2002 R1150RT starter motor faulty

[claudiop]

Hi

Sudden fault appeared a week ago with problem cranking the engine over. The first crank barely ground over and in the process the battery voltage dropped so much that the RID clock reset but a couple of subsequent cranks immediately followed and the motor fired up. No clicking from solenoid and all connections are good.

 

Thought battery but subsequent full charge and load tested at auto electrician showed that the 2yr old Motobatt battery was very good.

 

Pulled out and dismantled the starter motor and found that the brushes were good but 3 out of the 4 magnets attached to the inner case had come unstuck and had rotated position bunched up against the sole remaining anchored magnet (see pic). The starter is a Valeo (Made in France) D6RA75.

 

Q1: The rotor rotates but I don't seem to be able to pull it out. The shaft at the segments/brushes end seems to sit in a bush. Is there some special tip to getting it out?

 

Q2: assuming that I'll eventually get the rotor out, what do people suggest for attaching the magnets to the inner case? I don't think I want to get in there with my arc welder so some sort of metal adhesive?

 

Q3: it's very possible that the armature/coil windings on the rotor have been worn and possible fried/exposed wire due to rubbing against the inner loose magnets. In the old days, auto electricians used to recoil armatures. Anybody had any luck more recently?

 

Q4: finally, if all above fails, is there an OEM starter motor recommended?

 

I'm taking it to my auto electrician tomorrow to see what he'll recommend. Any ideas welcome, cheers Claudio

[The Rocketman]

$ 58.83 for a brand new Valeo OEM starter right here:

http://www.discountstarterandalternator.com/p-6416-brand-new-starter-for-bmw.aspx

 

Bought from them before with no issues.

[PAS]

Or you can replace the housing. Make sure you choose the correct one. This may not be it.

motor housing

[claudiop]

Thanks for the heads up. Unfortunately the discount starter outfit don't ship to Australia....

 

Spent all day disassembling the whole starter and re-attaching the magnets to the inner housing. Cleaned and lubricated everything thoroughly and got it back together to find that the starter rotor won't turn. Seems to draw a lot of current but no movement of the rotor. I took it to my auto electrician and he tried to spin it from a car battery but just aparked. He reckons that it looks like it's earthed somewhere.

 

I've had it apart a couple more times today checking the magnet positions and manually rotating the planetary gears and rotor shaft, which appear OK. An ohmmeter check shows 0.1ohm on a 200ohm scale for the rotor coils but not very accurate or indicative of anything. Seems like a short to earth but can't find it. Every time I connect the starter directly to my fully charged battery with heavy duty car jumper leads the contacts spark but no movement of the rotor. BTW, the solenoid checks out OK

 

I've bitten the bullet and ordered a new replacement from Euro Motoelectrics

 

cheers

[Christo]

This may not apply to your situation at all, but is it possible the electrical connection to the starter is weak?

 

Since starters draw so much current, it is not uncommon for a starter to click, buzz, etc when activated but fail to turn over the engine because of a weak connection. This often happens on the battery with a loose connection where the connection will 'arc off' when put under heavy load, but power lights, accessories, etc when not under heavy load.

 

You say you saw sparks when attempting to turn starter over with a car battery. This indicates a poor connection. The connections should be cleaned with a wire brush and tightly bolted on, both on the battery and the starter. Then if that does not work, listen for any indication current is flowing to the starter. If not, there may be a disconnection or short as you my possibly have.

 

Also, if you do have an 'earthed' motor coil, you may want to consider using an inline starter fuse to make sure you don't short the battery, since doing so could cause it to explode.