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So, the other day I had the bike in the driveway and it was just idling, hadn't run in a few weeks since it's cold out... It shut off on it's own and then wouldn't restart, just the clicking of the solenoid. I put it on the charger and left it alone for a few days. Yesterday I went to start it up and all I got was one click every time I hit the button. I didn't have time to mess with it so I left it for today. Today I had the charger hooked to it, and I get the buzzing click when I hit the starter button. I checked all my connections, cleaned the ground, cleaned the connections at the solenoid, cleaned the connection at the starter. Checked my fuses, even though I didn't think those were the problem. Took my battery to NAPA and had them test it. AGM battery from AutoZone, maybe a year and a half old, tested bad. Whatever, bought a new one. Put it in, no start, only buzzing from the solenoid. Disconnect the starter cable at the starter and hit the button, now it only clicks once per time I hit the button. Just one click. Hook the cable back to the starter and I get the buzzing clicks again.

I'm really getting tired of these occasional electrical problems, usually I can fix it with a new battery, but now I can't get it to even crank. I would like to pull the starter out and test it by itself, I guess I'd have to drain the oil for that? When I was trying to crank it and only getting the buzz, the ground wire was rather warm, but I didn't see any bare spots where it would be shorting out. I checked the starter cable and found no cracks or anything out of the ordinary there either.

What am I missing? There are only a few things to look at in the ignition system, battery, solenoid, ground, cables all good... I'd be encouraged enough if I could just get the motor to turn over

Did you try jumping the poles on the solenoid? Sounds like the click is the relay working and perhaps the buzz is the solenoid going pfft. Worth a shot.

I did that, and I even changed the solenoid out for another one that I know works

Dave,

That's a weird one. If the neg and pos wires are good and tight and you jumpered the solenoid with a new battery, the starter should spin. Jumpering the solenoid is like placing a wire from the battery to the starter terminal direct. All the safeties are bypassed. It should spin. Those starters are usually bullet proof. You might have to pull the starter but before you do, place a voltmeter on the starter terminal and see what the voltage is when you hit the start button or bypass the solenoid. Better yet, a clamp on amp meter will verify the starter is getting current but not turning indicating a defective starter or jammed starter drive geartrain or seized engine (unlikely).


One other thing, have you tried to turn the engine over by hand? Put it on a jack, in a high gear and try to rotate the rear wheel? I'm guessing, since the starter gear train spins on the sprag clutch when the engine is running, is it possible something jammed up in there.

Look for the simple things first though.

Strange indeed,pull the seat and check all the harness connectors you can find. I've seen at least 3 bikes with burned connections causing havoc with charging/starting issues.

I did put it in 5th gear and move it down the driveway, I was wondering about something being stuck too. I checked power at the starter, and it is getting the juice. I think I'm going to have to pull the starter off and test it, maybe clean it out on the inside. Anyone know if I need to drain the oil for that?

Haynes manual states to drain the oil.

crap ass...

I need to buy a clean pan then, cause my oil isn't that old

Before you drain the oil this immediately brought back a memory of me working on Bollox (Friars bike #1). I found an extended ground wire where the connection looked fine but in actuality it was bad causing the bike not to turn over, only click.

* Have you extended, replaced or modified anything having to do with the power or ground wires? If yes check your connections by tugging on them.
* Check the back of the fuse box, I recall a few people having some melting issues.
* Check your ignition switch, same as fuse box issue.

Well, the verdict is in. Starter took a crap on me. One of the magnets on the inside exploded and jammed the whole thing up



These are the pieces I pulled out of there


there should be 4, mine has 3




I put it back together to see if it would work with three internal magnets, and it rotates, but it's pretty slow and probably won't last long like that...

that sucks Dave but thanks for sharing the info with us, never know when it will be one of our turn. cheers!

OMG!!!!! looked up the price of a starter. Bloody horrendous.

Well that is a first! Too bad it had to be on your bike Dave.

Tell me (since I never had my starter off), is there a seal on the output shaft of the starter to keep oil out of the workings?

There must be a seal of some sort inside the end, there is the o-ring you see to keep the oil from leaking out of the engine, there is also a very thin o-ring between the case and the end piece... I might have to take it apart again to see since now I'm curious. I can't imagine the bearing on the shaft keeps the oil out

My bike is back up and running! I managed to broker a trade with an ebay seller, all it cost me was a stator that I've had on the shelf for four or five years now, and 6 bucks to ship it! I didn't pay anything for the stator when I got it, so this was a pretty good deal on my end. Anyway, the seller was cool and easy to deal with, he shipped the starter and I shipped my part on just a phone conversation. I would definitely recommend him, he has some Triumph parts on occasion. username 1cycleparts
http://stores.ebay.com/1cycleparts

The starter sounds completely different, like how other bikes starters sound when they crank up... makes me wonder just how long my starter has been not 100%

Glad you got things sorted out, Dave. And that was a pretty sweet deal you got there, eh!

Yeah, getting a cheap fix on what could be an expensive part is always a bonus. Actually got to ride my bike last night for the first time in weeks!

what did you do with the old one could be a fun experiment to see if you could find a new magnet and repair it?

I am definitely keeping it and hoping to find another starter that got burned out or whatever so I can just swap the cases... I found a shop here in town that said they can rebuild it for between 75-125 bucks so I guess that's an option too

Too bad you couldn't determine who manufactured the starter for Triumph. They would be able to sell you a magnet that could be epoxied in place.

Denso is the manufacturer, the #'s are 228000-8040 or 228000-9661. They do not deal with the public, only their distributers. CarQuest carries their line and I couldn't get anything through them. The best site I found online was all in German, so I couldn't understand what was going on with it. I called another company in Wisconsin that had some Denso starters listed and they couldn't reference the case with the numbers... I'm sure the thing only cost like 50 bucks tops to produce, Triumph charging 700 something is ridiculous.