• Ciao Guest - You’ve landed at the ultimate Guzzi site. NEW FORUM REGISTRATIONS REQUIRE EMAIL ACTIVATION - CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER - Use the CONTACT above if you need help. New to the forum? For all new members, we require ONE post in the Introductions section at the bottom, in order to post in most of the other sections. ALWAYS TRY A SEARCH BEFORE STARTING A NEW TOPIC - Most questions you may have, have likely been already answered. DON'T BE A DRIVE-BY POSTER: As a common courtesy, check back in and reply within 24 hours, or your post will be deleted. Note there's decades of heavily experienced Guzzi professionals on this site, all whom happily give endless amounts of their VALUABLE time for free; BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL!
  • Be sure to see the GTM STORE link also above for our 700+ product inventory, including OEM parts and many of our 100% Made-in-SoCal-USA GTM products and engine kits. In SoCal? Click the SERVICE tab above for the best in service, tires, tuning and installation of our products or custom work, and don't miss our GT MotoCycles® (not) art on the BUILDS tab above. WE'RE HERE ONLINE ONLY - NO PHONE CALLS MADE OR RECEIVED - DO NOT EMAIL AND ASK QUESTIONS OR ASK TO CALL YOU.
  • There is ZERO tolerance on personal attacks and ANY HYPERLINKS to PRODUCT(S) or other competing website(s), including personal pages, social media or other Forums. This ALSO INCLUDES ECU DIAGnostic software, questions and mapping. We work very hard to offer commercially supported products and to keep info relevant here. First offense is a note, second is a warning, third time will get you banned from the site. We don't have the time to chase repeat (and ignorant) offenders. This is NOT a social media platform; It's an ad-free, privately funded website, in small help with user donations. Be sure to see the GTM STORE link above; ALL product purchases help support the site, or you can upgrade your Forum profile or DONATE via the link above.

Griso starter motor issue

rebus

rebus

Cruisin' Guzzisti
Joined
Apr 25, 2009
Messages
104
Reaction score
0
Hi
I tried to start my bike this morning after quite a long lay-up and ..nothing! Pressing the start button is just greeted with a very loud single clunk from the starter motor, more specifically the solenoid rather than the starter motor itself. Battery is good, fully charged. I've taken the starter motor cover off and quickly inspected all the connections and everything seems fine there. The bike's an 07 1100 - has anyone had any similar issues? Is it likely to be a bad connection or earth ground? If so, which one is the more likely candidate or is it more likely to be a seized starter motor or a faulty solenoid? Can the solenoid be stripped, inspected and cleaned and if so, is it an easy enough job as I am not the best mechanic in the world?

Any help with this would be very much appreciated. If I can't get it sorted, it will be an expensive recovery to the nearest dealer (who is not that near) and the thick end of £300 for a new starter motor/solenoid.

Many thanks
Stu
 
Are you sure the battery is good? It might not be if it has been laid up for a while and deep discharged. I'd try using a jump lead from a good battery before trying anything else. A click from the starter motor is a classic sign of a duff battery which can't supply enough amps.
 
Sometimes the starter jams. Try rocking the bike with it in gear to move the flywheel position. The symptom does sound like poor battery, so first give it a charge and check all connections. The main ground is behind the starter cover on the stud for the cover. The Valeo isn't the greatest starter out there. If it is the starter, for 350 USD you can get one of these http://www.motoelekt.com/starter.htm (bottom of the page). It is based on a Nippon Denso motor which is excellent. Or for much less, another Valeo http://www.euromotoelectrics.com/Moto-G ... g-val3.htm Yes these are from the US, but the shipping and all would be less that 300 pounds. A starter is something you can change yourself.
 
Hi both

Thanks for your replies. The battery is new. The bike is permanently attached to an Optimate charger when its not being used and was showing good voltage (13+) on the dash. The noise from the solenoid is a very loud clunk, not the usual clicking from the relay I would associate with a low battery. I will however pull the battery off and give the terminals a good clean, although I cleaned them when I installed the new battery recently.

