How To: Starter Clutch Renovation / Rotor Removal

[Petew]

no issues, I hit snags every day and it's folks on here that get me through them. A load of knowledge and I owe most of mine to people here, my manuals, and a bunch of trial and error. Keep at it, I am on my 3rd and 4th overhauls currently. Each day is a new adventure when working on classic bikes!

 

[Forward_pack]

Good night if that ain't the truth haha

 

[kodiak]

This is a great write up, I used it before doing mine. helped me get everything in order before I actually did it.

I unfortunately am still suffering from a slipping starter clutch. I replaced all the springs and rollers, I did not replace the piece between the spring and roller though (that hollow cap like thing) because they appeared to be in good shape and do not seem crucial aside from protecting the spring from damage. The clutch barely engaged before and it is almost identical to how it was before I replaced these parts. I received the motor in an entire motorcycle that didn't have a title, was in pretty bad shape aesthetically but the speedo read 5,000ish miles. The oil inside it was very clean, it was just clear that it had been left outside but the engine remained sealed enough. The one problem is that whoever owned it originally snapped off the internal mounts for the kickstarter, so there is NO way to start it other than the electric and bumping (which is embarrassing).

I dont know what to do other than take it apart again and polish the starter gear, but im not sure that more smooth would help.... Any suggestions are appreciated and welcomed. I don't want to go through another riding season having to bump my bike to get it going half the time...

Thanks!

I know this is an old post but it is a great reference. I wanted to point out that if you’ve changed the springs etc and it’s still doing the same thing check the plate that holds in the springs and rollers for cracks. You have to remove the three bolts that hold it on and look on the other side of the cap holding it down. See photo.

 

[Mason Spencer]

Hopefully someone can help on this old post, but I can't find a starter clutch repair kit out there for my '79, the links in here are dead... why won't one for the newer models work? I know they went to DOHC but did the rollers in there change that much? Will it bind up or something?

 

[JPaganel]

Rollers are the same part number
Clutch housings and springs are not. Springs are more likely the problem rather than the rollers.

The SOHC spring is 90501-04503-00. The roller is actually called a "dowel pin". Part 93615-12088-00. I believe both may still be available from Yamaha.

 

[Mason Spencer]

Rollers are the same part number
Clutch housings and springs are not. Springs are more likely the problem rather than the rollers.

The SOHC spring is 90501-04503-00. The roller is actually called a "dowel pin". Part 93615-12088-00. I believe both may still be available from Yamaha.

Thank you, I did find that website, oddly enough when I input my year, I can buy the dowel pin and caps for the 1979 model, but not the springs. In the parts list it gives a different part number than you gave for the spring. The next closest year where springs are available are the 1981 model, but I wonder how much they actually changed the springs compared to the rollers/housing.

I did also find someone on eBay selling an aftermarket assembly including housing for essentially the same price as buying the internal parts from the OEM place. It is listed as working for 1977-82 models, so I wonder if the whole thing is backwards compatible, but like you said, you can't mix and match rollers with housings.

I think what I'll do is take mine apart, see what is actually busted, and go from there. If I can save 70 bucks by just getting some springs and not having to replace the whole thing, that would be great! I'll post an update.

 

[JPaganel]

I bet it's the springs getting weak. Maybe rollers.

I don't usually buy from those guys, but they are great for looking it up.

Search the part numbers, see if anyone ese has them.

 

[tstidham]

I also ran into trouble buying those little springs and found some really good replacements from McMaster-Carr. I've been using them ever since and they are still working great! Here is my post on that, read point #4: Re-Ring, Dodge VR and Starter Clutch Springs | Yamaha XS400 Forum

 

[Mason Spencer]

I also ran into trouble buying those little springs and found some really good replacements from McMaster-Carr. I've been using them ever since and they are still working great! Here is my post on that, read point #4: Re-Ring, Dodge VR and Starter Clutch Springs | Yamaha XS400 Forum

Thanks! I am opening up the housing tonight and will see what looks most worn-out. Hopefully it is just the springs so I can save a good deal of money. This dang bike is already nickel-and-diming me enough as it is!

