How to remove, rebuild and reinstall your starter

[littlebeaver]

You found your problem,, you should be good to go for a long time now... at least you didn't get stranded in the middle of the Nation somewhere...

[WA9FWT]

New starter on the way

Can I ask who from ?
WA9FWT Phil

[ram11397]

E-Bay they all looked the same and most same price i chose one from DB Electric $76 with shipping and warranty i think most of them do anyway .

[littlebeaver]

Give it a shot,,, I think those are the Korean one's but unsure, I don't usually buy Korean stuff . ...Wait scratch that, I bought a KIA because it was a great deal... 3 GM's vehicles and a Jeep, wait is that GM too? Chrysler is GM right? Anyways find out so we can know how well the Korean Starters are, may not even be Korean lol...The one in our KIA has never failed us...Not even a little....

[ram11397]

Yeah that's what i thought give it a shot and price is right and a year warranty and NOW i have taken one off doesn't scare me to do it again Hope i can say this after I put it back in lol

[littlebeaver]

I think it will be just fine,,, You'll be back on the road very soon....

[WA9FWT]

E-Bay they all looked the same and most same price i chose one from DB Electric $76 with shipping and warranty i think most of them do anyway .

Thanks for answering Rick. Keep us all posted on how well it operates ...

WA9FWT Phil

[hickmmi]

My starter just spins, and occasionally catches and starts the motor. Thinking the starter gear was spring-loaded like a vehicle and just wasn't pushing out hard enough, I bought a new starter. Pulled the starter and discovered that the gears and teeth were in good shape. While putting the gear on the chain, it looks to me like the chain is loose. I'm assuming I have to pull the motor and replace the chain, but praying that there's some external chain adjustment bolt. Expecting the worse, I assume I have to drop the motor. Any insight would be appreciated. I'll keep searching the garage for my manual.

[ram11397]

I hope one of the more knowledgeable guys read and answer because that is beyond my know how.

[littlebeaver]

Starter clutch is not engaging,,, admin. is not here but he would probably suggest to put in some seafoam into the crankcase and run the engine for 50 miles or so and then change it out,, it will free up moving parts in the starter clutch... Or pull the stator as I believe the starter clutch is in that area...Read the search engine above......viewtopic.php?t=1335 Drop out a quart of oil first,,, I think seafoam is about a quart..don't know,, maybe 22 oz..

[WingAdmin]

My starter just spins, and occasionally catches and starts the motor. Thinking the starter gear was spring-loaded like a vehicle and just wasn't pushing out hard enough, I bought a new starter. Pulled the starter and discovered that the gears and teeth were in good shape. While putting the gear on the chain, it looks to me like the chain is loose. I'm assuming I have to pull the motor and replace the chain, but praying that there's some external chain adjustment bolt. Expecting the worse, I assume I have to drop the motor. Any insight would be appreciated. I'll keep searching the garage for my manual.

Yup, that's definitely a starter clutch issue, not a starter issue. Read the link Littlebeaver provided, it's got the best (i.e. easiest) way to fix this.

[offduty18]

Just wanted to say thanks for the article on dealing with the gl 1100 starter. I had problems with the starter acting up for quite some time. I saw your article and followed your instruction and the starter works great. I had the bike up on the center stand at the time as I was replacing the fork seals. While I was waiting for the seals to arrive, I decided to do the starter following your instructions. When it came time to reinstall the starter the sprocket was in the wrong position because the bike was on the center stand. The front end was apart so I couldn't put it on the side stand. I put a magnet against the motor case and it pulled the sprocket into the correct position and the starter slipped right it. Thanks again for a great article.

[dbenson]

I did not note the position of the chain when I took the starter off and it moved, Now my bike sounds like crap am I screwed.

[dabadge]

I think this might have something to do with my starter sometimes not turning over...

Starter Solenoid.... fuse?

[jcouelle]

It is ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE to remove the starter without removing the headers and shifter first. There is not enough space to clear the starter sprocket out of the starter hole. I've been at it for about an hour without any success. I've been able to take 3 of the 4 header nuts off. The 4th one just doesn't want to turn, even after applying heat to it. Bad. Bad. Bad.

[wingman12]

Not true, you can remove the starter without removing the headers. I have removed the starter on a 1982 gl1100 interstate several times. remove both bolts slide starter back to clear casing, drop down left end and move right end towards you and pull out at an slight angle. tight fit but not a problem.

[jcouelle]

finally got the starter out, but not without first removing the shifter.

