Starter Motor , Groundhog Day

[mk1]

Dudes , last 3 years without fail my starter motor or bendix has failed after the Winter lay-over. Click , click click... I have serviced or replaced each time with a new starter motor or bendix. Next Season click.! Has anyone else experienced similar ..?? Is this a FX1 thing . Getting fed up of having to rip out the exhaust etc. etc. every time... ( I also have a bog standard RN Superjet that starts 1st time , every time ) Both are kept outdoors and under ski covers. Would Wintering indoors help.? All advice appreciated , Thanks....

 

[JetManiac]

It depends. Do you store battery indoors during the winter? Do you fog motor and throughly dry out motor, waterbox, etc before storage.

FX electrics are not different than SJ so something else going on. Were prior failures water related?

 

[mk1]

Yes , batterys are kept and charged indoors. Starter motor normally has water in it when serviced , any sure fire way of making them 100 % watertight.

 

[X2Kid]

Check for water ingress via the flywheel cover gasket or where the starter motor enters the flywheel/bendix area. Even the grommet for the wiring might be an entry point. If you've replaced several starter motors I would assume they had new o-rings on them making the flywheel cover gasket or the grommet the more likely culprit.

 

[JetManiac]

Yes , batterys are kept and charged indoors. Starter motor normally has water in it when serviced , any sure fire way of making them 100 % watertight.

If starter has water in it, then you have issues with your setup. X2Kid has told you most of the likely leak spots.

Check for water ingress via the flywheel cover gasket or where the starter motor enters the flywheel/bendix area. Even the grommet for the wiring might be an entry point. If you've replaced several starter motors I would assume they had new o-rings on them making the flywheel cover gasket or the grommet the more likely culprit.

We do not rely just on the Oring, grommet, and gasket to seal on their own. We seal the starter oring/snout to cases, starter body to cases, and grommet/gasket with 1211, 1184, or RTV sealer.

One other thing, if your front crank seal leaks or you ingest a lot of water, then water can come through into front cover area that way as well.

Finally the starter body orings can leak directly, which is usually causes by corrosion lifting the seal just like on an ebox gasket fail.