Hi all, I own a 500i and after many years of difficult starting my scooter decided to not start at all...
I found this forum and made excellent reading.
So where do I start. New battery, worked for a week then the same...
Next check all battery connections. After checking the battery leads I decided they were too light, so had new ones made..... Still won't start.
Next look at current draw and voltage drop.
On cranking around 300amps and volt drop to 10. Not a good look.
So take the starter out, dismantle it, clean it out, make sure brushes aren't sticking, put armature into lathe, gently clean the commutator and clean the dust from the slots on com.
Lube the bushes and reassemble.
Do a no load test. The rpm was around 10000. The current draw was 23amps and volt drop was 2. The battery was fully charged at 13.7, so down to 11. 7. I thought the rpm was a little fast, but other measurements okay.
Pop starter into position but alas still won't start. Arrrr what to do next...
Onto phone to local kymco dealer, spoke with the spare parts guy. He was brilliant, very helpful. I decided to purchase a new starter. He also suggested I look at "the brass part on the left side of throttle body". I removed the part and very carefully cleaned the black soot then reassemble.
When I got the new starter I did all the same checks, it also run at around 10000rpm and current draw and volt drop very similar... The f word popped out of my mouth.... However what I did notice was the sound of the starters was different, the original sounded like the bushes were worn. I suspect the bush at the comm end is the problem.
Notwithstanding I placed the new starter in, run another earth direct to the starter. Now fingers crossed hit the starter button. Joy!! It bursted into life.
So as its winter time here (Busselton Western Australia) I thought let's wait till morning when it's at its coldest and to my surprise it fired up with no problem.
This is what I think the problems were.
1. Battery needs to have enough CCA
2. Original leads are not 'heavy' enough
3. Starter bushes were worn.
Let's hope I have joy for the next 5 years.
I will try and replace the bush in the old starter and keep as a spare.
Happy scooting folks.
