TE 250/310 xlite starter issues...

I have just added a 250 xlite to the collection. it had a starter issue where the estart would crank it to TDC and not be able to overcome the compression. Started fine on the kick but hey thats not why i buy an estart bike!

Having read all the threads on starter issues, battery issues, incorrectly lined up/mismatched gears etc i was horrified to think the repair was going to be expensive. i had checked the volts and the battery was a little low 12.3v and dropped to 6v when cranking.

OK
Back to basics. With the plug removed to remove the compression i cranked it over. the starter flew round and turned the engine with ease. Interesting, so its not the starter or the gears as they all seemed to sound and work ok.

Lets check the decompresser mechanism, flicked it with a screwdriver and it all worked ok not siezed and looking in good order. HMMM

NOW check the valve clearance for the valves. inlet both ok at 0.15mm exhaust (kick start side) ok at 0.20mm generator side wooooooo 0.36mm way to huge. so huge the decompressor lobe cannot hit the bucket and open the valve. cam caps off noting bolt locations, cam removed and lobe height checked (no wear) bucket and shim removed and replaced with 0.16 bigger shim than in it original.(advantage of a full set of hot cam shims, 3 of everything from 1.2mm to 3.5mm in .05 increments) dob of moly grease on lobes journals etc and reassemble making sure not to over tighten cap bolts (at 4ftlb it would be impossible with anything but the best torque wrench so use your noddle, 4ftlb with a 3 ft 1/2 inch drive breaker bar designed for truck wheel nuts aint gonna do it!! my 3/8 drive inch pound torque wrench only went down to 10ftlb.
Whilst cam off checked other exhaust valve and shim.
Comparing the loose tappets shim with the correct other side i noticed there was exactly 0.16mm difference between the 2 shims. it is possible someone has dropped a ball in the past and replaced shim with one way too small and not noticed. Its possible they had changed shim and it hadnt seated properly giving false reading and then over compensated? due to the design of the head some larger width feeler guages do feel tight even though they are not anywhere near the correct thickness for the clearance. think this is due to the castings of the head getting in the way and putting pressure on them.


Way hey problem solved. no expensive starter motor or gears to buy.

Its possible that with a lazy decompressor due to a large clearance on this 1 valve that this is what is knackering peoples batteries and starters by trying to wind over an engine without enough decompression.

Just a thought.

CHECK THE BASICS BEFORE STRIPPING YOUR ENGINE AND SHELLING OUT £100's on starters or gears

Check your valve clearances carefully and regually. And always measure twice or three times after engine has been wound over 2 or three times inbetween checks to ensure all is correctly seated and timed.


Anyway my bargin 10 plate te 250 with 1800 miles for less than an 04 plate!!!

Good post smokin'

In my 2010 txc250 (now its a 310) the starter has a hard time turning the engine over hot or cold. I checked valve clearance and its good. I pulled the stator cover off and the worm gear doesn't seem to be binding.
Before I took the engine apart and made it a 310 it turned over fine.
Do the starter motors go bad?

Been experiencing the same electric start problem.
First it wouldn't not turn over hot now it will not turn over hot or cold (or just barley sometimes). Prior to disassembling I cleaned all electrical joints, tried jump starting it with a car battery, jumped out the starter solenoid, used the kick start to reposition it out of the compression stroke, no improvements.
So here goes ripping everything down.
Disassemble the starter motor, could tell by looking at the armature that alot of amps where being draw through it (heavy arcing across commutator), so I cleaned up the armature.
Removed flywheel and ring and worm gear, looks fine but then again not sure what I'm looking for, since I'm not sure this defect can be detected by the eye. i understand some folks just changed the ring gear and every thing was fine from that point forward.
Removed valve cover, auto decompression thingy looks fine, everything is free and the little lobe hits the exhaust bucket, though my exhaust valve clearance on this side is .009, still i would think think this would still release compression.
This brings to an off the subject question, at what rpms does the lobe not hit the bucket?
So now I'm shooting in the dark, do I just start replacing components?
Starting with a new battery them maybe a new starter motor, ring and worm gear how about this just part the bike out and buy something other than a Husky? Yes I'm frustrated and pissed at Husky for not addressing the problem.
I know what my friends are thinking when I'm kicking starting the bike (I'll never buy one of these), it's to bad for the Husky brand but once I sell it I'm never coming back.
Ok off my soap box and back to fixing the problem. Start buying new replacement parts!

