starter clutch recap

Alright guys, My starter clutch is bad. Starter is good, works great, idle gear (i think thats what it is, one that connects to the starter) is good. It usually only happens when the engine is hot. And i can hear the clicking and clanking of it trying to grab, and occasionally a free spin.

So, my first question, would oil affect this? I put 20w-50 in it, because i was told it would be fine. problem persist with non synthetic oil, and synthetic.

my guess is, since the missing has occurred, there's probably damage and the springs and rollers need replacing anyway.

The other question, can i use a simple bolt to remove the stator? if so, does anyone know size and thread degree?

thanks for any tips

 

Let's go back to the oil. It's not the weight, 20W50 is fine. However:

MOTORCYCLE oil, or automotive oil? It's gotta be motorcycle-specific; if it's automotive oil it could still be your problem.

Replacing the actual starter clutch means splitting the cases.

As for pulling the alternator, what bike?

 

hey big, it was motorcycle oil, both the synthetic and reg.

I was going to try and replace the springs and rollers on the starter clutch via going through the alternator housing, quite a few post on doing that on here,. not going to split the case if possible.

but, it's a 81 xj750 rh seca

 

Go back and read those posts.

It cannot be done that way.

That was what the whole argument was about; there is no way to get the starter clutch housing apart from the back, it's "blind." We had one individual claim he'd seen it done, or heard of it being done; but nobody's done it because you can't.

The only way to do it without splitting the cases is to knock a big hole in the outer case, and then fix it. THAT'S been done.

Take a close look in the fiche and your service manual.

 

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=4 ... art=0.html

^^^^this is the root of it all, you saying this isn't true?


http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=1700.html

^^^^this is another one referencing the first post, there's quite a few that reference it.


i'm going to be trying the things listed in this post, as a last ditch effort to fix it before i have to tear down the engine or try and play doctor on the thing.
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=1 ... epair.html

reason being is it seemed fine when i first got it, and the problem flared when i changed the oil, but the oil that was in it was full of gas, pretty bad.

 

i've reviewed the service manual and all, and i gotta say, it look possible to replace the springs and rollers, not the assembly, but the springs and rollers for sure. If i understand correctly, the shaft is completely removed, and the clutch plates are left in the housing, from there you can manipulate them enough to remove said items, using copious amounts of magnets, lol. maybe pack the area underneath the clutch with clean rags or something to catch anything that may ruin your day.

what i'm missing here is what you're referencing, i never saw an argument about it, could you share? pleeasssee??

 

This has nothing to do with the clutch that has plates in it; that's the CLUTCH clutch. The starter clutch contains no plates, just a housing with springs and sprag rollers held in by a plate that screws to the face of said housing. From the side you can't get to.

The starter clutch is above and to the left of the clutch, on the other side of the case wall. It's not accessible from the right side of the bike at all. If it were, this wouldn't even be a discussion.

You can SEE the back of the starter clutch from the hole in the alternator housing; but there is no way to remove the screws that hold the starter clutch sprag assembly together from behind. Those screws are on its front, and there's no way to turn it around. You can't get at the "front" side of it through the clutch housing, unfortunately.

There was a big discussion because a veteran member kept insisting he'd heard tell of it being done; but nobody's ever seen it done (that would be because it's impossible.) Wiz fixed one by cutting/busting a big hole in the case behind the clutch and then repairing it after.

I'll see if I can find it for you later. Meanwhile, go ahead and pull the alternator and have a look. You won't see much, honest.

 

Here's a starter clutch 'quick fix' in action.

 

lol, yeah thats pretty much how i feel. Well i ran some sea foam through it and swapped the oil, it's much better now, still a little slip. gonna do it one more time to try to get all the synthetic oil out, if it doesn't work to the point that i'm not comfortable with it, i'm going for a whole engine rebuild, i mean hell, might as well. It could use it, faint tap (i think), compression about 10 psi below spec.

I'd love to restore the thing, get it lookin really nice, just wanted to have some fun on it first for a this season. Thanks for all the help big

 

o and i have bad terminology when it comes to these things, i'm a necessity mechanic, i fix my stuff when it breaks, that's it. clutch plates was referring to the two sides of the starter clutch

 

I wouldn't panic too much, in the 18months I have been rebuilding a second engine as a replacement, my slipping/clanging/clunking starter clutch has done 10,000klms