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I didn't do a rebuild, but I did give my starter its first cleaning yesterday.
Before and After


Time will only tell how long it lasts.

Brian

Nice work......do you see the bushing in the snout of the starter? Try to get some lubrication in there, that one in the open, exposed to all the trash, dirt and water is the one that wears out first and starts making noise or dragging the motor. I think that you can definitely rebuild the starter with the Valeo kit.......actually, just in case why don't you get Van to volunteer his bike as the guinea pig......

Brian,
That looks good but did you clean also within the housing itself? As I remember on mine the bushing/bearing directly beneath the gear slides up the shaft and exposes the gear reduction assembly inside the starter housing. Did you clean inside there as well? When I worked on mine I slid the bearing/bushing? up to expose the interior and sprayed brake cleaner liberally inside till it ran out clean. Then sprayed lithium lubricant inside.

Wayne

Al, I did oil the bushing in the housing and the stop bushing on the shaft. It didn't look worn, I'm sure that doesn't mean anything as it appears to be brass and the shaft protrudes through it.

Wayne, here's a pic of the starter with the housing off and pin out of lever so the so the gear could slide forward on the shaft:


I used WD40 and a toothbrush to clean the inside of the housing and the parts on the shaft. I then flushed with a parts cleaner (some non-residue Mass Airflow sensor automotive stuff I had). I lubed the curved splines on the right with some regular grease, used a q-tip, not too much. The other end got some 3-in-1 oil. I fully expect to have to perform this again in the future.

Vann send me your starter and I'll rebuild it for the price of tank of gas.

That is a much more thorough job than what I did on mine! I would expect that to last you a long time. Looks very nice.


"Vann send me your starter and I'll rebuild it for the price of tank of gas."



Is that motorcycle gas tank or truck?

Brian....you do good work....great!!!

I called Wayne (but he was riding...go figure) but ended up calling Phil because I couldn't get the starter off. Phil told me about the posioning post, it seemed to be hung on that so I just kept working it and pulling it back. When I put the starter back on I sanded the post down and greased it too.

Wayne, that would be a rail tanker.

DSKYZD

Good job Brian! My starter has also started to get a little squeaky this winter. I guess I will need to do a thorough clean up as well. It makes some noise the first few times you crank it over in the mornings, but seems to get back to normal as the bike warms up later in the day. I think the salt and crap on the roads is really hard on them. Plus I've had a few "adventure" rides the last few months like our day up on Big Walker Mtn. Probably a lot of crud in there.

Just curious, my bike is still under warranty until June 2009 or the 36k miles. I'm currently at 27k though. Would a starter be covered under warranty? I have to take my Rockster in for a warped front rotor to be replaced under warranty in the next couple of weeks. May have them check out the starter as well. I'm sure they won't replace it unless it is completely toast though.

I'm about due for a 6k mile service, so I guess the starter cleanup will just be a part of that.

I don't know if it would be covered, but I'd sure let them listen to it. Mine started the same way, wouldn't do it every time just when it was cold but it steadily got worse.

Great job Brian, especially documenting it!

Mine had been making the noise for a couple of years, but only in the winter. I finally 'fixed' mine last fall. I removed it (duh!) and sprayed it down with brake cleaner and blew it out with my air compressor. After letting it 'dry' in the sun for a while (while I was doing other maintenance), I shot some lithium grease (not too much, to avoid contaminating the clutch) in the shaft and worked the gear back and forth. Re-installed and still working great.

I did this from the advice given on this board - such a great resource!

Vann send me your starter and I'll rebuild it for the price of tank of gas.

Too high of a price! I'll do it myself!

(one of these days)

55

You can, but it'll get worn right off. That's the bendix gear that connects with the flywheel. It might even be harmful by attracting more dirt to that area.

Edit:Never mind. It just occurred to me what you were referring to...and I can't answer your question. Sorry.

55

Dave,

I really can't answer your question either, but I can tell you what I did with mine.

I wiped the plunger and the spring down when I wiped the rest of the starter parts after the cleaning them. I did not apply any lubrication to the copper plunger.


DSKYZD

The only reason I can think of for making the plunger out of copper is that copper is a pretty good and relatively cheap thermal conductor. (The only better conductors are silver and gold.) I'll bet that solenoid gets pretty hot inside, and the plunger is there to conduct the heat away. Grease would just carbonize and jam the solenoid.

But I could be wrong.

55

Moved a copy to this FAQ. Great pics and write-up.