350 Starter info By MGR The 350 Odyssey starter can be a problem but you have to remember that these machines are 15 years old, Everything man made will require maintenance from time to time. Your starter might last longer than others depending on how often you use it and if you keep the proper oil level in the counter balancer case. 1. A shop manual is a must, and read the troubling shooting guide first. 2. Battery must be in good shape and the correct amperage rating. 3. Cables are 15 years old, they must be checked. If hard and or green is found in the copper wire, they must be replaced. There are 4 cables to check, + from battery to relay - relay to starter - then - cable from battery to frame from engine to the frame. 4. Oil level in the counter balancer must be lowered to new level and new cylinder base gasket installed. Note: if seals are bad they will leak anyway they must be fixed too. (see the 350 service bulletin for correct level) 5. Vent hose needs to be changed, do away with the T and run new hose up high to some place safe and install some kind of filter on it. Small gas line filter works good. 6. If oil, water, or gunk is found in the starter, then the side cover of the motor must be removed and cleaned out. This will save you problems later on and money. Also see keeping the oil out of the starter By Randy at pilotodyssey.com 7. With starter removed and open up, you need to inspect it and determine why it failed. Then repair that first (oil, water, low volts, low amps) Next is the starter, never go cheap on the parts. For all the work it is to pull this starter out fix it right the first time. Triple E 1-800-763-3762 sells all the parts needed to rebuild it, or will rebuild it for you. For $50.00 bucks Labor plus parts they fix it. If it is a simple brush-wore out, Sara sells a nice brush kit, for some reason some Honda dealers sell brushes, springs, pins, wire separate. It is a pain in the ass to solder the wires. The armature must be clean and dry, commutator bars must be clean and no groves wore in it rebuild it or replace armature. If commutator bars are black, that is a sign of weak springs and or low/high Volts, amps, repair as needed. Drive-gear, and front and rear bearing must be in good condition also, loose or warn bearings or drive gear will cause the starter to bind and that will cause starter to draw more AMPS. That is why some Odyssey will turn over but not start. This symptom is rare in Pilots because they have a higher AMP battery and stronger, more sensitive stator that works very well unless it has been modified. 8. Most starter problems can be avoided with common sense. Cheap batteries or lawn tractor batteries do not have the right amount of AMPS in them. Low or to many AMPS will cause the brushes & commutator to burn. Also it will cause other problems in the alternator, regulator/rectifier, stator, pulse coil, CDI, and ignition coil. Which will cause the plug not to fire properly, then some people look at their carb for the problem. Any component that is weak will cause problems down the line and make more problems. Save a dollar now will cost you 3 later on. This holds true to all Odysseys, Pilots, ATV, Personal Water crafts, Snowmobiles and Motorcycles. 9. Pilot and Ody batteries might look the same and sometimes fit but the Pilot battery has more amp hours, do not interchange them. The machines are 10 and 15 years old, it will just cause problems in the long run and cost you more money to fix. Credit for most of the info found on this page came from Gottaride and MGR More on 350 starter rebuilds here.