Starter is having trouble turning the motor - Its Struggling

STR8OUT · 10-06-2011, 09:44 AM

Hello all, I'm new here and I'm hoping some of you may be able to help. I did the obvious which is to change the starter and that did absolutely nothing to fix my problem. I also tried jumping the terminals of the starter relay with a screwdriver and same thing... didnt help.

I bought this Warrior used and it had this problem when I bought it. The starter has a really tough time turning over the motor for some reason... It always starts after a while but there is something wrong here.

I took this video so that you could see what I mean... The starter sounds like its struggling and it'll turn the motor in a very erratic fashion. I took the cover off the left side of the motor so that you could see the motor turn over every 3 seconds... For some reason the starter has a lot of trouble turning the motor in the compression cycle. The new starter I bought was a cheap $50 ebay starter but this cant be the problem can it? Someone wouldnt mass produce an aftermarket starter that didnt work... Do they make a more powerful starter for our motors that you can point me to? The motor turns over and runs GREAT once its started but getting it started sucks.

Warrior Sound - YouTube

dakotademon7 · 10-06-2011, 10:14 AM

Have you tryed jump starting it with cables? The battery could have a dead cell. If that don't work, check all the starter related wires to see if there in good shape and the connections are clean and tight. Does it smoke alot when it first starts? I've seen leaking carbs that load up the cylinder after sitting over night do the same thing.

STR8OUT · 10-06-2011, 10:21 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by dakotademon7

Have you tryed jump starting it with cables? The battery could have a dead cell. If that don't work, check all the starter related wires to see if there in good shape and the connections are clean and tight. Does it smoke alot when it first starts? I've seen leaking carbs that load up the cylinder after sitting over night do the same thing.

Thank you for the reply, yep I tried jump starting it at the battery terminals before and after the new starter install and it does the same thing. I have not tried putting a jumper directly onto the starter positive though. Would that change anything if I tried that?

It doesn't smoke at all, the motor runs extremely strong and smooth once it fires up. You can easily turn the motor counter clockwise if you put a wrench on that bolt in the video so the motor is not seizing at all. I just can not figure this out for the life of me.

MidwayUSA · 10-06-2011, 10:34 AM

One way starter clutch may be dragging somehow, or there could be some binding between the gears or a bearing out in the gear that drives the one way clutch.

dakotademon7 · 10-06-2011, 10:37 AM

You can try direct to the starter. If it spins over good that way, you know something is wrong between the battery and starter. If it doesn't spin over good, you will have to do some detective work. I would start by pulling the plug and see how it spins over. I would check the compression to see if someone had the head milled bumping the compression way up. Sometimes it's best to find out what's not wrong to lead you to what is wrong.I will keep an eye on this thread and help you the best I can.

STR8OUT · 10-06-2011, 11:03 AM

Tonight I will try the jumpstart directly to the starter trick...

If that doesnt work then it has to be something like you mentioned MidwayUSA. There is no grinding sound so I dont think the starter clutch is missing any gears or anything. But something could be binding or bent in there. I just cant figure it the heck out! I'd really hate to tear open the motor but I guess there is a first time for everything.

MidwayUSA · 10-06-2011, 12:53 PM

The one way clutch is like a sprag in a transmission. Has these little dog bone looking metal parts in there. (Look like dog bones to me when they are turned on their side and looking from the end) They slide on the surface of the gear when it is turning one way and lock against the surface when turning the opposite direction. When the little dog bones get worn any number of strange things can happen. They usually make hellish noises, though. If yours makes no noise, then I would be looking at the teeth or the bearing on the gear that goes between the starter and the one way clutch.

STR8OUT · 10-18-2011, 08:44 AM

I just wanted to update this (since I hate when people dont lol).

It was the starter clutch (one way gear). It wasn't grabbing properly so it was just barely turning the engine when I tried starting it. I installed a new one and it turns perfect now.

Now I have another problem though, not getting spark lol