[stephenricci]

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. I was very apprehensive about trying to replace the starter without removing the motor but after reading the whole thread I figured that it was worth a shot. I installed a Rick's Motorsport 4 brush permanent magnet starter this morning. All I did was put the bike on the side stand and remove the shifter and starter bolts. I do have a couple of things that I would like to add that may help. First, use a rag to cover the headers and chrome shields at the bend. As my luck usually goes, my #8 socket fell off the swivel while pulling them out after loosening the rear bolt. Of course the socket dropped right down in between the header and shield. It took me longer to fish it out than it took me to R/R the starter. Second, if you don't have a swivel for your T-handle or ratchet and extension, you may want to get one before starting the job. It definitely helped things out. Lastly, getting the rear bolt (facing forward on the bike) can be a little tricky and you definitely don't want to strip out the threads. What I did was install the front bolt first loosely then aligned rear bolt holes. After the rear holes are aligned, snug up the front bolt temporarily. Once you get the rear bolt started, loosen the front bolt then push forward on the starter while tightening the rear bolt. This will help make sure the starter is all the way in before cranking down on the forward bolt. If you are even thinking about doing this job, take a few minutes and read the entire thread that the nice people on this forum have put together and start wrenching. Next step, I'll follow the directions in this thread to rebuild the old starter for a spare. Thanks again!

[rosco054]

This is a great article and it gave me confidence to do the rebuild myself. However, as it seems with everything on this bike, headaches occur. This first one is that the bolt on the starter towards the front of the bike was apparently frozen and the bolt snapped of in the casing. That's going to be a lot of fun getting that out...

My major concern is the insulation on the wire above the armature. It crumbled during the removal of the armature. I have a bare wire now. What is the purpose of the insulation? It is electrical interference, heat? Can I re-insulate with something else? Hopefully I don't have to buy a new starter.

Thanks,
Mike

[WingAdmin]

This is a great article and it gave me confidence to do the rebuild myself. However, as it seems with everything on this bike, headaches occur. This first one is that the bolt on the starter towards the front of the bike was apparently frozen and the bolt snapped of in the casing. That's going to be a lot of fun getting that out...

My major concern is the insulation on the wire above the armature. It crumbled during the removal of the armature. I have a bare wire now. What is the purpose of the insulation? It is electrical interference, heat? Can I re-insulate with something else? Hopefully I don't have to buy a new starter.

Thanks,
Mike

Is this the wire you are talking about?

[rosco054]

Yes that is the wire I am talking about. The insulation started crumbling when I was trying to push the wire out of the way.

[WingAdmin]

Yes that is the wire I am talking about. The insulation started crumbling when I was trying to push the wire out of the way.

That wire definitely needs to be insulated. It is what carries current to the brushes. It has a high-temperature fiberglass insulation to protect it against heat.

You could unsolder one end and replace the insulation with some new insulation, like this:

http://www.delcity.net/store/Tru!Fit-Fi ... aQodoroACQ

Then resolder the one end. The insulation needs to be capable of handling high temperatures like that - although that product is available only on 50 foot reels. You might be more successful finding a smaller quantity, or ask a manufacturer for a sample, which is all you would need.

[rosco054]

Yes that is the wire I am talking about. The insulation started crumbling when I was trying to push the wire out of the way.

That wire definitely needs to be insulated. It is what carries current to the brushes. It has a high-temperature fiberglass insulation to protect it against heat.

You could unsolder one end and replace the insulation with some new insulation, like this:

http://www.delcity.net/store/Tru!Fit-Fi ... aQodoroACQ

Then resolder the one end. The insulation needs to be capable of handling high temperatures like that - although that product is available only on 50 foot reels. You might be more successful finding a smaller quantity, or ask a manufacturer for a sample, which is all you would need.

Thank you for the lead. My biggest concern is that I apparently have no soldering skills... I have failed miserably every time I tried it. I'll see what I can do.

Thanks again!

[rosco054]

I followed your link to DelCity and they had a 100ft minimum for the 6 ga. It would have been $41.83 + shipping. I was going to follow your suggestion about asking for a sample, but I looked around and found a place that sells the same insulator for much smaller minimums. I measured diameter of the wire in the starter housing and came up with .122" or 3.0988 mm. So I ordered the 3.76 mm diameter insulator just to make sure it would fit.

Here is the information for the insulator in case anyone else has this happen to them and need to replace it.

Vendor: Wire Care.com (https://www.wirecare.com/products.asp?prodline=fgl)
Part No: FGLG.07BK
Min Order: 10 ft.

The total I spent with shipping was $12.05.

I will have over 9 ft. of the insulator after I complete my project. If anyone needs any , just send me a mailing address and I'll send some along to you.

Mike

[newomij]

The 'grease' has me confused. I have a general multipurpose grease, another grease that came with a small grease gun, and some Moly 60 Paste. I need to repack the bearing and add grease as shown in the final step before reassembly. I read one response that said using two different greases would work. Does the bearing require a particular grease for repacking it? Or will one grease suffice for the bearing and the cogs? Which grease is BEST to use?