1984 VF500 Project

Sparking is expected initially until a good connection is established. Is the solenoid good? Large channel locks should work to remove an oil filter absent the correctly fitted wrench. If that fails the screwdriver method should work.

 

Thanks @Totaled TL and @squirrelman : I was worried that amount of sparking was abnormal. I'll clean the threads and nut that I was connecting positive to.

Should I be able to turn the pinion by hand? I cannot.

@Totaled TL I haven't gotten around to testing the solenoid yet; I was testing the starter completely disconnected.

 

pinion is usually too difficult to turn by hand, gear too small to get a grip.

 

Thanks @squirrelman - that's good to know then.

@Totaled TL mentioned a poor connection leading to sparking, so I cleaned off screw, nuts and washer on starter. First I tried using some sandpaper, that was too hard to get into the threads and contours so I soaked in Evaporust for an hour or so. Dried them off and then connected to my battery. It spins nicely now with far fewer sparks.

Other than spinning, however, the pinion stays stationary - I expected it to move outwards with the centrifugal force so that the pinion could engage with gearing used to actually crank the engine. That's how the few starters I've looked at (on snowmobiles and my lawn tractor) have worked, anyways.

Is this normal for this starter?

EDIT: today I learned that some starters use a starter clutch and not the mechanism where the pinion spins out by centrifugal force to engage the gears. Learning more…