I am trying to figure out if my starter clutch is bad, of if I have some other issue.
I have a older breeze 125. I have taken the clutch cover off and when I try to start it the starter-idler gear both turn as does the starter gear itself....except after a few rotations the gear slows down and I get a nasty grinding sound.


I have read that a starter clutch should spin feely in one direction but lock in the other...which mine does. BUT, should it lock in the direction the starter motor tries to spin it, or in opposite direction?
Right now, the starter spins the starter clutch in the direction in which it spins freely and not in the direction that it locks up. Is it even possible to wire the starter backwards?


I have taken the starter clutch out, stretched the springs a bit, cleaned the springs, rollers ect. Everything in the starter clutch moves freely, and nothing is visibly broken.
The splines on the motor shaft are good. None of the teeth on any of the gears are bad.

 

It is possible to buy a starter or brush kit that revolves the wrong way, and fitting the battery the wrong way round would do it too, but probably blow all the electronics as well, so trust you haven't done that. Some one way clutches can be fitted backwards so they work the wrong way, many have "This side out" stamped on them to stop you doing this. I have had a Breeze starter clutch to pieces but can't remember much about it except it ran "dry", most run in the engine's oil.

 

The starter doesn't look like a new one to me.


When I pulled the belt cover, it was clear that a mouse had tried to make that area it's home.


Ive tried cleaning the starter clutch, hoping crap from the mouse nest was stopping it from working.


The thing that has me worried is the noise it makes....it is not like what I have heard on video's of bad starter clutches. Most slip, then catch a bit, then there is some rattling/metal against metal sound.


I get slipping, then a high pitched grinding. I guess maybe that sound could be the rollers in the clutch just starting to grab the shaft, but IDK.


This is only my second ATV, and the other one I never had to work on the starter. At least getting to the starter clutch on the Breeze was a breeze (couldn't help) since it is dry, no oil to drain and no magneto in the way. I didn't need a gear puller or anything like that...just a impact wrench to get the 22mm end nut off and the rest slides off the shaft. Only tough part was getting the belt cover off...3 bolts did snap off.
I am a bit confused as to why there is a gasket there since there is no fluid inside the case.

 

Um, so I just made a video of the starter trying to work and the sound it makes...


while making the vid, the idler gear fell out and this is when I discovered that it makes the noise without turning the starter clutch...so the clutch is not the source of the noise!


You can however see that the clutch does not turn the motor at all.


Any ideas on what the noise is?

 

I wish someone could confirm which direction the motor is supposed to turn.


The starter tries to turn the starter gear clockwise. The starter clutch spins freely in that direction, but grabs instantly the other.


If I put the bike in forward and turn the drive clutch counter-clockwise by hand, then the bike moves forward. This would seem to indicate that the motor is supposed to spin counter-clockwise...and if it did, the starter clutch would work in that direction.


But how the heck could the starter motor be spinning the wrong way? Its not like wires could just be backwards due to how it is bolted on. And I have the battery hooked up right. Confused!

 

Did you ever get this figured out?

 

​​​​​​​ I know this is an old thread but just resolved a similar issue with my Yamaha Breeze. I'm not sure what that noise is, but I can say for certain the starter is turn the wrong direction. The gear behind your starter clutch should spin counterclockwise, which will then engage your starter clutch. Replace your starter, or if you're really ambitious you can try to reverse the polarity of the starter, but for how cheap a new one is it wasn't worth the effort, so I replace mine and now the motor turns over. I have no idea how my starter got polarity reversed (mine was a project quad w no history) but that is definitely your issue.​​​​​​​