Starter Clutch problems (I think)

I took the starter clutch apart and the rollers seem fine but I dont know what to look for as far as they being bad. I know I'll need the springs and plungers but are rollers normally required?

 

I don't think the rollers are expensive, even if they are not scored I would change them if it were my bike.

 

you're right, I was looking at the cost of of a kit on ebay vs one by chacal, although a little more on chacal, I'm hoping with all the good reviews here, it will be much better quality and proper fit instead of risking ebay. The caps seem to be the most expensive part though. I guess thats more difficult to manufacture?

 

Yes the manufacturing costs are probably higher for the caps. Some manufacturers have the starter clutch outside the crankcase and easy to access and repair but the XJ series are inside and you only want to strip the engine once. You can contact Chacal on, info@xj4ever.com and he will have the parts necessary for you to rebuild your engine. All the best.

 

OK, so here's where I'm at. The engine is back together and back on the bike. Right before taking it off the bike I had rebuilt the starter motor and during testing, I head a pop and then no more starter. I was about to put it back in and remembered the pop. Go to test it, put 12V directly to it and nothing (groupded properly) with my bench power supply. No spin, no noise, no spark, no smoke like if nothing was happening. Is it possible to have fried the motor completely or could it be that I had an internal short due to the rebuild kit? It was an amazon one. I put it in, and the initial test worked fine but like I said, it popped after a couple more trying to turn then engine (this was before the engine split). I wasn't a fan of how the parts fit but I didnt see any critical issues at the time and it did work 3-4 times. Now my concern is do I need a whole new starter or do you think I can just get another rebuild kit? Is chacals specific to ours or is it similar to the amazon ones that work on multiple starters? Although the amazon had all the bits I didnt feel the brushes sat in the right position and the 1 bolt to brush bit felt like it wasn't sitting in the right position, as in the pin should have aimed the other way. Anyways, can the whole starter be blown to do a short?

 

Probably not. Probably a brush or a brush lead broke. If you open it up you'll likely see what the problem is. If everything looks OK, then you'll need to take the armature and use a meter to measure across each pair of flats from one side to the other. Should be basically a short across each pair of flats... The manual says .014 Ohms, but you need a specialized meter to accurately measure low resistances like that. Bad is likely to be open. "Short" is good in this case.

 

Well looks like it may have been the internal insulating bushing. Not fully trusting the amazon kit I'm going to order a rebuild kit from chacal and get my master cylinder site glass while I'm at it. Tested the starter and all contacts seem to be between .5 and .7 in terms of resistance when testing oposite ends and .4 to .5 when testing next to each other. Hopefully thats OK, and there is no continuity between the contacts and the outer casing.

 

Hey all, i'm back with more questions. I'm slow on the move so haven't done much with the bike other then put it on the bike and connect everything back up. Didn't want to start (no combustion) so had to get some starter fluid. First time running it with starter fluid it rev'd pretty high and freaked me out (i've never owned a bike) and the tach wasn't attached. Killed it and put the tach back on. All 4 cylinders seem to be fully functional as all 4 exhaust pipes are HOT. Yesterday hit it again with the starter fluid and it fired back up. Ran for a few secs but died on me (didnt have the tank on). Today it started without the need for the starter fluid and idled for a while, this was with choke on, after a few minutes (about 3) it jumped up in revs. I think i've read on a post something about this situation but i'll have ot look for it again unless someone knows what it means. I still need to re-shim and color tune as well as carb sync but before shims I want to get it as close to running smooth as possible, trying to limit spending.

sorry, I'm long winded, main reason for post is actually this. Take a hear/look. There's a high pitched whine that sounds loudest when my ear is closest to carbs, any idea what could be? there's also a shot of my multimeter, guessing those numbers show a properly charging system?


Also, this picture shows a hole in the center pipe that goes between the 2 pipes. Its about 1 1/2 inches from left to right pipes. As you can see, looks like a lot of rust. I thought about getting a small enough diameter clamp with enough width to cover the whole but haven't found something yet. is that a good idea, or should it be repaired? Cheaper to find someone to fix it or look for new (to me) pipes?

 

Motor sounds good to me. My engine makes the same sound. Valve check is essential before doing carburettors. You are setting the carburettors up on the engines vacuum so they must open and close at the right time and in spec clearances do that. You may not need shims. Check valve clearances on a cold engine. If you have the tool that bolts to the cylinder head to keep the valve open you can crack the head if you turn the cam towards the tool. There is a how to do clearances on this forum by Bigfitz. Read that first.

Charging system is working properly. Depending on how corroded pipe is you can try a repair but if it's too weak better replacing it. A clamp over the hole will be a temporary solution but it will still leak gas without sealer.

 

Valve clearance thread.

https://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/bigfitzs-airhead-valve-adjustment-with-pics-parts-i-ii.116006/

You can use the wire or zip tie method to keep the valves open which means you don't need the tool that bolts to the cylinder head.

 

Thanks franz, yeah I have the tool already and have used it succesfully . I had the measurements and all but ended up mixing the shims when I took the engine apart. Need to re check them. Glad i'm not the only one with the that whine but any idea what it is? I mean, it doesn't sound normal to an engine. It makes me think of a lose belt or bad pulley in a car.

Anyone else have that same whine?

 

There is a whine off a lot of Japanese fours l think it's nothing to be concerned about. I wonder if you all agree? I wouldn't compare the bikes sound with a car. The later have belts, pulleys etc XJ don't.

 

Just in case you don't know never turn the engine without shims in. The edge of the bucket can damage the cam lobe. Hogfiddles runs the shim pool.