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2012 DL650 Starter Issue

3K views 26 replies 7 participants last post by  wingstrom 
#1 ·
Hi Everyone,

So I have been having a starting problem recently. Let me give you some background on what is going on. I bought my bike used earlier this year kept in great condition and only had 4K miles. Since then I have bulked up the bike for going offroad and have been riding a lot in the sand/swaps of south Florida it has been a blast. About a month ago I decided to wire up a usb charger and voltmeter on my dash. I did this lazily dragging wires along left side of frame without taking off tank. Got it wired up and then was just pulling the fuze on the small box I wired it up with to until I put in a relay. A couple of times I forgot to pull the fuze but the battery didn't drain too far. One time the after sitting for 4 days with volt meter on batter drained to like 12.4-.5 and this is where the problem starts. Tried to start bike all I hear is clicking from starter relay. Pull battery and charge overnight. Next day fully charged battery but still only clicking. I push start and bike fires right up. After this problem is intermittent and I never reattach my wiring to isolate that variable. So on and off the bike will either start or not and click. I have since replaced the battery (was stock so I figured was about time anyways) but the clicking happens even with more than 12.6V, voltage measured at starter relay mirrors that of battery. I do get a dimming of my headlights with the starter button press. I have not found a pattern to the issue it will happen on cold bike or when I have just stopped for 5 mins / accidentally shifted to first with stand down. Started will also variably spin or not and click once the motor is running... I think I may have heard a pop that was louder than the clicking on attempting to start once but have never recreated with seat off. Rolling forward/back in gear does not fix problem once the starter is not functioning.

Based on all this I thought maybe a bad ground? Or possibly a loose connection from when I dragged wires? I really don't think it would be my starter motor as my bike has only 6K miles. I wanted to check the engine ground connection to the motor but I do not have my manual and dont know where that is or how to access it. What do ya'll think?

MotogGeekin
 
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#2 ·
A marginal ground is one thing that would fit the symptoms. Either end of any of the large battery wires may be the culprit as well as the starter relay itself. There are the battery terminals, the starter relay terminals, the starter motor connection and the engine case ground connection. The case ground is on the right side of the engine case from the perspective of the rider. Look at the round clutch cover on that side of the engine like it was a clock face. The ground wire is on the engine case just outside of the clutch cover at the 9 o'clock position nearly hidden by the frame.

You could try shorting together the two large screw posts on the starter relay but watch out for sparks. If that always starts things right up, replace the starter relay. If things are no different from pushing the start button, check the cable connections.

BTW, the headlights don't dim when pressing the start button on any Strom since 2005. A bypass switch on all 2005 and later models cuts power to the headlights completely. Push the start button and the headlights go out.
 
#4 ·
okay so just got back. Battery with key off = 12.8V. Key on engine off battery = 12.3 and starter relay is 12.3. Checked all wire connections (battery terminals, starter relay bolts, starter motor and motor ground) all were tight and looked normal. Shorted the starter relay with screw driver and small amount of sparks but no start or click but the red dash light and oil signal turn off.

Not sure where to go from here...stater motor?
 
#5 ·
It could be as simple as a bad battery. Try jump starting the bike from a car battery, car not running. With a good battery, shorting the starter relay will spark merrily.
 
#8 ·
I forgot about that. Looking at or even wiggling the connections isn't good enough, as Wingstrom mentioned.
 
#10 ·
If cleaning and tightening all 6 connections and jumping from a car battery doesn't do the trick, the only thing left is the starter motor.
 
#11 ·
Okay cleaned all connections and reseated but still same result. Tested with both batteries too, don't have car battery at moment may be able to try tomorrow.

One thing I did notice is that when I turn the key the 12V relay behind battery next to the abs fuse clicks once. Is this normal?

Wouldn't it be strange for the starter motor to fail after 6k mileS?

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#12 ·
Something unusual happened somewhere or you wouldn't be having a problem. That relay is probably the fuel pump relay and it should come on with the ignition.
 
#13 ·
#14 ·
Yeah thanks for all the info. I checked out those threads but it seemed to me like the clicking + no slow spinning of starter just seemed different from all the other cases as mine just click with nothing from the starter then works perfectly other times.

I am going to pull off the starter motor today. How invasive is this on the 2012? Do I just unbolt it from the the motor as with the previous models (would go out and look but the bike is stuck at friends garage)?

Also I am having a hard time finding those starter motor repair kits for my model year...will an older one work (2006-2009 https://www.ebay.com/i/281344596320?chn=ps&dispItem=1)? Or would I need to but the whole starter new?
 
#15 ·
Take the starter off and check to see what the problem is first. You may not need a repair kit. As I wrote before, all years are the same.
 
#16 ·
Okay so car battery jump did nothing.

Got starter motor off and opened her up. A little bit of carbon but brushes and commutator look fine...






Cleaned everything up and got it back on the bike and still only clicking at relay.