 

[tstidham]

What I found when I opened mine up was one spring had broken and collapsed in on itself and the other two were fine, but clearly original. I had witness marks on all the rollers and housing but no actual wear edges or grooves that you could catch with a fingernail. I could probably drop three of them into a 1st class usps letter envelope and mail them off to you (they are small) if you want to message me your address.

 

[Mason Spencer]

Good(ish) news, cracked open the bike and discovered that the springs, rollers, housing and all were safe and sound. However, the culprit was even more annoying: shitty workmanship!

It seems the guy I bought this from, or possibly someone before, didn't tighten the one-way clutch down enough. Looks like the screws rubbed their own threads off and the housing walked itself back off of the proper alignment. So all I've got to do is get some new socket-head screws and actually put the damn thing on correctly!

Are these supposed to be put in with loctite, or just tightened nice and good?

 

[tstidham]

I used blue loctite when I re-assembled mine as while researching "bad starter clutch", I came across a few ebay listings for clutch's that clearly came loose like yours and really did some damage to the housings.

 

[Mason Spencer]

Hello again all,

Took the starter clutch off, gave it a once-over, put it back on with Loctite. Hand-turned the rotor and it seemed to grab and turn the crankshaft, all appeared well and good. However, we put it all back together and fill it with oil, the damn thing still won't catch!

Here are two videos:
Link 1
Link 2

You'll notice it goes back and forth between either making an awful grinding noise, chugging the engine a bit, or one out of every dozen tries it actually started the bike. Does anyone know if this still sounds like the one-way clutch? Or could the starter itself not be engaging properly and just camming out? This is driving me nuts!

 

[tstidham]

That is how mine sounded with the one broken spring, grab and slip, grab, slip, slip, grab. Did you pull the rollers, plungers and springs to look at them? They pop in and out very easily (never mind, I see the picture in your previous post you did). Also I took my cover off on the center stand and only lost/leaked maybe a 1/4 of a quart of oil. I'd get it out again and really look it over and pull the bits out. Hopefully you used blue loctite which releases fairly easy. If you used red (or god forbid green) you'll need heat. Also, you can pull the spark plug wires off so it won't start and test it with that side cover off and held out of the way. I can send you the springs I used, I still have 9 of them!

 

[Mason Spencer]

Yep luckily we just used blue Loctite. And thank you, I will send you a PM and take you up on that offer! It would make sense the springs might have lost some of their luster, even if they looked alright cosmetically.

 

[Mason Spencer]

Hey everyone since you were all dying to know, I finally got my bike up and running!

Starter clutch was totally eaten up on the inside, lots of chatter marks and wear inside there. Ended up just buying a whole new one for about 100 bucks, some company in Poland was selling them brand new aftermarket. Works great.

Then I went to start it, and the damn thing would only run on full choke and rev super high. Took the carbs off and sprayed a couple cans of carb cleaner through them, took the jets out and ran them through my ultrasonic cleaner. Thing was super crusty on the inside, not enough to warrant a full rebuild but enough to need a good deep clean. Put them back on and voila, it ran! Adjusted the idle a bit and did my best to balance the cylinders, and now it actually runs like a damn bike should! I will take it to the shop to get a professional carb tune but I'm just happy to have a bike that runs

Side note, a pox upon the guy I bought this from...he listed it as a fully restored bike and there is so much random DIY stuff in there...that's not the part that offends me, it's that it was done so poorly! Mismatched bolts, slapdash wiring, cheap aftermarket parts, crudded up carbs...I have half a mind to send him a text and tell him all the stuff I found! But I guess it was a good learning experience, and thankfully it didn't end up costing me *too* much extra. Just a couple precious months of my first riding season

 

[tstidham]

Glad it all worked out. My purchase was similar. I was told it just needed the carbs cleaned. It had a cracked cylinder head, low compression and bad voltage regulator. So a gave mine a rering, new (to me) head, dodge vr and a very thorough carb clean as well. Enjoy the ride my friend, they are fun bikes and I'm averaging 60 mpg.