Is yours a 250 as well?

No, 2011 310 but I don't think it makes a difference from what i read in the numerous threads.

Try setting that left exhaust valve clearance to .005 and see if it starts better before spending any money.

I am going to be digging into mine and check valves too. I noticed while riding about 60 miles or so it I stopped to pull an arrow if the piston was a TDC it didn't want to fire up. rocking it in gear would move it just enough to enable it to fire up. Next arrow no issues. every so often if it was just right it would be an issue but never to the point where it wouldn't start. Either way I agree it's stuff like this that's holding husky back. Here's to hoping they resolve it for the next guy!

Who sells the least expensive shims that fit the X-lites?
I understand some Honda and Yamaha shims fit? They might cost less than Husky?

I bought a Hot Cams 7.48 valve shim kit off amazon from seller Powersport Superstore for $69. I've already used a few. They fit perfect and come in a nice organizer box.

Mine started better after I dropped the left exhaust cam to .008 from .010". Yes, 4ft ib max on those 5mm cam cap screws!

The bigger issue I had was the flywheel was shearing the key and causing the IGN timing to become too far advanced.

Both X-light motors I took apart showed the flywheel key shearing over.

Inspected my flywheel key and it appears intact.
I have never done shims before, need some pointers.
How do shims come?
Do you stack them to get the right clearance?
Do you have to buy a kit or can you find loose ones for sale?

Be very careful

Changing shims on an x-light is not a "wing it" proposition. A LOT can go wrong if you don't do it right.

Either find someone with experience and a 1/4" touque wrench or a GOOD dealer to do it.

If you are in Amityville I can help you if you get the bike to my place in No NJ.

Shims are 7.48mm and come in .05 increments. Sometimes that makes it difficult to be spot on. The manual says .15 intake and .20 exhaust but I understand from this forum and some dealers that .004-.006 is good on the intake and .006-.008 is good for the exhaust. I usually aim for the middle. Honda and Yamaha 250s use the same shim size (and probably Kawasaki 250s also), so you should be able to get them just about anywhere.

You don't stack them...you get a bigger or smaller shim to reduce or increase the clearance to get you back in the range. There are some online valve shim calculators...I usually consult those.

Many dealerships will swap out shims for free. Some are pickier than others and may want them to have the shim size number still visible (the shim size is typically printed on the shim). Some will also sell the shim to you at a cost of $1-$3. After shimming my bike 3 times this spring, I decided just to buy a kit. That, and I never seem to get the shim size right the first time. If you think you need a 1.90, you might go ahead and get a 1.85 and a 1.95 also to avoid a second trip to the dealership.

R_Little thanx for the offer, I hate driving thru the city and over the GW.
I do own a quality torque wrench that will go to 45 in lbs. so I'm good there.
Your right I'm going to have to be careful and certainly doing it with someone who has the experience would be great. Maybe you can offer up any tips that may help.
We don't have any dirt bike riding on the island so finding a reputable mechanic will not be easy. Besides I should learn to do this myself even if it is tricky. If I wreck my engine then i don't have any e start problems anymore, I'll part the bike out and go back to orange.

Phoenix thanx for the shim information, on the Yamaha's are there certain years I have to ask for? I want know what I'm asking for, otherwise they'll be annoyed. These guys only deal with street bikes.

Okay let me see if I understand this before I take the cam off.
Use only one shim under the bucket at a time, no stacking.
If my exhaust clearance now is .009 and I want to reduce it to say .006 i would use either a 1.90, 1.85 or a 1.95.
I assume after changing the shim out you put the cam back on, torque it down and measure the clearance again.


