04 Yamaha Kodiak 450 new starter issue

[alexwv1863]

I recently had to replace the starter on my Kodiak. It cranks super easy now but it's make this high pitched squealing sound. It sounds like bearings that's not greased or something. I didn't take the starter apart to look it over before installing it. So it could need greased. Should I take it back off and do that, or could it be something else I should look at? It didn't make this noise with the old starter. 

[Mech]

I'd take the starter out if it's chinese and check it was put together with grease in it..  They do sometimes seem to scimp on the simple things.. like lube !

[Gwbarm]

I have replaced a lot of starters with aftermarket, never had one do that, i would send it back and buy a replacement from another company.

[Mech]

Did the old starter crank it over.. even reluctantly.. without the noise ?

It occurred to me later on in the day that they are all bearings in them now not bushes, so it shouldn't need a grease or oil. You shouldn't need to anyway, and if you do now it will void the warranty.. so probably best to just take it back if you are sure it's the starter..

There is a sprag clutch in there on the crank which could make a noise if it slipped, but then it probably wouldn't crank the engine over well anyway. If the bikes been sitting for a while not used then it's just possible that one of the gears which go between the starter and the crank could be dry. One of the gears runs on a bush I think.  Perhaps empty an oilcan into the hole where the starter fits and try it again to eliminate(hopefully), anything dry in there.. The gear on a bush is the one you see that the starter engages with.

[alexwv1863]

It ran fine before the old starter went out. I ran it maybe 2 or 3 days before on a ride and didn't have issues. I went to crank it up after that too move it to do a little work on it and it would crank. I put this new starter in and it cranked over great, idles great and even runs great except for the whining noise it now does. The bike hasn't been left sitting for more than 2 weeks at a time since I got it running this past Spring. I have ran it numerous times between them and now without an issue until the starter. 

[Mech]

Ok, it would take a few weeks for the bush to get even slightly dry so it won't be that..

But.. are you saying it has the noise all the time it's running, or only while it's cranking ?

Perhaps a video of the noise if it's all the time..  Can't think of anything to do with the starter that would cause a noise al the time..

 

[alexwv1863]

It doesn't sound as loud today as it was the other day. I haven't ran it any for the past few days. I've tried to upload a video I just took but it's not letting me. 

[Mech]

Is the noise only when the starter is operating, or all the time the engine is running ?  

I was presuming to start with that you meant it only made the noise when the starter was operating, which would be sort of expected with a new defective starter, but then something you said made me suspect the noise was all the time.. A new starter, good or defective, shouldn't be able to make a noise all the time the engine's running. 

But, if the noise is now starting to quieten, that would seem to be something to do with the starter settling in..  Perhaps the brushes weren't seated properly, though they wouldn't wear in that fast.. so who knows..  Haha.. One of life's mysteries.. a minor one .

[alexwv1863]

It sounds worse when I give it throttle but it just started when I put the new starter on. It's weird and it's bugging me. It really didn't sound as loud today but it did seem to get a little worse the longer I ran it. I'm debating on whether it not to take it off and take it apart, or just send it back. I don't know what to do. I'll have to send it back tomorrow if I do. What would y'all do?

[Gwbarm]

Sometimes aftermarket parts dont fit exactly right, i think i would take the new starter out put the old back in and try to pull start it and see if the noise is still there when running. The only thing i can think of that might be happening is if the new starter shaft is touching part of the engine thats moving causing the squeal. Starter shaft should not bee moving once the engine starts. When out compare the old with the new and see if they are the same.

[Mech]

Yup.. Do what Gw suggests, fit the old one and pull start it, or even just pull start it before removing the new starter and see if either of those things make a difference. 

The starter shouldn't be moving once the thumb's off the button, and it shouldn't be touching anything except the gear it engages with, and that gear shouldn't be turning because that gear engages with another gear that has the sprag clutch to only let it turn the crank but not get turned by the crank once the engine's running, so neither gear nor the starter should be turning once the thumb comes off the button.

Compare the old and newstarters, and perhaps strip the brush end and body off the old starter and then fit that starter into place so you can see and turn the armature, then try turning it both ways and one way it should try to turn the engine and the other way it should only turn two gears and/but slip the sprag clutch so the engine doesn't turn..

That part #8 is the sprag clutch/one way clutch and bolts to the flywheel, Once the engine starts and the thumb's off the button none of those parts except for #8 should be turning. When the starter operates the sprag locks onto the big gear.#6 and gets turned to spin the engine via the flywheel. The idea would be to check none of those gears are turning once the engine has started. If you started the engine with the new starter in there, and the new starter was turning when it shouldn't be, it would act like a generator and put out some small voltage, up to about 6 volts probably.. You could check whether there was a small voltage on it's terminal when the engine's running which would indicate the sprag isn't doing it's job ad that the new starter is turning when the engine is running.  Then to figure why the new one turns all the time when the old one didn't.