The starter in my 110 keeps burning up. When the starter went out the first time, I took it back to the people I got it from. They put another starter plus cilinoid in. 45 minutes of ride time and it goes out, the whole fourwheeler is burning up. I have this starter out now, and know I need a new one, but the heat is the problem. So, does anyone have any idea as to why the quad is over heating? The plastic components in the starter are melted. Any other info about these starters is helpful. Thanks.

 

when you start the quad, does the starter disengage or does it stay engaged and rev up to whatever RPMs the engine goes up to. that'd burn it up. you'll need to check that out. maybe upgrade the solenoid. that sounds like it is sticking also., maybe, i gotta think on that some more. even though you replaced it. hmmm...... make sure you have a 5-7 amp fuse in the inline fuse holder on the positive side of the battery to solenoid. that way if there's an electrical issue, the fuse will pop and not burn anything else up.

 

The only reason the solenoid was replaced was because the a##hole cut the wire, it was probably ok.
There is no sound to indicate that the starter is not disengaged. When the "new" starter was put in it still hesitated a little bit but would start.
The battery had been charged the day before, I may need to replace. That still doesn't bring the heat to attention. The thing was so hot the rubber on the intake (air filter) was smoking.
Will do on the fuse.

 

There is a sprag clutch betwen the starter motor and the engine that allows the starter to engage and crank the engine, but when the engine starts up the clutch overruns and disengages the starter motor from the engine. Sprag clutch (generic term which you can google) is also called the starter clutch.

So is the starter is burning up after the quad is running? How long after? Do you hear the starter still turning (whining) all this time? Does the battery go dead while the starter motor is burning up?

This is all sounding very weird. Starter motors don't burn up all by themselves. They are thermally massive, and require a *lot* of power for a *lot* of time to accomplish this. This amount of power can only come from the battery, and has to be sucking down the battery big time. But if this was the case the starter would be smoking hot, the battery would be way discharged, and the rest of the quad would be relatively cooler.

But then you say the rubber on the intake manifold was smoking? No way could the starter motor be causing this! It (the starter motor) is relatively small compared to the much bigger engine. In order for the starter motor to heat up the whole entire motor such that the rubber on the intake manifold is smoking, the starter motor would be glowing red hot. And your battery at 5 amp-hours or so just doen't have that much oomph in it .

I don't believe your reported symptoms. It's time to reset, take a breather, and look again with a skeptical mind.

Melted plastic connectors at the starter are indicators of overheating - which could be the starter, but smoking intake manifolds way far away are a different story I think - completley unrelated to starter motors....

You said:

How do you know you need a new one? Did you take it out and use jumper cables to power the starter motor all by itself? Does the starter motor turn when jumped?

 

I am positive I need a new one. It reeks of being fried and i can see it will not engage, the plastic around the magnets are melted(to the magnet) in a way that will not allow the springs to move. I dont think that its the starter doing the smoking. Maybe the engine.I said that to emphasize on how hot it was getting, and in turn possibly burning the starter up. I have a new one ordered. I'll put that one in when it gets here and see what symptoms, if any, occur.

 

did you run this quad at night? just wondering if you've noticed if the exhaust pipe is cherry red when the quad was running. if you don't know, then pull the spark plug. what color is the electrode? i'm thinking you're running the quad WAY TOO LEAN and that will heat up your engine big time and the engine will try to dissipate the heat any way it can up to and including burning components, blowing out gaskets, and possibly boiling the oil, premature oil breakdown, and piston/valve seizure. then again, i was still thinking that the starter was not disengaging and it's building heat and destroying itself. just my two cents.

 

It's a 4 stroke. I think i jumped the gun on starting a thread, my thought was finding out why it was running so hot so I would not burn the new starter up. Let me get this new one in, when it gets here and see what it does. Thanks for all the help and I will keep it posted.

 

i hope the new starter fixes your problem. let us know!.

 

Yes please, let us know - even if it doesn't fix the problem. Knowledge accumulates on the internet, and people down the road will see and learn from your experience. Search engines are great these days ...

 

Make sure you get the right bolt pattern forr the new starter. I am sure that has been learned before lol. My stubborn self didn't go get the old one and compare, got the right one on the way. Anyone know where I can find a solenoid for this thing? I have looked at the 2 top sites and they are not the same. They have a plug that goes to the starter, mine has a screw that atatches the wire to the starter.