2009 TE310 - starter not engaging - and the fix!

At 6 years old and with 6000km on the clock, my TE310 started backfiring on starting, it was impossible to select neutral with the engine running and the starter seemed to be "slipping". This culminated on Saturday with the starter completely spinning without engaging the engine.

I removed the Right Hand Side engine cover to expose the clutch, starter gears and oil pump. Then I removed the freewheel hub from the crankshaft. Finally I removed the sprag (one way) clutch from the inside of the hub.

Problem found: There is a spring (same as a fork seal garter spring) that is supposed to hold the pawls firmly on the starter outer gear so it is engaged with the crank hub. Under normal conditions once the engine starts, centrifugal force expands the pawls so they disengage from the starter gear. The spring had stretched and was stuffed. I was glad there wasn't a missing tooth or any other major issue. I priced a new sprag clutch however at $200 I hung up the phone and thought about it for a while. The roller bearings, clutch surfaces and pawls were in excellent condition - it was only the spring with the issue. So, I pulled the garter spring from a 50mm ID seal (cost $5) which was the correct length and thickness and replaced it on the clutch.

Put it all together and viola!

The bike now starts easily, doesn't backfire and I can select neutral when the engine is running. And I saved $195 dollars.

Happy days.

Here is a picture of the problem...

Thanks- this kind of info is going to help someone in the future.

From what did you pull the garter spring? what is 50mm ID seal?

Alberto-

Round rubber engine seals are measured by their Inner Diameter (ID), Outer Diameter (OD) and Width (W) primarily. Other factors are also sometimes mentioned (doubled lipped, for example). Most seals have a spiral spring around the inner lip to maintain tight contact with the shaft.

hh simply borrowed the inner spring from a 50mm ID seal to use on the sprag. Pretty smart. It's about the size of one of your fork seals.

...And I'm gonna hit you up for one of those epic Costa Rica rides one of these years. (That's idiomatic American-English and means: "probably never... but maybe")

Correct. What trenchcoat85 said. Any seal with a 50mm Inside Diameter will do as you are after the spring size, not the overall seal dimensions.

Thanks for the explanation, all makes sense now. And yes, very smart solution.

Off course my friend, come here. If you ever make it, I will find a bike for you and take care of the routes and stuff you need. And if you are single.. well, I know some places where the girls are pretty friendly LOL