Starter After All?

My daughter just got a 2009 XT250 w/ 31K miles. It came w/ a mostly dead battery so first piece of business was new one and battery tender. Had an aluminum plug over pilot screw so second item was to drill it and do 3 turns out mod, as well as good carb cleaning.

Runs great once it gets going (non-ethanol gas). Problem is that starter cranks slowly, at least to my ear, and drains battery very quickly. After short commutes, it has trouble starting again. So taught her to bump start.

When running, RR puts out 14.3 V so no problem there. I checked for parasitic draw using ammeter in series - almost 0 mV. Bought a DC clamp ammeter and checked red wire from starter relay to starter motor. With key on it draws 2 A. when cranking it draws 168 amps!!! Yuasa battery is only rated for 120 CCA so short in starter may be problem?

What say the gurus? Should I replace it? If so with which make? And what is process to take apart this rubik's cube of a bike?

I'd remove the starter, disassemble it and inspect the windings, bearings, drive and commutator. You should be able to spot problems visually. If the commutator has shorted bars that will cause excessive current draw and poor performance. Same for shorted field and armature windings. If the XT250 has a magneto style ignition like the XT225, cranking speed needs to be high enough to generate a hot spark.

Welcome to the site as a new USER. Enjoy and ride safely.

The XT's battery is comparatively small, so repeated start attempts will drain it pretty quickly. That said, the amp draw you see tells me something is wrong. With the key just on, seems like there shouldn't be any amp draw to the starter unless there's a split somewhere downstream that's running the lights. 168 amps is way too high, should be half that at most.

One more thought, does the XT250 have a compression release/valve to make it easier to start? If that's stuck it might account for hard cranking.

No other wires spliced into starter lead - direct connection from relay. I guess I'll order new starter and start pulling exhaust and carb. Nuts are really rusted up on manifold - afraid to break studs. Will try Knock'er Loose and torch if needed.

A good penetrating oil for those rusted nuts is a 50/50 mix of ATF and Acetone. This causes a chemical reaction with the rust. Much better than PB Blaster, Liquid Wrench, etc.

If you've got bolts/screws run into aluminum female threads, proceed with caution. Galling and metal pickup can destroy the softer aluminum threads. I had this happen on one screw, exhaust side retainer ring. Needed to do a Helicoil repair which was tricky but restored the threads. Good luck and work safely.

Thanks, there's always a worser, worse case! Starter ordered along w/ studs, nuts, and gasket. Might be a while before you hear back from me...

Best of luck as you sort this problem out..

Tried MAPP gas torch but manifold nuts wouldn't budge. Had to take it to shop. Got it back 4 weeks and $300 later... Just in time for winter.

Hopefully that $300 out of pocket provided what the bike needed to run like it should. Fingers crossed, Joemama. Keep us posted!..

Sorry for delay, had to take it to shop. They kept it for a month! New starter fires up like a charm without draining the battery. Unfortunately, winter intervened so it's mothballed until spring.