Dead then Weak Starter Motor

[Mike D]

Riding my 1989 R80GS through the middle east now. Some very helpful locals
offered to wash the bikes for us. We didn't know they had a pressure
washer. Anyway, after the pressure wash my starter motor was out of
commission. The ignition is on, the power is fine, I push the starter and just goes 'click' once. That's it.

We subsequently used roll starts and drove it for a day. It was completely dry but still nothing. I finally took the engine cover off and didn't really do anything when suddenly it was working perfectly fine again. This lasted for about a day of good starts. However, last night I noticed that the starting seemed a little weak. So weak in fact that I'd guess it wouldn't work on a cold engine.

Any thoughts on what this could be? I see from another thread that glue holding the magnets tends to go on these Valeo starter motors.

 

[Duncan Richmond]

Hi Mike,

Have you checked the single thin gauge wire that goes to the spade terminal on the solenoid ? might be worth tracing it back to the handlebar switch to see if any breaks or loose connections. A bad connection here can give problems i.e. dead starter motor. When the magnets detach they usually lock the starter motor up as they all slide to the bottom of the casing. Sorry for stating the obvious but is your battery OK ? I understand that these motors are fitted to the Puegeot 105 and citeron saxos, so its possible you may be able to find a new/SH one.

My valeo destroyed itself years ago first the solenoid packed up then the magnets came unstuck. I ended up fitting an old Bosch motor as they are more reliable

Good luck

Duncan

PS is your neutral light working and clutch cut out switch working ok

 

[Mike D]

Thanks for your help. It was the magnets. I got put in touch with a starter motor expert mechanic and he took the whole thing apart. The minute he opened the starter motor itself (no easy task) the magnets came tumbling out in pieces. His brilliant solution was that fortunately in Iran there are plently of Puegot and Citroen cars that use the same Valeo starter. He salvaged the cover with glued magnets from another starter, added new brushes and voila, a top notch starter. I'm happy as can be.

Thanks for your help, it gave me the general directions to know what look for when I sought help.

Cheers, Mike

 

[Duncan Richmond]

Hi Mike,

Glad you got it fixed ok - I think that because the starter motor is sitting on top of the engine and is almost enclosed the extreme heat causes the glue to fail, I have not heard of the same problems on cars. Good luck with the rest of your travels - are you heading to Syria/Jordan ?

Best regards

Duncan