R1100GS Starter Failure

[wvrocks]

Rolled my 95 GS out to go to work this morning, turned the key, kickstand up, in neutral, enricher on, headlight turned off via euro switch, kill switch on, fuel pump cycled. I thumbed the starter and it cranked a few times and almost caught. Hit it again and there was a loud clank and the lights on the dash dimmed. Repeated that once more with the same results. Rolled it into the garage and put it up on the centerstand. Hit the starter one last time and got the same thing plus an electrical sound and a puff of smoke from under the front left of the seat. Shit! Now all the dash lights are out too. GPS that is direct wired to the battery has power.

The bike had been starting slow all week, seemed to be getting worse as the days went on. Its been much cooler than normal this week so I though that might be part of the slow starting. Battery is 6 months old and has been kept on a tender. I had the starter off last month when I replaced my front timing chain guides and a leaking front crankshaft seal. Didn't do any starter maintenance while I had it off. I installed a new Hall Sensor then too. Any ideas on what I burned up?

May not be related but a week ago, I hit a hard bump on a dirt road and the bike shut off. All lights were still working and it started right back up. It did the same once about 8 months ago too.

[mouthfulloflake]

very easy to remove starter.

you can also clean and lube it, and that fixes about 90% of them, in the event a magnet has come loose, then its locked up, and you can buy an updated housing ( with new better retained magnets) for about $50 I think.

your battery is likely dead too, it either was the initial cause of the slow cranking, or it was a victim of the dead short the locked up starter put to it.

http://www.euromotoelectrics.com/pro...6ra-magccw.htm

http://www.largiader.com/tech/valeo/

[wvrocks]

Thanks, I'm going to pull it off when I get home this evening and take a closer look. The starter did seem to be locked after the first try. Battery is still providing power to GPS but thats a very small draw. All my dash lights being out and the smoke from under the tank has me concerned that I fried some of the wiring harness.

I need to do the fuse upgrade for the headlight while I'm in there too. Sounds like a fun weekend of hunting electrical gremlins.

[ragtoplvr]

I would simply get an entire new starter from someone like http://www.euromotoelectrics.com/

Reason is you also stressed the solenoid and brushes very hard, and it is just not worth it to replace only one part and have it fail again later.

check for loose connections also. The updated starter will have the better magnet retention and should last many miles.

Rod

[wvrocks]

I agree, off to order one now. Wonder if its worth getting a new starter relay while I'm at it?

[ragtoplvr]

what happened should not have stressed the starter relay, just the solenoid.

Rod

[wvrocks]

Originally Posted by ragtoplvr

what happened should not have stressed the starter relay, just the solenoid.

Rod

Any idea here the crackling electrical sound and smoke may have come from? Also, Is the new Valeo work the extra $60 over a new Enduralast Starter?

[mike54]

Originally Posted by wvrocks

Any idea here the crackling electrical sound and smoke may have come from? Also, Is the new Valeo work the extra $60 over a new Enduralast Starter?

Happened to me at a gas station when I had my 1100. Bad ground, and ended up needing a new wiring harness. There's a main ground under the battery that had come lose. Hope that's not the case for you.

[wvrocks]

Thanks Mike

[wvrocks]

The battery is shot. One of the posts is partially melted. I hooked up an old battery and got back my dash lights but no headlights, taillight, signals or driving lights. Driving lights are triggered off the tail light. I do have a brake light though. I'll pull the starter tomorrow.

[wvrocks]

Inside of the starter. Magnets moved and jammed things up. The rest of the starter looks ok so I think I'll rebuild with the new style parts. .

Off to find the burned up wiring.

[def]

Originally Posted by wvrocks

Inside of the starter. Magnets moved and jammed things up. The rest of the starter looks ok so I think I'll rebuild with the new style parts. .

Off to find the burned up wiring.

[wvrocks]

So far I've only found one wire where a short could have occured. The brown ground wire for the fuel tank was rubbed through where it went under the metal battery tray. No scorching on the wire though.

It was a serious pain to get to the main ground by the way. Tank, battery, motronic, and abs all had to come out to remove the battery tray. Never thought an electrical short would lead to bleeding my brakes! Also pulled the rear wheel to get at the fuse box wiring.

Parts are on the way to rebuild the starter so that's one positive. Unless of course something other than the magnets failed...

Quick question, does the starter/associated wiring need to be in place to allow the light circuits to function? If not, where might be the most logical place to look for damage to the light circuit? I'd really rather not cut apart the entire wiring harness for inspection if I can avoid it.

[def]

Check the load shed relay.

[wvrocks]

Originally Posted by def

Check the load shed relay.

Thanks, will do.