Series 1 Mirage Starter Solenoid

olslewfoot

olslewfoot

New member
Location
Norwich, Norfolk, UK
Hi all
After several weeks of slightly delayed activity from the starter motor when pressing the go button, today only a soft click from the solenoid. Battery fully charged and charging normally on a series 1 mirage with BTZ ignition.
I see there are many aftermarket motorcycle solenoids available on ebay and I've read here that often suzuki switch and electrical accessories can be used or modified to be used.
Does anyone have any advice about fitting one if these or should I try to source an original part.
Cheers
John
 
You may have charged your battery but what is it putting out?
If not enough volts: click.

Otherwise, there are plenty of relays from Japanese bikes on ebay.

Paul
 
It's worth trying another battery - or applying jump leads to the one you have. A battery can measure fully charged, but still fail to deliver enough current. 
I'm assuming you've checked the connections are good and solid from battery - solenoid - starter & earth return
Alternatively, the starter motor could be goosed - full of crap; brushes worn; winding fault...

To rule out the solenoid and wiring, you could use jumper leads direct to starter terminal and earth if you don't mind a few sparks!
 
Thanks Rob.
I've just tried jumping it from my R1200RT with the same effect so it is the solenoid.
There's many on ebay, I've bought one suited to a 1989 GSX1100. I hope this will be up to the task.
 
olslewfoot said:
Thanks Rob.
I've just tried jumping it from my R1200RT with the same effect so it is the solenoid.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. It could still be a faulty starter motor, a bad connection somewhere, or bad earth.

Do the test Rob suggested -  "use jumper leads direct to starter terminal and earth"

If you don't know how to do that, here's the procedure:

Connect the positive jumper lead to the positive terminal bolt on the starter motor, where the big wire is attached. Ensure it's touching ONLY the terminal bolt/nut/cable assembly and nothing else. Make sure the bike is in neutral, then briefly touch the other end of the jumper lead to the positive terminal on the battery. The starter should immediately crank the engine. If it doesn't, then your starter may be knackered. However, there is a chance that your starter motor is OK but you have a bad earth connection between engine and battery.

Clip one end of the negative jumper lead to the engine (a cooling fin or some other convenient spot) and the other end of the lead to the battery negative terminal. Then repeat the above procedure with the positive lead directly between starter and battery. Is you still get no action, you can be pretty sure it's the starter motor that's buggered.
 
Similar thing happened when I replaced the battery in a '98 monster tried all the stuff Cam suggested with no result.

As a last resort I picked up the claw hammer and light / medium taps on the starter motor while pressing the button worked and has continued to work for the last 18 mths.

 
agree with Cam ( no surprise there!) but remember that as factory the unit is not actually a solenoid but a heavy duty (yeah right) relay, 80 amp if I recall correctly, when mine failed on TOG after about ten years of use, I fitted a car one under the battery tray, from a land Rover, or Jaguar or Austin Metro, pretty much all the same, but the difference is that this is a proper (moving metal) solenoid and cost about 15 quid as opposed to how much for the real deal from a known supplier ??????? 65 quid was it or 80 even ????? this one lasted about 15 years and was quickly swapped for an identical one when that failure happened and is still in use, the extra electrical tabs proved useful, such as an always on tab, or an ignition on only tab and a great one, a tab that is live only when "cranking" , wire that straight to the coils and you have full battery voltage on cranking and drop to the "resisted" lower voltage (9 ? which will preserve the life of those precious and bomb proof ND coils) when in normal running. cheap as chips and 72 ton Centurion tank type durability (same solenoid)

CLEM
 
I pulled my relay apart when it started clicking. The bottom part of the switch was slightly bent away from the top swinging down part of the switch.

I straightened it up and it has been working ever since, and this was donkey's years ago.
 
I have also had an original relay fall to bits causing a constant and cant stop it running starter motor, fortunately I was only four miles from home, when this happened and after a stop and disconnect the battery earth, I disconnected the starter main cable, bump started the bike and rode home, then I fitted the first twelve quid British Leyland masterpiece.

CLEM
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top