one showed signs of age. The bike started up after several attempts but ran poorly. drained the fuel tank, added fresh fuel and things were much better. Then there was a clicking issue with the starter relay so we changed that. everything seemed good until it wasn't. Starter took a dive so we changed that =( armature wobbled and made a horrible sound). my friend proudly rode his new to him FJR for the better part of the day and when he shut it down, thankfully at home, the bike wouldn't start. Nothing except a clicking from the relay. I bridged the relay with a screwdriver to see if I could spin the starter, nothing. No spark at all across the relay posts. I took jumper cables and attached them to the plus/negative leads on his bike thinking it might be the battery wasn't charging but still nothing. Still just a click from the starter relay. Then we did the unthinkable, we took the starter out to see if the new one somehow froze up. the starter appeared good so I used jumper cables from the truck battery to the starter and nothing. Grounded the negative to the starter housing and positive to the starter terminal. Nothing.
So I think I've covered all the bases but obviously I'm missing something. Why didn't the starter relay arc when I jumped the battery positive and the starter cable bolts with a known good battery and why wouldn't the starter spin or exhibit some sort of fuss connecting it directly to the battery?
I like to think at times I know more than the average bear but this has me in a tail spin!
Thanks to all for your help .
Dan






s

 

[RossKean]

Sounds like the new starter is FUBAR.
New OEM starter?

 

[harper]

I would agree. Sounds like an open winding on the starter motor. If the starter has been removed, just check the winding resistance.

 

[Panman]

Recently had my 07 starter out and checked it out for oil leak's while I had the TH's off, nothing so I put it back together, put the bike back together and nothing! No cranky! After doing all of the obvious checks we took the bike back apart got the starter back out and upon disassembly I found that one of the field magnets had came un glued and wedged it self between the armature and one of the other field magnets. Replaced with OEM, one of these days I'll figure out what the best glue (epoxy) for re gluing and take a stab at re gluing it to the case.

 

[Rocnsanman]

Sounds like the new starter is FUBAR.
New OEM starter?

yes, oem.

I would agree. Sounds like an open winding on the starter motor. If the starter has been removed, just check the winding resistance.

ok, the starter is still out. I'll do the resistance check this weekend. Thank you

 

[Rocnsanman]

Recently had my 07 starter out and checked it out for oil leak's while I had the TH's off, nothing so I put it back together, put the bike back together and nothing! No cranky! After doing all of the obvious checks we took the bike back apart got the starter back out and upon disassembly I found that one of the field magnets had came un glued and wedged it self between the armature and one of the other field magnets. Replaced with OEM, one of these days I'll figure out what the best glue (epoxy) for re gluing and take a stab at re gluing it to the case.

This sounds reasonable but the thing that has me baffled is the lack of any resistance when shorting across the relay. I might even pull the started apart looking for the obvious. Thank you.

 

[Rocnsanman]

I would agree. Sounds like an open winding on the starter motor. If the starter has been removed, just check the winding resistance.

thank you for your help.

 

[jkousourlis]

OK, I need some help here. I have a friend who recently purchased a 06 FJR that had been sitting for a couple of years. We decided to first change the battery as the old one showed signs of age. The bike started up after several attempts but ran poorly. drained the fuel tank, added fresh fuel and things were much better. Then there was a clicking issue with the starter relay so we changed that. everything seemed good until it wasn't. Starter took a dive so we changed that =( armature wobbled and made a horrible sound). my friend proudly rode his new to him FJR for the better part of the day and when he shut it down, thankfully at home, the bike wouldn't start. Nothing except a clicking from the relay. I bridged the relay with a screwdriver to see if I could spin the starter, nothing. No spark at all across the relay posts. I took jumper cables and attached them to the plus/negative leads on his bike thinking it might be the battery wasn't charging but still nothing. Still just a click from the starter relay. Then we did the unthinkable, we took the starter out to see if the new one somehow froze up. the starter appeared good so I used jumper cables from the truck battery to the starter and nothing. Grounded the negative to the starter housing and positive to the starter terminal. Nothing.
So I think I've covered all the bases but obviously I'm missing something. Why didn't the starter relay arc when I jumped the battery positive and the starter cable bolts with a known good battery and why wouldn't the starter spin or exhibit some sort of fuss connecting it directly to the battery?
I like to think at times I know more than the average bear but this has me in a tail spin!
Thanks to all for your help .
Dan






s

when starting check the headleights may be the earth cable has a problem

 

[RossKean]

when starting check the headleights may be the earth cable has a problem

That would not explain why nothing happened when he tried to energize the starter out of the bike.
Note: Headlights do not come on until after the engine starts.

@Rocnsanman - I assume you get normal gauge sweep when you turn on the ignition and that the LCD display doesn't fade out/clock reset when you depress the starter - indicating very heavy draw or bad battery (despite the fact it is new). Still wouldn't explain why it didn't spin when powered off the bike assuming it was connected correctly.

 

[Rocnsanman]

UPDATE: Thanks everyone for your input. yes indeed, it was the starter. There are four brushes that make contact with the commutator and two of the brushes ( the two attached to the terminal) were not making contact with the commutator but were pushed back into the brush holder. All it took was slight pressure to release the brushes which under spring pressure released from the holder. A strange issue but hopefully this won't happen again. This makes sense why there was no arc across the starter relay terminals. My friend and I thank you.