Starter Solenoid.

Sooo if anyone has been in Bikes - Talk And Issues, you may well have read Maria's thread on how she never got to her CBT.

The fault lies with my poor SV. Upon going to restart the engine after refuelling, the starter motor kept turning over; I killed the engine (turned the ignition fo "off") and the engine kept cranking. Oh crap. So I put the bike in gear. Nope, still cranking (and tried to run away with me). Oh crap. So I rang my dad and the bike drained its battery; at least then i could get the bike back into neutral.

Anyway, a praise for Carol Nash right now - I used their free recovery service (4 free call outs per year!!!) and within 45 minutes, my bike was in the back of a purpose-made motorcycle recovery transit and i got it back to my dads garage (im in brighton at the moment BTW). Ran some tests....but the fault never re-occured. However, we did come to the conclusion that the starter solenoid (under the riders seat on the right hand side as you sit on the bike) was now on its way out, since that is the only object on the bike that can cause engine cranking even with the ignition turned off, if it goes faulty.

So a new one on order soon (from wemoto, £42) and hopefully that'll be the end of my problems.

Has anyone encountered such a problem before?

Cheers,

Matt

[Viney]

Originally Posted by alpinestarhero

Stuff

Has anyone encountered such a problem before?

Cheers,

Matt

No

HTH

However, if the starter motor was tuning over, then imho, the realy isnt at fault, but more likely the starter motor!

Originally Posted by alpinestarhero

Has anyone encountered such a problem before?

See here http://forums.sv650.org/showpost.php...7&postcount=25

Sounds like the solenoid contacts are sticking (closed circuit) in my opinion. Its unlikely to be the motor itself.

Another possibility is a short on the low current side of the solenoid between the solenoid and the switch on the bars, less likely but still possible.

Take the solenoid out, give it a good few sharp taps on a table and hook it up again. That should free the contacts. If that resolves the issue, you'll know where the problem lies.

However I would fit a new one asap.

Prob relay sticking....

Though it could (less likely) be the handle bar switch/wire from the switch - so worth testing that too. EDIT But not if it turns over with the ignition off so strike that



So yeah - relay sticking......can still use the bike - just means taking the seat off to use the starter motor & junking the nackered relay. And keeping roll of insulation tape in your pocket.

(I know nothing)

[Dave20046]

ratchet man's right, I solved the issue by tapping the starter solenoid. Invaluable knowledge.

Viney; deffo the relay / solenoid. Its ok now, but it will probably re-occur. So a new one I shall get tomorrow...I'm now armed with a 10 mm spanner to whip off the electric cable powering the starter motor. That could be scary to do but my dad assures me its ok...so long as the spanner dosnt come into contact with any metal parts

Sosha, at first i thought the fault lay with the button, but for the reason you have stated i have ruled that out. Still gave it a clean-out though, just incase!

Will keep close to hand the knowledge of tapping the starter solenoid



Oh, YC, if/when you read this....having a yellow bike had nothing to do with it

Cheers guys

Matt

matt have you ordered one yet?

Few gentle taps with a spanner should do the trick

Originally Posted by alpinestarhero

I'm now armed with a 10 mm spanner to whip off the electric cable powering the starter motor. That could be scary to do but my dad assures me its ok...so long as the spanner dosnt come into contact with any metal parts

Er, wouldn't recommend that. Ideally you would disconnect the negative from the battery, that's a much safer, if a little slower alternative.

However if you do disconnect the lead from the motor bear in mind that it will still be live when you've unhooked it, so don't let it touch anything.

yea, thats true. But i think because of its quickness, I can reduce the amount of any damage occuring from an over-heating starter motor. I am a little worried some damage has occured but having seen the machining of the honda VFR starter motor teeth, I'm confident its ok.

Was feckin' scary though!

Matt