I must have gotten water in the pull start case...

We were riding the other day and i heard sizzling...i looked down and the hole where the string goes in the case was spitting hot water out...I pulled the rope out to see if it was soaked or if the case was full of water or what....when i did that...the spring wouldnt retract the rope back in...i worked with it a bit and finally it went back in, but now it is just free spooling...it wont catch to start the motor...

Havent taken it apart yet....anything i should look out for when i do? And is there a way to keep water out of there?

 

I had similar problem w/ my vinny. Take the pull start off, should be 5-6 small bolts. I didn't disassemble my start assembly, and I suggest you don't either unless you want a major headache. Clean (not sure if soaking is a good idea) and work the rope in and out while hosing it out w/ WD-40. If it's full of mud hit it w/ a waterhose first to get all the big chunks. Sounds to me like you got water and mud packed in around the engagement forks. Your bike is new so it shouldn't be too badly rusted. Once you got all the junk out of it, slap another coat of WD 40 on it while working the assembly. Let it sit out and air-dry a little bit to get rid of any excess WD. Make sure your pull start gasket is in good shape, if it's not in great shape actually go spend the $5 bucks or so for a new one. When you go to reattach the pull start put a thin coat of waterproof grease on both sides of the gasket then put it back on, but torque the bolts down as you would on a head or car wheel so as to not warp the assembly (slightly tighten one bolt then slightly tighten bolt opposite it and work your way around until it's all nice and snug). With grease on the GOOD gasket and if the pull is working properly it should pull the pull start down tightly and the hood of the start handle should keep most junk out of the pull start. Also, if the hood on your handle is torn or ripped then you're just wasting your time doing all this. In that case you should just buy another pull start as I'm not sure how easy or difficult it is to replace that handle.
Good luck. It might not be a bad idea to go ahead and get a service manual, in fact I highly recommend buying one before you start on this.

 

i say toss it

 

Thanks for the advice...

I went to take it apart yesterday....i took all the plastic off that needed to be off and i took one of the bolts out of the cover and just for kicks i tried to pull it and it caught just fine and started like normal....so i didnt do anything to it yesterday....Im gonna get a service manual today just in case and try to take it apart today and clean it up real good...I dont think the spring is strong enough to keep the handle over the hole....its real loose on there...

Or it could be i just ride in too deep of mud and water...i know i have been in water well over that hole before...I dont know if the handle would keep water out or not in that situation....

We should get together sometime and ride MeYHymN....Im in charleston about twice a month...

 

@ yamahaforlife

that is one sick looking yfz!

 

Sure Eiger, just pm me, but the only days I get to actually ride is on Sundays. Other than that I'm usually working or trying to get my streetbike road worthy.