Starter soleniod

[cargo]

I think I might have picked up on something which might help with starting problems


Both my race bikes can and have been a right pain in the butt to start anything short of a very freshly charged battery and a lot of cranking over to get them going especially after long lay off just would not work.

However I've just started my #1 bike for the Manx this year after a long and tedious rebuild....................and it fired up really very very easilly.

The one thing I've done was to clean the two live connections on the starter solenoid...the big ones from the battery and to the starter motor....they were corroded and not making a good contact a bit like the live side of an old battery.

Anyway I'm not saying this will fix starting issues but it certainly seems to have made a difference to mine...............and I always did think it was a drop in battery power that was causing it.................like I said my bikes never started on anything other than a very full charged battery today it sparked up real easy on a battery thats been sittng for 2 weeks

[masterofinsanity]

could be onto something here mate cos we all know you need a bloody good voltage from the battery to start the zxr400s and they are very sensitive!

[cargo]

It occured to me because everyone (including me) always thinks bad earth.....................but no one ever thinks.............. bad positive connection

So I looked

[R P Corse]

Nice one mate, I'll give mine a good clean up n see what happens!

[Tirpitz]

When you say corrosion do you mean caused by wet, rather than by electrical contacting? So it's an exposure to the elements issue, rather than ageing issue? Reason I ask is because, apart from getting caught out the odd time, my bike has never been used in the wet and has spent its life garaged either in the hall of my house or in a very dry shed cum garage. So I don't have a weather-induced corrosion issue to speak of. And I've never had starting issues. So it might start to add up......

[cargo]

I'm prepared to bet that the two nuts I took off to get the cables off had been tightened on by a little Japanese guy in the factory 20 odd years ago

The corrosion I saw was like the corrosion that you see on an old car battery terminal...............it's possible that weather/water/damp played a part but it matters not what the cause was fact is there was not a full metal to metal contact going on and now after a clean up there is.

Lets me put it this way if and when you do have starting issues it's an option to have a looky see

[R P Corse]

Well not having problems starting up - but might as well do this now to prevent the solenoid giving me grief in the future!

Guarantee the nuts gona be a giraffe to get undone after 23years lol

[syihabuddin]

Hi all,

With regards to voltage, what is the lowest voltage the bike will need to get it to start? My battery isn't being charged and I suspect it's the reg/rect. A new reg/rect is on the way, will swap it out and give it a try.

It'll be kind if anyone knows whats the lowest it will take cos right now, the bike will crank but won't fire up anymore. I've got a voltmeter on the bike and with this info, I can know when I should stop cranking the bike and just try something else.

Cheers!

[banner001]

ok not solenoid related...but ive just changed my starter motor and it seems to have...fingers crossed, possibly eliminated my hot starting problem.

the newer motor also sounds a lot faster and crisper than my old one...so thats another potential problem, the motor just not being physically able to turn the engine over once everything gets a bit hot and better-sealed...pretty cheap off ebay too, £20 with postage.

EDIT - has completely fixed my hot starting problem. day out at bruntingthorpe, air temperature 26C, bike fired up everytime, been doing 128mph runs down the strip, 2nd gear karting course, and a high-speed run around the airfield (that we then got told off for the noise )...fired up everytime no probs.

[Black_onyx]

Ive been having a issue with starting my bike,turns out it is the starter solenoid,and it only started happening 4 days after i rode in the worst rain ive ever seen

i think it is weather induced corrosion,that cocked it up!