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What is that wretched noise??? (Starter)

By Thesykboy,
in WR400F/426F/450F

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miweber929

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It's your bike telling you to be more patient. Sheesh, you only waited 8 hours after your post before calling us all out? Not all of us were sitting by the pc waiting to answer questions....

You need to search and find out if your 03 has the upgraded 04 starter parts #1. After that has been determined I'd start with the starter. They are notoriously weak (but with proper maint will be quite reliable) so a cleaning/repair may be in order. Sounded to my like an armature or bad bearings but it's hard to pin point. Pulling it and bench testing will tell you for sure. But without the upgraded parts you are asking for trouble.

A solenoid, basically, is a relay. If it clicks (which it did) it works.

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Thesykboy

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LOL! Well, after 8 hours, 30+ views and no responses, what's one to think??

I had a friend of mine take a look and he said it sounds like the bearings in the starter motor are shot and need to be replaced. Gotta say, the idea of a rebuild is much better than a replacement when looking at the cost of a new starter motor...

So I guess I will have to pull it out and look at getting those bearings replaced. Lord know that sound is enough to scare just about anyone!!!

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strtdsmallproject

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its the end of the starter shaft in the housing! i know this for sure. there is not a bearing in the end. I went through greasing the end of the rod. worked for a while. then i overheated the starter and the springs for the brushes overheated and squished. I replaced the brushes and the starter worked for a while. Now im back to the starter not working. Im waiting for a replacement right now as we speak. If you take the starter out and break it down, make sure to mark the housing. If you dont get the housing back right your starter will run backwards.

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Thesykboy

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It's your starter, or your starter clutch. That much is obvious. Why you haven't taken it apart by now, is not.....!

I haven't had the day to do it. I'm not sure where it is exactly or what else I'm gonna have to take apart to get to it... I've gotten myself stuck on too many projects where I "leap before looking" that now I prefer to do a little research before getting out the tools.

With that, do I need to pull off the entire housing on the left side (where the oil fill cap is) in order to get this starter out?

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strtdsmallproject

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When i was going through the same thing I pullled my starter about 10 times. I would lay the bike down on its right side so all the oil would be on that side and pull the left side crank case cover off. I would use a long 1/4 extension approx (12") with a universal to get the starter bolts off. Then all you have to do is remove the starter hot wire from the top of the starter. I was able to get the removal down to about 10 min after the 10th time. My gasket came off in one piece so i was able to reuse it. I did buy one, but havent needed it yet. I really dont think its the "starter clutch" though.

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miweber929

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Please before you do too much digging, find out if your 03 has the upgraded parts in it. I'd imagine after all this time it does but be sure. If you're swapping and replacing stuff do it all at once.

Think there is a sticky for this or for sure a search will find what to look for.

Mike

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L. Euler

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Sounds like one of the shaft bushings is wallowed out on the starter rotor, the starter does not have bearings. I have an 03 and I needed to replace the motor on mine right when I got it. Also did the 04 mod with a new battery. New starter motor is a pricey path, but probably the only option. I tried repairing my motor, it had a damaged commutator segment (the thing that the brushes engage with), no luck though.

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strtdsmallproject

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Sounds like one of the shaft bushings is wallowed out on the starter rotor, the starter does not have bearings. I have an 03 and I needed to replace the motor on mine right when I got it. Also did the 04 mod with a new battery. New starter motor is a pricey path, but probably the only option. I tried repairing my motor, it had a damaged commutator segment (the thing that the brushes engage with), no luck though.

Same here, I even thought about making a brass bushing and turning the shaft down.

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  • 4 weeks later...
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strtdsmallproject

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Mine sounded just like yours. I needed a new starter and seeing the woodruff key I also did the 04 upgrade. Easy work thanks to this forum.

cheapest starter around?

http://www.stockers.com/index.php?dt=YS-37

Call them before you pay. I payed and then found out they had none in stock. They did tell me that if i sent mine i would get it back in a timely manner. I was racing it at the time and couldn't afford the down time.

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Thesykboy

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I've looked at most of the posts about what is entailed for the 04 starter upgrade, but the site wr450.com seems to be gone. Being that I'm a fairly visual person, I was hoping to find some pictures or even YouTube video that detailed the process... no luck.

Anyone got a link that is still active where someone has detailed the procedure and possibly put some pictures of their work up as well?

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