So far what i discovered on my e start problem is when the spark plug is removed it spins over fast like it should. Put the spark plug back in the head and I get about 10 seconds of fast spinning before it stops.
I observed the ring and pinion gear spinning with the spark plug in and couldn't really tell by sight if it was starting to binding up.
So my choices are: shim the ADC side to .006 (thought I did observe the ADC lobe striking the exhaust bucket) but maybe its not releasing enough compression like someone else suggested here.
Just go ahead and replace the ring gear and see what happens.
Replace the starter and battery, though I disassembled the starter before running this test and it appeared by sight to be in good condition (I cleaned up the commutator, heavy arcing had occurred)
Resign myself that I have a kick start Husky and I go to most of the Husky sponsored dual sports rides and everyone can see me kick starting the bike, good p.r. for Husky since they don't want to address this problem.
Part the bike out.
Yes I'm frustrated and pissed! Sorry about the rant, back to fixing the problem.

I want to go to my local Yamaha dealer and buy some shims, what years and models fit the Husky?
Thanx

I have to kick start my e start bike.

Looks good except for this part:

That will depend on what size shim is in there right now, which you can only find out by taking the cam off.

After you take the cam off, stuff some rags in the cam chain shaft and then use a magnet to lift the buckets out. Most of the time, that will lift the shim right out too - stuck to the inside of the bucket.

And sorry, I missed the earlier question. Just tell them 2009 YZ250F if they press you for a model.

Well, I went through all the e-starting problems too, and here's how it went. Mine's a 2010.

The story begins with the bike rarely electric starting (binding like yours) and being nearly impossible to kick start as well. I found out the kick starting problem was because I had an exhaust cam that was replaced by a newer part number (this was an early 2010 problem). I bought the new cam and the kickstarting issues went away (started like a champ first kick) but it would rarely e-start. I went into denial mode and went through every possible option (swapped batteries, checked harness and sealed connectors, changed spark plug, on and on). Finally (after about a year of being stubborn and kick starting the bike while my friends made fun of me), I broke down and bought a new starter, ring gear and worm gear shaft. I ended up installing only the starter to see how it would work. Well, probably 8 months later, I rarely have e-starting problems and have never installed the ring gear or worm gear shaft). When I do, it has always been the result of my valve clearance being out of spec. I will say, though, that I have gotten in the habit of always using the kickstarter if the bike shows any signs of starting difficulty. I figure better that then burn out another starter trying to overcome that compression.

So, in conclusion, after getting your valves in spec, see how it starts. If you're still having problems (and this is my OPINION based on my own experience), I would buy the starter (and the gasket where it meets the case) but not the ring gear or shaft. The starter is easy to change out, but the ring gear will also require you to purchase a flywheel puller. If you have taken your alternator cover off and peeked behind the flywheel at the ring gear, it will - at first glance - look quite worn. What you are seeing is actually normal and is just the shape of the gear teeth. I saw that and jumped to conclusions that the gear was worn when it really wasn't. If you really want to buy those other two parts, though, I'll make you a great deal. lol.

Wish I saw this message earlier, I just ordered the ring gear.
One difference I must note from yours, when kick starting, I can kick it sitting on the bike (I guess by then I'm mad as hell so I have a lot pent up energy). I can read the expressions on my orange friend faces (not good for the Husky brand reputation).
I'm kind of in denial that the exhaust is out by .001 from spec that it would make a difference. But hey I can't leave no stone unturned.
I'll replace the ring gear and if nothing changes I'll move to change the exhaust gap to .006 (that's not to tight?).
Then I'll move on to the starter motor (I've been testing with two fully charged batteries in parallel).
Thanx Phoenix, you guys are great.

Curious to know how it turned out? The last ride I did I ran into similar starting problems and wanted to see how things ended for you.