I added a starter ground strap as an experiment

[dan filipi]

(Original post restored)

My starter refuses to turn over fast and when hot.

I borrowed a friends starter which he had rebuilt by a local starter shop. His turns over almost twice the speed on my engine.
It has the similar hot slow cranking problem mine does but not as bad.
The shop replaced brushes, bushing and the armature.

I had the same shop test mine.
He said the field and armature all test good so he put in new brushes and a bushing, all of which I had replaced less than 5,000 miles ago.

It still turns slower than my friends starter.

Determined to get to the bottom of this I opened it up.
What I found was some slight evidence of arcing at the ground plate and the rear cover where the little ground tabs make contact.
Also found the grounded brush holder rivets were slightly loose on the plate.

A couple clues, so I thought (and was hoping)

I've read of guys putting a ground strap on the brush plate then grounding it externally to the engine to get a good solid ground path.
I've been contemplating doing this for a couple years now so I decided to try it.

I cleaned and fluxed the back plate and brush holder real good then soldered the wire on and let the solder flow under and around the brush holder completely to make sure it has a good ground.

View attachment 4

I ran the 10 gauge wire thru a hole I drilled in the rear cover. Forgot to get a picture of that.
Then attached the ground wire to the top starter bolt.

The end result?
Absolutely no improvement.
It still turns slower so my advise to others is dont waste your time doing the ground strap. Instead, cough up the $150 and buy a new starter from Stockers.

 

[AApple]

No pics... oh2:

:smilie_happy: :mrgreen:

 

[dan filipi]

They be coming, I have to dig them out of the old backup if possible.

 

[AApple]

Question...
How were the speeds of the two starters tested/compared? ON the bike, or on a bench?
Since I also have a slight problem starting mine when hot, I'm wondering if there might be a problem with the solenoid not passing full voltage/amperage to the starter. I say this because of a similar issue with big block Chevy engines not wanting to spin the starter when hot. The solution for those that I use is to remove the GM solenoid as a source of the problem. This is done by using a Ford starter solenoid, and re-wiring the starter solenoid on the starter. This one modification has cured the hot start problem on every single one of the vehicles I've done it on.
I'm just wondering if a different solenoid set-up might help on the 'Wing... :headscratch:

 

[dan filipi]

The comparisons were done on the bike.

I've found these engines are running a bit too much advance even for premium gas which could account for some of the slow hot crank, but Honda just blew it with the starter. It's just too weak for the application especially being right next to the exhaust.

I've since replaced the starter with a new one from Stockers after trying everything possible to make this one work properly.
The new one I'm told is made heavy duty in the windings to help with the hot start. I have on occasion had it stall when hot but it spins very fast usually. Sometimes putting the kill switch to off then turning it on while cranking helps.