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starter is spinning backwards!!!!

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by JWillyG, Jul 28, 2010.

  1. JWillyG

    JWillyG New Member

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    At the end of my xj650 project (pics in a few days) Well the starter was shorting out, so I found the positive wire came loose from the brush inside the motor, easy fix right? Now the motor is spinning in the wrong direction!!! What is that from?
     
  2. wizard

    wizard Active Member

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    You can reverse the polarity, but are you sure it's going the wrong way, I think it goes opposite to what you would think.
     
  3. JWillyG

    JWillyG New Member

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    it is defiantly spinning the wrong directing, I checked the direction of the motor compared to the gear the starter turns. how could the polarity be reversed?
     
  4. wizard

    wizard Active Member

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    PM Polock, he can explain better than me.
     
  5. RickCoMatic

    RickCoMatic Well-Known Member

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    The Brushes Mounting Plate is slotted and grooved to prevent improper installation.

    The INSULATED Pigtail from the HOT Brush to the POWER Post is NOT long enough to reach-over to the WRONG Position.

    Before you could place the HOT Brush in the WRONG Position, ... you world have had to have taken-out the other Brush and placed THAT Brush in the WRONG position ... which would have involved UN-SOLDERING the Ground Brushes lead.

    Simply stated:
    There are too many safeguards for the Motor to be run Backwards.

    Remove the Starter
    Hold it tight and run the Motor with a Battery Charger
    Observe the rotation of the Shaft.
    Report.
     
  6. hogfiddles

    hogfiddles XJ-Wizard, Host-Central NY Carb Clinic Moderator Premium Member

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    Idon't think a starter can run backwards.. If you try to reverse polarity, you're gonna throw a lot of sparks, too.

    damhikt

    dave
     
  7. usdart

    usdart Member

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    Not sure about starters but I had to reverse polarity on an alternator once. I am thinking why not a starter.

    On the Alt I had to briefly hook up the pos and neg and let the 12v turn the motor and it was fine.
    [b]Out of the vehicle of course to avoid a ground short.
     
  8. CaptNemo

    CaptNemo Member

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  9. Orange-n-Black

    Orange-n-Black Well-Known Member

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    You can make a starter run backwards by rotating the brush holder a quarter turn, if the brush leads are long enough and insulated.
     
  10. JWillyG

    JWillyG New Member

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    I ran the starter off the bike with a battery charger ...turns counter clockwise, looking at the starter, facing the gear............ running backwards?

    I just checked out some info on a previous thread...I will check to see if the brush plate is aligned correctly.... thanx captnemo
     
  11. JWillyG

    JWillyG New Member

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    I have taken this starter apart 4 or 5 times, checked everything I could, still the wrong direction. This is the last piece of the bike to go on, trying to get it done before my son gets back from his moms on the 7th , suprise him with the completed project. I am stumped. I have the starter right here in front of me .........
     
  12. Praxeus

    Praxeus Member

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    I sure wish old JWillyG could get back to me on this dead thread with the solution. I think I am having this exact problem at the moment. The starter gear just seems to whir. I have not yet verified it is in the correct or incorrect direction.
     
  13. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    There are many other threads where this issue is covered, but as with most things the forum search tool is not the best.
    The problem in his case was that the starter brush plate was not installed correctly.
    The plate can be installed so that it turns the starter either clockwise, or counterclockwise.

    We have a how-to article that explains how to install the brush plate correctly.
    Replacing your starter motor brushes w/ pics
     
  14. Jetfixer

    Jetfixer Well-Known Member

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    Once I rebuilt my starter ,and had the brush plate clocked wrong and it spun backwards, pulled apart and clocked it to correct position and it worked like it was supposed to, sounds like the same issue you are having.
     
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  15. Praxeus

    Praxeus Member

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    I did use the search features of this excellent site, and I also read through the diy article several times and I even had it out while I did it. Somehow I still missed the mounting tab alignment part for the brush plate. Go figure. Oh well, at least it should be clean in there this time when I go back in ☺️
     
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