I just bought a big project, '93 LT 80 that appears to have sat for a long time and hasn't been very well looked after. Problem 1: wouldn't start, nor turn over..NOTHING..silent. Tried jumping power straight to starter.. still not a sound. removed starter (could that have been designed to be any tougher?!).

Brushes were seized. Cleaned one side and it is now moving freely with tension spring. The other brush has a broken tension spring. Can I just get a spring?or new brushes? Why are there 2 small screws on opposite sides, one of which the brush wire is screwed down with, and the other screw appears to do nothing but fill a hole. The second brush wire seems to go to a tiny post. Is this right? Brush wires seem a little frayed.

I'm hoping this could be a quick easy fix. I don't trust the motor repair guys, I think they'll put in a spring and charge me $75 for brushes and rebuild.

Is there an easy way to try and turn crank to see if piston is seized? I didn't want to pull crank cover off and buy a gasket, if I can avoid it. I squirted some penetrating fluid in the cylinder.

Finally, gas was pretty bad and tank full of rust/sediment from rotten back side of gas cap. I've taken tank off. Any specail tricks to get all the crud out of there? Do you just rinse it with gas, or is there something better?

Thanks for any help.

 

Remove the fan cover and turn that to spin the motor.
Gas is fine to clean the tank.
The starter sure is a bugger to get out eh!

 

Sure is ugly. I'm not looking forward to tryng to put it back in. At this point, it's probably 10 more minutes of work to pull the whole engine.

 

If cant fix the starter have some on ebay new and used all dah time!

 

Thanks. I got a spring today. Sractched the heck out of the brushes trying to get the armature back in. Still wouldn't spin. Took it apart, the brush wire pretty well disintegrated. Sooo...,I think I might get the rebuild kit for $46. from Jack's small engines. The starter is about $117 on Ebay for new. My luck, there's probably something else wrong and the kit will be a waste of $$. I noticed the center bearing where the shaft spins is starting to decay, but the shaft still spins inside it. Looks kinda tough to replace that bearing.

How much does the pull-start kit cost ( I'd only want it for back-up)?

 

I use the pull start all the time.
They list approx 90$

 

Repaired starter.Got whole cast piece from Suzuki with new brushes, springs and screws. Pretty tricky getting the brushes to stay back while you slide the armature through..but with wife's help it's done.I'm sure there's a trick I don't know about. Can't wait to put it together now.

Wish someone would have replied to my post about whether that wide/deep washer I took out was an exhaust restrictor or not. I'll roll the dice and put it back in.

Also, you can buy just brushes for this starter from Denmark-fairly reasonable and shipped, I think it's electrisk.. Also, can buy spring only from suzukiparts.com (something like that), or dealer.