A jammed starter motor was my first thought and I've tried rocking the bike in gear numerous times with no luck. With the starter motor cover removed and one hand on the solenoid while pushing the start button you can feel the clunk in the solenoid body rather than the starter motor itself, which leads me to think its the solenoid rather than the starter motor. Does anyone know if these can be stripped and cleaned and if it will make any difference if I do?  In the meantime I'll remove and clean all the connections and grounds on the starter motor and see if I have any luck with that.

Many thanks,
Stu
 
Yes you can try cleaning up the solenoid area and starter drive area. This summer the starter failed on my wife's R1150RS. Same clunk. Put in the good starter from Motorad Electrik but I also rebuilt the old starter with parts from Euro Moto electrics and put in on the shelf for any future need. Rebuilding these starters is not for the faint of heart.
 
Thanks for the links John, even with shipping from the States that's a lot cheaper than i can get a replacement here .


Stu.
 
Stu, have you tried Motorworks the BMW specialist in West Yorkshire. They sell a recon Valeo starter motor for £120 and the new up graded Nippon Denso for £260. I'm assuming by the comments in this thread that the Guzzi is fitted with the same model starter motor as the later BMW airhead boxers (post 1988)
I also had the Valeo starter motor off my 1990 BMW R100gs rebuilt by a local auto electrician, cost about £90 I think.
Hope this helps.

Alan (fatal)
 
fatal said:
Stu, have you tried Motorworks the BMW specialist in West Yorkshire. They sell a recon Valeo starter motor for £120 and the new up graded Nippon Denso for £260. I'm assuming by the comments in this thread that the Guzzi is fitted with the same model starter motor as the later BMW airhead boxers (post 1988)
I also had the Valeo starter motor off my 1990 BMW R100gs rebuilt by a local auto electrician, cost about £90 I think.
Hope this helps.

Alan (fatal)
Click to expand...

Alan,

The motor parts are the same, but the mounting/gear drives are different for Guzzi and BMW. The complete starter is not interchangeable between makes.
 
Yes, sorry you're right I forgot about the mounts :oops: . However if he finds a good auto electrician he should be able to get his unit overhauled. I had mine done within 24 hours.
 
Just to update those that have kindly replied to my post, the issue is now sorted. I pulled the battery last week and have had it on charge for most of this week. Over the weekend I found time to clean again the battery leads; also cleaned all the connections on the starter motor unit itself and the earth connections in the starter motor area. Although they looked pristine before I took them off, once off they were quite green and nasty on the rear of the connections. Put everything back together, popped the battery back in, gave the start button a quick poke and happy days! So it looks to have been either/or connections and battery charge as was pointed out to me in the replies.

Thanks very much for your help - its much appreciated.

stu..
 
hi there. I was in Rome with my Griso, 7 a, sunday morning this august, 600Kms away from home. Same thing, press the button and clung nothing happened. Spare you the rest of the story, it was simply oxided contacts. Just makes sure the leads contacts are clean and brush them with a iron wired brush. Good luck
 
In Australia I am thinking we use parts from a holden barina to repair the Valeo crap..
BMW and guz starters turn opposite directions. You need a different clutch, armiture and maybe a brush holder to convert one.
Cheers
 
Guz5 said:
In Australia I am thinking we use parts from a holden barina to repair the Valeo crap..
BMW and guz starters turn opposite directions. You need a different clutch, armiture and maybe a brush holder to convert one.
Cheers
Click to expand...

Maybe. Airhead BMW starters might (I'm not certain) turn the opposite direction from Guzzi, but Oilhead starters turn the same direction. The difference is the mounting and starter gear. If a Valeo, the Guzzi and BMW starter housing is the same part. See http://www.euromotoelectrics.com/produc ... magccw.htm
 
By what method have you tested the battery?
Most people just go by the green light on their el-cheapo battery charger. It may indicate fully charged as in, it has 12.4v etc but the real deal is the CCA rating. If it has dropped a cell due to sulphation it will not have the grunt to start the bike.
Jump start or try a new battery.

Also, the battery earth lead is attached to the block via the starter cover bolt which is only 5mm.
If you drill the contact eye out to 8mm and attach to one of the crankcase/ gearbox mounting bolts, you will get a better result.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top