Our '04 Z400 went on a big wet ride today. I also re-jetted it and it stalled all day as it was a slow, technical ride. SO lots of starter use from all the stalls. The starter doesn't seem to be working. I can hear and feel the solenoid click by the battery box, and it sounds like a buzzing/grinding noise when I try to start it. There is no "ying-ying-ying-ying" sound of the starter trying to engage, but I think the starter motor is turning from the buzzing/grinding sound. DO I need to replace the starter, OR, do things like starter clutch or starter gears have a tendancy to wear out on these?

It jump-started fine with a pull.

How do you bench test a starter to see if it's working? I bought a used one off of ebay about 1-2 months ago (just cuz it was cheap). I tried to run positive to the terminal, and negative to the mounting hole. I used small jumper wires from a 12V battery, while it was mounted in a vice. I didn't get it to spin or make a noise. I wonder if this used one is shot?? Maybe small jumper wires are too light guage?

THANKS for any help.

 

okay, well I removed the starter cover. It has several gears inside it. Anyways, I can see the starter motor is spinning just fine, so my starter must be okay. Likewise, the cover I pulled off with the 3 big gears and one little gear seems okay. The teeth aren't chipped or anything, so I ASSUME that part is okay to. WHen I put it on, I can hear it aswell.

SO what does that leave? Starter clutch? What is a starter clutch and how does it work? How can I check to see if it's working?

 

So the starter is still mounted to the quad, and it's spinning, but not turning over the motor?

 

YES!! I assume the idler gears all work fine (they're inside the cover plate), and that it's the starter clutch assembly.

 

Wow Ned, that's a tough one...
I was gonna say pull the spark plug to take the compression off the engine and see if the starter will turn the motor over. I would think that replacing the starter would be alot easier than the starter clutch. Maybe the one-way bearing is shot?

 

I have a Suzuki manual on cd. It says very little about the starter clutch. The limited amount of info on their flow chart points to starter clutch. The info on replacing starter clutch is in the engine rebuild section, and there's no trouble-shooting or testing tips, just replacement steps. I just bought something off of Ebay, so here's hoping! I will post the fix when I get it! AND to prevent this in the future, I'm jetting it back down to what worked before. aaarrrgghhhh!!!

I'm with ya on the one-way bearing, which seems to be in the center of the starter clutch assembly.

 

Well, took the magneto cover off and WOW! the stator is absolutely shredded. All 6 bolts have loosened and come out completely from the starter clutch side. they were stuck to magnetic part of stator. the copper windings on the stator are all over the place and broken off. I'm confused as to how all this happened. well, I assume the bolts flying around in there did the damage, but how would all 6 of them loosen off and come out???

I guess i'll obviously need a new stator. maybe the drum the stator spins inside of too? i can't tell how badly damaged it is from these bolts coming off. Guess I'll be using loc-tite on the new ones. WHat does a stator do? Why would my quad jump start from a pull, even tho the stator is shredded? Will just replacing the stator fix all of the starting issues? ( I doubt it; I think the starting issues are more mechanical than electrical).

The flywheel meshes with an odd looking gear, smaller gear. this is the same gear that gets turned by the idler gears. ANYWAYS, when I moved that smaller, double gear, the flywheel moved. Is the flywheel supposed to be marked and timed to something? it doesn't seem to turn anything and moves easily with that gear out of the way. Am I wrong in calling this the flyweel, or is it part of the starter clutch?

 

Did you happen to take any pics of this?

 

funny you ask. my son thought it was important and ran in and grabbed his digital camera, and took some pics. I'll take some too. I can try to post here, OR, PM me and I'll email them.

 

here's a couple of pics