86 big red eletric starter issues--UPDATE-

[trikes4life]

I'm working on a 86 red for a friend. The red has been sitting in the woods since last fall, when the tank leaked dry when he was hunting. And he left it there until today. I charged the battery, it worked in the fall when i worked on it. Hooked up the battery, turn the key on the dash lights come on. I hit the start button and the solenoid, makes a tick noise. But bothing happens. it ticks once every time i hit the start button. Any ideas? Thanks

[Howdy]

It could be the starter brushes have corroded. Try jumping the starter directly and see if it works. If not you need to pull it apart and clean / rebuild it.
Howdy

[trikes4life]

I'm new to the eletric start, what do u mean by jumping the starter directly.

[ScottZJ]

"Use a set of jumper cables and go directly to the starter. Be sure you put the Pos cable to the terminal on the starter. The negative to frame or motor. ( and of course the other ends of the cables to a GOOD battery ). If the starter turns over and spins the motor / engine, then you can eliminate this as a problem. If it don't then you have found a problem. "

[trikes4life]

thanks for the help. thats why u guys are the best1

[icp4life162005]

i have as far as i know a brand new starter for a 200 E let me know if you need it and i will sell it.

[Hair Bear Bunch]

My '85 250ES had a similar problem. When I fitted a bigger battery there was a bang and lots of 'metalic chewing' noises. What had happend is that something had jammed, I still don't know what, the result being that the 18/43 gear was reduced to 18/21, and the starter spines were torn off. Just to add insult to injury, when we did get it running, some of the missing teeth found their way into the alternator casing and damaged the rotor and stator assemblies.
I would suggest, for the sake of four bolts, is remove the starter gear cover, and slide out the 18/43 gear. It's directly behind the cover and allows you to examine the condition of the gears as they are prone to damage, and also means the starter can spin freely without doing any damage.
It's also worth kicking the engine over a few times to ensure it's free and get some oil around it if it's been standing a while.
Good luck,
Rob.

[Hair Bear Bunch]

Oops! Almost forgot. If you choose to go this route, when you replace the gear cover, make sure the correct thickness gasket goes back on and the bolts aren't overtightened otherwise you can clamp the gears between the case and the cover and then you're back to 'click'!
Rob.

[Fuzzy8766]

My guess would be a bad connection somewhere. The ground wire where it connects to the frame or engine, dirty battery cables, dirty starter selinoid connections, dirty starter cable or maybe the starter switch itself. I would first make sure the battery is charged good.

[Howdy]

i have as far as i know a brand new starter for a 200 E let me know if you need it and i will sell it.
The 200e and the 250es starters are completely different.
Howdy

[icp4life162005]

Yeah but i don't see anywhere that it says its a 250es . wait 200e weren't made in 86 were they???

[Howdy]

Yeah but i don't see anywhere that it says its a 250es . wait 200e weren't made in 86 were they???

Big Red's were as follows:
200e - 1982-1983
200es - 1984
250es - 1985, 1986, & 1987

Howdy

[ScottZJ]

Howdy, dont forget that the 87 big red starter is different from the 85-86. Its a tad different shape.

[Hair Bear Bunch]

So how many different types of 250ES starters are there?
How I understood it, early models had a shorter spline shaft.
Then there's the smoothside 2 brush and the type with external bolts and 4 brushes.
I've also discovered that the gearset with the 4brush has a larger 18/43 gear than the 2brush. Same no. of teeth, but physically about 1/16" bigger in dia..
Now, on the early models, the 2 & 4 brush are interchangeable as are the complete gearsets.
Apart from the later longshaft, are there any other versions?

[icp4life162005]

awwwww shucks ohh well no biggie thats howdy hey srry to thread jack but howdy would you maybe be intrested in a honda jersey check my homebuilt deathtrap thread in trikeslyvania. not sure yet on making them but if people show intrest i'll try to.

[trikes4life]

ok i decided to pull the starter. easy to disasemble and reasmeble. the thing was full of black matalic dust. the magnets where mostly destroyed, and cracked. so i cleaned it up and rigged it to see if i could get it to work, tested it on the battery charger. it worked so i threw it on the bike worked for about three times, And it broke again. Can u get rebuild kits for these, or should he buy a used one or a new one. thanks... oh yeah pics

http://www.filehigh.com/files/gab/thumbs/1154_388334_tl.gif (http://www.filehigh.com/viewimg.php?f=4375&i=388334)

http://www.filehigh.com/files/gab/thumbs/1154_388331_tl.gif (http://www.filehigh.com/viewimg.php?f=4375&i=388331)

http://www.filehigh.com/files/gab/thumbs/1154_388368_tl.gif (http://www.filehigh.com/viewimg.php?f=4375&i=388368)