Ugh this is frustrating

Also as a note the starter is a SM-18 which I think is different from the SM-14s on older bikes as you can see with the 4 brushes and different commutator.
 
#17 · (Edited)
I looked up the starter motor for the 2012 DL650 and got the part number 31100-19F10. Checking that at Partzilla showed that part number being used for all years of DL650. 31100-19F10 MOTOR ASSY,STAR $291.59

Given your additional information, looking at the starter motor for earlier years shows 31100-19F00 as the part number but that being discontinued in favor of the 31100-19F10. You could jump the car battery directly to the engine case negative and stater motor connection positive to make sure but it appears your motor has failed in an atypical manner, such as breaking an internal connection, shorting out a coil winding, breaking a brush spring, etc..

Assuming a direct connection to the starter motor from a car battery doesn't change anything, It would appear you'll be needing a new starter motor. That would be a first. I know there are better ways to become a ground breaking owner.

One more possibility even stranger than a bad starter motor would be if the motor was actually spinning but the starter clutch isn't engaging. I don't know offhand how you would test that beyond powering the starter motor off the bike and seeing if and how strong it spins.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Something is not right here. I don't see how a starter can fail like that without some evidence of shorted coils, burned wires, fried commutators, etc. That starter looks brand new which is what I'd expect with only 4K miles. Motors don't die like this looking pristine, there is no single point of failure where you get nothing; no groaning with a wedged rotor, no smoke, no sparks, getting hot, etc. I'd redo the bench test with a direct jump to a known good battery. I hate to ask but did you ground the motor case to the negative pole of the battery in your bench test? The brushes are not getting juice, the brushes are not contacting the commutator or there is no return path to ground. If you do it again be sure to put it in a vice, they really kick when they do spin.

Edit: Also check for a loose clutch switch wire or bad clutch switch on the bike to explain the intermittent start problem.
 
#20 ·
Had the same issue on my 2012 DL650; intermittent starting(starter motor not turning with starter relay clicking). After exhausting all options, the fix was a new starter relay (contacts may have been pitted/corroded up, causing not enough amps to spin the starter). Try testing the starter motor again removed with jumper cables to a car battery.
 
#21 ·
Okay I am going to try test the motor with a car battery. I will try it first in the bike as greywolf suggested.

I did ground on previous try and if this doesnt work i can pull it out and try in vice to be sure.

I guess i might as well pick up a relay as they at really cheap just incase.


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#22 ·
Okay so it must be the starter motor. I first did a diagnostic where I had voltmeter on starter motor lead and battery ground. Bike on Reading is 0.14V, when I hit the starter 12.4V and no response from motor.



I also tried to jump it straight from car battery and just got a big spark and again no movement in motor. I guess i could take it off again but don't really think its necessary...


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#23 ·
I had a similar problem to this and tried everything that GW mentioned. It turned out I had a small rock inside my start switch behind the spring which prevented the electrical contacts from making a connection. Since you say you go off roading, I suggest you open up the housing and use some compressed air and blow it out. I used computer duster.


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#24 ·
It can't be the switch. Running power directly from a battery to the motor doesn't work.
 
#25 ·
Okay so I figured it out after mulling all this over and doing a little more work. I feel kinda stupid because it ended up being something I overlooked. So first thing I did was open up my starter motor again and I saw that I accidentally got some grease on the commutator which is not good so I cleaned that off and closed it back up. This time test with battery worked so...starter motor was working. I was ecstatic so I threw it back on the bike but same clicking. Tested voltage at motor and still 12.46V when starter pushed so then I tried with an extra battery and this time it spun.

At this point I removed side panel and checked all wiring connections on left side of bike where I dragged the wired and everything looked good. So then I went to recheck the ground. The first time I did this, I only loosened it and looks closely with a flashlight because the bolt was really hard to get at without a long socket extension that I didn't have at the time. Now I am kicking myself for not doing this before but I removed the whole bolt by taking off foot peg on right side and using socket extension. And the whole bolt was fluffy white with corrosion. Bingo.



So I cleaned that bolt up including inside the threads and cleaned and sanded the connection from battery. Sprayed some cleaner in the hole then put everything back and wouldn't you know it the bike started right up. So now I kinda feel like an idiot for this whole thread but on the bright side i learned a lot about the bike such as taking off and apart the starter motor and side panels. Also one thing the changed after I corrected this was upon turning key one relay behind battery clicked once but after cleaning ground it didn't do that anymore. I think taking the bike through some really deep water may have caused this issue.

https://vimeo.com/215991063

But now I'm back to riding again perfect timing cause I just sold my car and the bike is all I got. Thanks everyone for the help.





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#26 ·
That's a great example of how assumptions lead us astray. While it's usually the battery connections that cause problems, each side of every large wire connection needs to have the bolt removed, cleaned and tightened. Dielectric grease or, even better, an antioxidant grease like ACF-50 or DeOxit, will help prevent future water entry and corrosion.
 
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