Wildguzzi.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Kevin M on March 29, 2015, 10:38:29 PM
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The other day I noticed my 96' California 1100 wasn't too excited about starting, when I got home I left it in the driveway & came back out later to put it away, it wouldn't start at all. I'm just now getting around to fixing it. Today I went out, took the seat off to see if the positive or negative cable were just loose. When I grabbed the negative cable, the negative post just fell away from the top of the battery! I went to the store & bought a new lawn mower battery reconnected one negative cable to the negative post & three positive cables to the positive post. Put everything back together and...just clicks. I checked the starter & cleaned the connection, tightened everything and..no change. The battery I got is 235 CCA. Am I missing something? Any Ideas?
Kevin
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reconnected one negative cable to the negative post & three positive cables to the positive post. P
Just a heads up. Always hook the positive cables up first. If you hook the negative up first, it's really easy to make sparks hooking up the others. ;D Maybe your new battery needs charged?
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Monitor the Voltage on the battery terminals as it tries to start, connect your meter right to the battery terminals, not the wires.
That will tell you for sure if the battery is weak, the Voltage shouldn't drop below 10V while the starter is winding.
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I'm thinking more about this, is there more than just the starter cable going to the negative post of the battery? It seems like there should be a ground wire from the frame too. Any thoughts about this?
Thanks
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The cable on the negative should be a fat one, similar in size to the starter Positive.
It goes to the chassis, trace it there and clean that connection also.
Sometimes they have another Negative other times they just use the chassis for the return path.
Carl's drawing shows just one.
http://www.thisoldtractor.com/guzzi007/schematics/1996_California_1100i.gif.
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How long did the new battery sit on the shelf before you bought it? Look for a date stamp-usually on the top surface. Did you charge the new one at 1/10th capacity for 10 hrs on a constant rate charger? I prefer the Yuasa trickle charger. SOP for all lead acid units.
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Well, the mystery is solved. After a lot of checking, I discovered that the Valeo starter is seized up. I took it to get rebuilt but was told they were unsure if it will be rebuild-able. I will know more tomorrow. A new factory starter is about $206. I saw some Japanese starters on Ebay that are comparable for about $100 but I am hesitant to put a Japanese aftermarket starter on my bike. Does anyone have any experience with this or have any advice?
Kevin
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Online price for a Valeo starter ought to be about $120, I think. See euromotoelectrics.c om.
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The starter on the V11 did not sound right. I swapped it with the Valeo from the GT. Much better. Two rapid chugs and varoom!
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Well, the mystery is solved. After a lot of checking, I discovered that the Valeo starter is seized up. I took it to get rebuilt but was told they were unsure if it will be rebuild-able. I will know more tomorrow. A new factory starter is about $206. I saw some Japanese China starters on Ebay that are comparable for about $100 but I am hesitant to put a Japanese aftermarket starter on my bike. Does anyone have any experience with this or have any advice?
Kevin
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Well, the mystery is solved. After a lot of checking, I discovered that the Valeo starter is seized up.
Kevin
Maybe the heat from the battery trying to turn your seized up starter is what happened to your negative post ....
Lannis
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I bought a new Valeo started last year. Only after it arrived did I find the Valeo part number, which was on the box, 432599. If you search for that part on the net, you may find a better price than you expect. I found that part number only after buying one and paying quite a bit more than I needed to. Last time I checked, you could get one through Amazon reasonably.
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Well, the mystery is solved. After a lot of checking, I discovered that the Valeo starter is seized up. I took it to get rebuilt but was told they were unsure if it will be rebuild-able. I will know more tomorrow. A new factory starter is about $206. I saw some Japanese starters on Ebay that are comparable for about $100 but I am hesitant to put a Japanese aftermarket starter on my bike. Does anyone have any experience with this or have any advice?
Should have known. Somewhere between 1994 and 1997 or there abouts they used a poor glue on the magnets. In about 1997 they upgraded the glue. The part number changed too. Something like the DR6 number changed to DR6A, or some such. too many beers years ago.
EuroMotoElectric has rebuild parts at a reasonable price. Plus entire units. Good people to deal with.
$35
http://www.euromotoelectrics.com/product-p/d6ra-magccw.htm
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There ya go.. $35 and you're golden.. ;-T Gotta love WG..
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Well, the mystery is solved. After a lot of checking, I discovered that the Valeo starter is seized up. I took it to get rebuilt but was told they were unsure if it will be rebuild-able. I will know more tomorrow. A new factory starter is about $206. I saw some Japanese starters on Ebay that are comparable for about $100 but I am hesitant to put a Japanese aftermarket starter on my bike. Does anyone have any experience with this or have any advice?
Kevin
The "cheap" in me says to revisit the first starter. I'd bet (based upon past experience) that its generally OK but got queered the last time it was engaged with poor current/volts. I've been in this position before from Kenworth on down to riding mower and often was able to "loosen" the bits and continue on with the previously perceived bad starter. Sometimes it's been caused by the battery(ies) - sometimes the solenoid.
Todd.
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Todd,
The Valeo's magnets may have come unglued, they can be re-attached.