starter motor replacement

[starleaf]

Hey;

I followed alot of thread advice and I'm nearly done rebuilding/replacing the starter clutch on my 90' Venture Royale. I managed to get through this without problems.

However, I thought swapping out the stater motor with a new 4 brush version would be the "easy part".

- The starter motor is unbolted and loose: But I just cannot manage to free it from the bike.

Is there a secret way to get the starter free without removing the thermostat housing?

I've drained and removed the coolant and the two small hoses... I thought this would be enough?

 

Chris

[Snaggletooth]

Hate to be the one to tell ya but.....No.

 

The thermo cover does have to come off to get the starter back far enough to remove it. Very tight in there to remove the two bolts on the cover. Can be a bit of a trick if the bolts in there are Phillips heads. Make sure to replace them with Allen heads for the future.

 

I usually loosen the right front header pipe for a little extra room to.

 

You probably want to replace the o-ring on that cover while your in there and never hurts to replace the thermostat at the same time. I've got a NAPA number around here somewhere for one that fits.

 

As long as you're in there you might concider putting a new o-ring on the drain valve also. They are known to be a weak spot, mostly during the colder months. Skydoc_17, Earl on the site has carried a nice little kit for that valve. Takes care of the problem. He can help you with other parts you'll need as well.

 

Doing the thermo, o-rings and 4 brush starter all together will probably be the only time you will need to go there again for quite a while.

[Snaggletooth]

Here is the one replacement I used.

 

NAPA 156.

 

This thread might be helpful also.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=40737&highlight=NAPA+thermostat

[Flyinfool]

Hate to be the one to tell ya but.....No.

 

The thermo cover does have to come off to get the starter back far enough to remove it. Very tight in there to remove the two bolts on the cover. Can be a bit of a trick if the bolts in there are Phillips heads. Make sure to replace them with Allen heads for the future.

 

I usually loosen the right front header pipe for a little extra room to.

 

You probably want to replace the o-ring on that cover while your in there and never hurts to replace the thermostat at the same time. I've got a NAPA number around here somewhere for one that fits.

 

As long as you're in there you might concider putting a new o-ring on the drain valve also. They are known to be a weak spot, mostly during the colder months. Skydoc_17, Earl on the site has carried a nice little kit for that valve. Takes care of the problem. He can help you with other parts you'll need as well.

 

Doing the thermo, o-rings and 4 brush starter all together will probably be the only time you will need to go there again for quite a while.

:sign yeah that:

 

OHHhhhh......

Someone beat me to an "As long as you're in there........"

 

When I did mine I had to replace the plastic top of the thermostat housing because it had warped from the heat of being plastic right next to the exhaust pipe. The leaking thermo housing was what I went into that area for, and the starter upgrade was my "As long as you're in there........", Along with the other stuff that Snaggle mentioned.

[Snaggletooth]

:sign yeah that:

 

OHHhhhh...... "As long as you're in there........"

 

 

 

Niffty lil phrase ain't it? Can be applied to about everything. I'm getting to the point where it's turned into "Before I get in there" and then "I didn't know that was in there".

 

[starleaf]

Thanks alot for the info...

You did give me a bit of good news as I was afraid I needed to remove or shift the whole thermostat HOUSING. I got one of the lower Allen head bolts off before I quit for the night, scratching my head.

Removing the thermo cover shouldn't be too painful, it is Allen bolts and I actually already have a new thermostat and O-ring from when I rebuilt the water pump, but elected to "not mess with the thermostat".

 

Also I did notice some green seeping from the drain valve and collecting in the lower cover.

 

Can I loosen and re-torque the exhaust without worrying about new seals?

 

Thanx again for the help

Chris

[Snaggletooth]

I was able to reuse the exhaust gasket a couple of times as it stayed in the head and didn't appear to be damaged. The third time I replaced it. I figured my luck was running thin.

 

That drain valve leak has freaked a few out. I installed a lower chin from an '86 on my '84. The first time I moved it the next spring I had antifreeze pouring out of the bike. That little drip left quite a bit of antifreeze sitting inside the chin. Made quite a mess and took me a while to figure out where it was coming from. Earls kit fixed me right up. not a drip since even in below zero storage.

 

You're going to enjoy that new 4 brush to. Makes a heck of a differnce. Drop a DEKA AGM battey behind that and you're done worrying about starting.

[MiCarl]

While you're in there........

 

Pull the drain valve out, clean out the bore and install a new o-ring. You're going to have to soon anyhow.

[Snaggletooth]

Oh yeah, a note on that drain valve.

 

You need to completely remove that screw on the side of the drain valve housing in order to remove the valve body. When you go to remove that screw...... wrap a rag around the valve housing.

 

There is a steel detent ball and a spring behind the screw and they can, will and probably pop out. I know a few of us have crawled around on the floor trying to find them.

 

The screw is shaped on the end so it's not a drop-in with another screw to replace the lost one. A new shaped, SS screw is part of Earls repair kit.

[starleaf]

I finished the job yesterday and my bike starts like NEW! I cleaned out and replaced the O-ring in the drain valve too.

 

Still need to bleed the brakes/clutch and she should be all ready for a season's riding.

 

Anyway, my starter clutch was pretty bad... but not terrible; The three bolts had worked loose and were damaged, and this caused the whole housing to rotate slightly etc. But all the pins and springs were still in place. Idler gear was prestine.

I think the slow starter was 80% of the problem. I'm glad I have a new starter clutch, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected to find it. It would make a horrible "clatchy-cracky" sound often.

 

thanx again for the advice.

Chris

[Flyinfool]

I finished the job yesterday and my bike starts like NEW! I cleaned out and replaced the O-ring in the drain valve too.

 

Still need to bleed the brakes/clutch and she should be all ready for a season's riding.

 

Anyway, my starter clutch was pretty bad... but not terrible; The three bolts had worked loose and were damaged, and this caused the whole housing to rotate slightly etc. But all the pins and springs were still in place. Idler gear was prestine.

I think the slow starter was 80% of the problem. I'm glad I have a new starter clutch, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected to find it. It would make a horrible "clatchy-cracky" sound often.

 

thanx again for the advice.

Chris

Yup thats the noise, sounds like someone inside the engine with a hammer trying to get out. The gears of the starter gear never wears out, it is the bearing surface that the starter clutch runs on that goes bad. The stock system with the 3 rollers is not the best. There is a member here that can upgrade that to an 18 roller setup that will last forever. Something to store in the memory bank for the next time you have to service the starter clutch.

[Snaggletooth]

Yep, here are a couple threads on the starter engage upgrade available from our Dano.

The OEM engage is not all the tough. I'd done two rebuilds in mine and was headed into the third one when Squeeze and Dano put this together. It is the final fix for the problem. No more slip, bang, knock or rattle ever again.

 

This was Danos original post

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=44547

 

This was after I installed mine.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=45768

 

Something to consider if not this time, the next time for sure.

 

Mike