Starter Short

CL350 K2

CL350 K2

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Oct 9, 2023
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The NOS starter installed 2 years ago which was working perfectly, suddenly stopped working.

Pressing the start button made the solenoid “magnetic switch” buzz but that was it.

The solenoid works correctly with the starter cable disconnected.

The battery and cables check out fine.

The starter will not operate if powered directly from a spare battery so I checked the resistance of the starter. It is only 0.3 ohms so I am assuming it developed an internal short.

Have I missed anything simple that would let me avoid pulling the left case cover and starter?

Before I remove the case cover and pull the starter, it would be helpful to know what some of the causes are that would make an old, but low use, starter suddenly fail?

What I should collect for parts before I start?

Who is a good source for starter rebuild kits and parts?

Thanks,
Bob
CL350K2 A
 
I had the same thing with my 160. One of the brushes has a wire from the motor windings that attaches to the tab the brush is connected to. That had come loose and rested against the case of the starter. Can't be repaired in the bike though, so it's a removal one way or the other.
 
Since I will need to remove the left case cover and disassemble the starter, at a minimum, I am going to replace the case gasket and all the starter o-rings and gaskets.

I went through fxray's excellent starter rebuild string and at that time all the kits were missing one of the 60 x 1.4 o-rings, so recommendations for a high quality case gasket and a CL350K2 rebuild kit would be appreciated.

Ray's superb starter rebuild string is pasted below to help others.

Honda 350 Starter Motor Rebuild & the Mystery of the Missing O-Ring

I just finished rebuilding the electric starter motor for my 1970 SL350 K0, and took some pictures along the way. It’s been 9 years since I did the one for my 1971 CL350 K3 (which still works very well), so I decided to refresh my memory before I began. I remembered that there was a good...
www.vintagehondatwins.com www.vintagehondatwins.com
 
You might consider pulling the rotor to check (and maybe just replace) the caps, rollers and springs in the starter clutch too while you're there, then you could use a little loctite on the 3 screws in the rotor when you reassemble.
 
I noticed the starter resistance thread posted today and realized I hadn't posted a follow-up here, since that might be helpful to others, here it is.

CB 450 K5 Starter Ohms to Ground Reading https://www.vintagehondatwins.com/f...ter-ohms-to-ground-reading.16626/#post-206810​

I removed the case cover and went through everything.

The starter was fine and it works fine with 0.3 ohm resistance.

The starter clutch springs were about 2 mm shortened after being replaced 2,000 mi ago. Caps and rollers looked great. I replaced everything since I was in there.

The starter clutch "outer" housing screws which were also replaced 2,000 mi ago were secured with thread locker rather than staking, were tight and housing had not moved.

The "magnetic switch" which had been buzzing or chattering, something I had not seen before, was replaced.

When I tested the battery, it was weak but functional. To remove it from the equation, I replaced it.

After that and 300 mi later, the starter is working great.
 
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