SuzukiSavage.com - Starter Motor

TJ Ex Member	Starter Motor 04/01/06 at 06:22:45 Hi all, First nice riding Saturday has finally arrived and guess what? The Savage is making very annoying nosies. The starter motor appears to be failing to disengage after starting. I've had a read through the Clymer and Suzuki manual but canf find out how to sort this one out. I'd be grateful for any ideas you might have or advice. Thanks, TJ
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red2k1 Ex Member	Re: Starter Motor Reply #1 - 04/01/06 at 17:40:51 Before I would go tearing into things I would make sure the battery is fully charged and the starter switch on the handle bar is functioning properly.
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diesel Full Member 2004 No Login Offline Posts: 181 Watsontown, PA	Re: Starter Motor Reply #2 - 04/01/06 at 21:52:19 engine CANNOT turn starter, if starter is running after engine is running, you have a stuck switch or a stuck relay.
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TJ

Ex Member

Re: Starter Motor
Reply #3 - 04/02/06 at 10:54:49

Hi Guys, thanks for your replies. Whats actually happening is: The engine starts and runs fine, but theres a notable mechanical grating noise coming from the starter motor area when its running. I'm happy that its not the starter trying to turn the engine over as it runs, and if I rev the engine the nosie changes. The battery is about 2 weeks old and fully charged. Diesel, are you referring to the switches on the handle bar? I guess I could tear these apart, but it doesnt sound like the starter continuing to try and fire up the engine.
~TJ

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Ed L. Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline "We All go a Little Crazy Sometimes" Norman Bates Posts: 2808 Sunny Florida Gender:	Re: Starter Motor Reply #4 - 04/02/06 at 17:18:51 Pull the starter and check the gears. The starter is only held in with two bolts, real easy to do. Take a look and go from there, what year is the bike?
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TJ Ex Member	Re: Starter Motor Reply #5 - 04/03/06 at 02:18:19 Its a '93. I take it you mean the gears in the starter and not behind the left had engine cover.
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Ed L.

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Re: Starter Motor
Reply #6 - 04/03/06 at 15:40:37

Yea, the starter is held in with two small bolts, just unscrew them and the starter will pull out. There is a a "O"ring on the end of the starter so you need to be carefull not to loose it and make sure it fits back in properly when you reassemble it. I would check the gear on the starter to make sure it is not hanging up on the shaft. It's a place to start, let us know how you are making out.

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Silver '02, clubman handle bars, Cobra headlight, Sportster muffler, K+N stock air filter, 152.5 main, Superbrace, oil cooler, 1/2 inch aluminium plate forward controls, spark advance, goes like stink

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diesel Full Member 2004 No Login Offline Posts: 181 Watsontown, PA	Re: Starter Motor Reply #7 - 04/03/06 at 22:23:47 simple test,hold test light to post on strater, start engine, let go of starter button, if light stays light, starter is still running,electral problem, if not, starter button and starter relay OK. look elsewhere.
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poodog

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Re: Starter Motor
Reply #8 - 04/11/06 at 21:05:08

I have an 86 savage. I had the same growling noise when engine is running. What happened was the idler gear mounts( Idler gears are 2 little gears before it hits the flywheel) were broken. Thus the growling sound when the engine was running was the gears moving up and down, or the mount that was broken off was in the engine. So take off the cover, only takes a few minutes, and check it out.

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TJ

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Re: Starter Motor
Reply #9 - 05/04/06 at 10:15:28

Hi al,
First off, sorry for the delay in the update and result of my fiddling. I've had a lot on at the moment with girlfriend / holiday / fun etc. Say no more. Anyhow, you may recall that I posted a question about a noise that I thought was from the starter. Well, I took that off and the right hand cover and everything seemed fine. Today I took the right hand cover off and found that the cam chain tensioner was hanging in two parts. The noise was the female section rattling against the clutch basket as it revolved. What had happened is the main spring in the tensioner had broken in two and the little tiny spring that operates the lock to prevent the tensioner retracting had fallen out. Luckily this was only in the bottom of the casing so I could easily hook it out. I'm fairly surprised that the tensioner spring has failed but pleased its going to be simple to fix without a rebuid. The bike is 13 year old with 35000 miles on the clock but I'd have rated the tensioner to last way over that.
Thought you might be interested,
~T

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bentwheel

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Re: Starter Motor
Reply #10 - 05/04/06 at 13:20:21

tj wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:05:

. The bike is 13 year old with 35000 miles on the clock but I'd have rated the tensioner to last way over that.
Thought you might be interested,
~T

No I would say you are pushing your luck by not servicing your cam chain and tensioner well before 35,000 miles. A long stroke single cylinder puts more strain on these parts than most other engine types.

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Bentwheel FSO
2006 Suzuki 650 V-Strom
1977 Yamaha XS360
1972 Honda CL175

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