For some reason the starter is acting up on my FL350. With a fully charged battery when you push the button the starter spins but it doesn't turn the Engine. Sometimes it will grab but as soon as it tries to fire it disengages. I was having to fumble with the button to get it to start. It would do it several times then finally start turning it over right. Last time I rode it it wouldn't turn over with the starter. Had to pull it. Any ideas on what I've got going on? If I have to can I pull the starter without pulling the Engine out? Thanks

You can take the starter out with out removing the Engine but you will need to get creative! Check section 7 of the manual to see what you're in for.

As far as the starter acting up, you may have a corroded starter button. Take a piece of sand paper and remove the corrosion from both ends of the tiny little spring (don't loose it) and both areas of the button and switch where the tiny spring makes contact.

Note study the switch carefully to see the actual current path. It can be deceiving as to how the switch actually works. You'll understand better what I'm saying once you get the switch taken apart.

Rand

Thanks Rand. I'm pretty sure the button was good. The starter would spin every time I touched the button. It would just rev with no load.(like it sounds if you were to bench test it) Then occasionally grab until it fired once then zing zing zing nothing. Grab again for a second and back to revving. What causes the gear that goes to the flywheel to jump out and grab? Maybe its not coming out for some reason?

If memory serves me right, the drive gear contained within the starter is forced out of the starter itself by the force of the starter spinning fast enough to overcome the tension of the end gear's retention spring. If the starter doesn't turn fast enough, then the starter itself will just spin without it forcing the drive gear out.

Two possible issues here:

1.) The starter is filled with oil and is turning too slow to push out the starter's end gear assembly

or

2.) The end gear assembly is hanging up not allowing it to move outward to catch the drive gear attached to the crankshaft.

Rand

It shouldn't have oil in it. Hoser blocked off the old vent hole and cleaned the starter out real good. I havn't used it much. Guess I'm going to take it off and see whats to it. Anybody used one of the $106 new starters off ebay? Good quality?

I replaced three starters on the Odys I built for Duneit last year. Of the the three starters I purchased, 2 of them were faulty.

Electrically they worked fine however the threaded mounting holes within the starter itself were threaded improperly and they stripped out when I tried to torque them to only 6 foot pounds.

If you can save the factory starter...please do so. Chinese starters are of questionably quality.

Rand

I bought a cheaply built job only to return it 2 months later. I rebuilt another oem and its good. Rebuild if possible aftermarket is junk IMO. You need to remove the brake disk or atleast drop it down caliper and bracket, clutch-maybe. There a bit** no matter what you do!