Starter Brushes

I am having a similar issue. At first my solenoid was not even clicking, but I cleaned every wire, replaced the battery and fixed two shorts. Now it clicks. Bridging the terminals on the solenoid does nothing. I recently pulled the starter and after a bit of struggle could get it to spin slowly a few times. I could not get the screws off to try cleaning the inside of the starter. Should I try again? Or her a rebuild kit first. Basically is it possible to fix the starter without rebuilding, by just cleaning it up.

Get a rebuild kit. It only costs $30-$40 bucks and it's extremely easy to do. Make sure to scribe or mark a line down the starter housing. This will keep everything oriented in the proper direction when reassembling. Basically all you do is take it apart and you'll see right away if the brushes are worn or not. A bunch of black dust will come out if they're toast. Clean everything up, test for shorts, slap in the new parts from the rebuild kit and put it back together. The first time I did it, I ziptied all the brushes in place. This time, I just removed the springs, slid in the brushes, popped the springs back on. Much easier that way. Good luck.


I went ahead and got a new rebuild kit for mine for a temp fix. I'm going to get a reman starter as soon as I can find a reasonable price. The old KZ starter still doesn't want to turn when motor is at operating temp.

Cajun, as far as not being able to get the screws off, mine was like that too. I took a pair of vice grips and grabbed the middle of the screw and got it off like that. I made a quick diagram for reference. Lock the vice grips where the black arrow is on the picture attachment and turn it loose. It marred the screw a bit, but I got it apart.

Got the starter working. It was filled with oil. Thanks for the tips on getting it open. Really helped. I cleaned it up and then crafted a new starter button with a dremmel and a rubber stopper. My shins are going to be thrilled.