Hard to start/ slow starter motor.

[Drever696]

Hey all,

Need some advice on where to start looking for issues incase I'm missing something obvious.

99 vtr front cct went a while back so pulled the head and thankfully only bent two valves, no piston damage. After rebuilding she fired up no problems.

I've had her off the road for about a year now and just in the middle of getting ready for an mot. Took the battery off charge tried to start and she fired into life no problem. Ran until operating temperature then switched her off. Tried to start and got two or three rotations out of the starter motor then slowed right down and stopped. The lights on the instrument panel all dimmed and the odo clock flickered too.

Left her till next again day and she fired right into life again but once again problems started when hot.

Went back out this morning was cold so used choke and this time the starter motor struggled again with lights dimming again too, however when you open the throttle a little the starter motor sped up but still slow.

I checked all connections and earth's and they all look good so pulled the starter motor and opened it up, pretty much everything was black and smelt burnt. I've ordered a rebuild kit for the starter to see if is was the starter giving up.

I think while I'm at it I'll take the left case off and rotate the engine to make sure it's smooth. If for whatever reason it has tight spots could I have built the front head wrong?

Just looking for advice to anything else it could be while I wait on the rebuild kit arriving.

Thanks for your time guys.

[Wicky]

Starting the vTR in middle of winter needs a tip top condtion battery, charging system and starter plus all the bits between them.

Battery needs to be in good health - if it's dropped low in charge a few times in storage then it can get damaged. The battery needs to be kept charged up when laid up.

Charging system includes R/R and all the wiring and connectors need to be corrosion free as corrosion increases resistance and in turn heat.

Starter motor terminal under the rubber hood with salty winter roads can rot to rusty fing - rot can get into the starter by the fibre seals.

Starters from most late 90s early 00s large capcity Honda fit - look for ones where the starter is in a protected position in the engine layout. Decent condition Hornet 900 starters can be had for £25 from ebay.

[E.Marquez]

Start at the obvious

Check all the connections are clean and tight..Both batter, earth lead where it attaches to motor. Positive lead at the starter relay and at the starter.

After that you need a meter and know how to use it.
What is the state of battery condition ..resting voltage, key on voltage, running voltage.
If you have a local place that can do load testing that would be better still.

Next up, check resistance on each cable point to point, and through the starter relay.
Check amp draw when starting
Check voltage on both sides of starter relay while starting.

• It could be as simple as a bad battery or loose / dirty connection.

• It could be a a starter relay that is worn out, the contacts long since pitted and burned and amperage no longer gets across the contacts as it used to.

• It could be a cable with high internal resistance...occasionally I find a cable with "clean" terminals yet high resistance, the cable was heavily corroded at some point, the corrosion cleaned from the terminals but that same corrosion wormed it way under the wire insulation.

• It could be a worn started, bearing and bushings dry or worn out causing extra friction or the brushes and armature commutator worn significantly.