[LoneKodiaK]

After about 4000 kilometer and 2.5 years on my Kodiak, starting the Kodiak started being an issue. It first started that I had to keep the start switch ON longer. Then the starter would turn but soon stop, after 2 to 3 try it would start. It eventually would not start at all.


Checked battery and starting solenoid, all seemed good. Monitored the voltage from solenoid to starter and found 12.4 volts when turning then on seize up down to 9 volts.


Decided to remove the starter and bench test but on the bench I noticed a short to ground. I disassembled the starter and found the field coils (magnets) to be unglued from the outer body. Basically they were stuck to the armature.


My neighbor bought a Grizzly 700 about a week before me and after 1 year and 10 days his starter also failed. Lucky for him Yamaha did replace his starter free of charge, warranty was 1 year.


My Kodiak was built in November 2016. I suspect that the starter manufacturer had a batch of defective starters, bad glue or bad application of glue.


FYI the starter Brand is MITSUBA model SM17 12V and can be found on Amazon or EBay cheaper than most dealers.


Hope this can helps someone :smile2:

 

[LoneKodiaK]

Pic of the damaged starter, loose and damaged magnets

 

[KodiakAfishyo]

Good info. Thanks for sharing.

 

[gibby]

Thanks for sharing. I just wanted to add I found same issue on mine - 2016 Kodiak 700 SE. Last year it became hard to start in the cold and also after it had been running for a while it would struggle on the warm restarts. Dealer had just done the recall on the decompression spring and I thought it was maybe related. I also put in a nice Interstate battery in case it was just the battery getting weak. But it only has 400 miles on it so (and never swamped) just easy trail riding or running around my property in Michigan so it seemed so unlikely the starter would have already failed. But sure enough it was and I found same issue with the starter magnets inside just like you did. Also I bought the replacement on amazon and could see it was same brand as OEM (Mitsuba) at half the price. Also in case it helps someone - I was able to replace the starter from the top by simply removing the air box asm. I didn't even take any of the plastics off or anything. And in the Yamaha service manual it said to remove the exhaust - but coming in from the top I didn't have any trouble removing it with the exhaust in place. Just wanted to capture the information in case it helps someone else who is having trouble starting and is thinking no way could be the starter that failed so early. Seems like they had some quality issues for sure on these starters.

 

[crawdaddy]

Thanks for sharing. I just wanted to add I found same issue on mine - 2016 Kodiak 700 SE. Last year it became hard to start in the cold and also after it had been running for a while it would struggle on the warm restarts. Dealer had just done the recall on the decompression spring and I thought it was maybe related. I also put in a nice Interstate battery in case it was just the battery getting weak. But it only has 400 miles on it so (and never swamped) just easy trail riding or running around my property in Michigan so it seemed so unlikely the starter would have already failed. But sure enough it was and I found same issue with the starter magnets inside just like you did. Also I bought the replacement on amazon and could see it was same brand as OEM (Mitsuba) at half the price. Also in case it helps someone - I was able to replace the starter from the top by simply removing the air box asm. I didn't even take any of the plastics off or anything. And in the Yamaha service manual it said to remove the exhaust - but coming in from the top I didn't have any trouble removing it with the exhaust in place. Just wanted to capture the information in case it helps someone else who is having trouble starting and is thinking no way could be the starter that failed so early. Seems like they had some quality issues for sure on these starters.

That looks just like my started when I took it apart.... Any repair parts for these for magnet seperation?

 

[rancherMike]

Also I bought the replacement on amazon and could see it was same brand as OEM (Mitsuba) at half the price. Also in case it helps someone - I was able to replace the starter from the top by simply removing the air box asm.

Thank you for the post. Can you please tell me what is the air box asm?

 

[legprod]

You can take the plastics off reach in from the left side on a 16 kodiak 700 without taking the muffler off. Patience and a $15 small socket set from harbor freight black hard plastic green closing tabs. UTube taking plastics off very easy after first time.

 

[MTMark]

After about 4000 kilometer and 2.5 years on my Kodiak, starting the Kodiak started being an issue. It first started that I had to keep the start switch ON longer. Then the starter would turn but soon stop, after 2 to 3 try it would start. It eventually would not start at all.


Checked battery and starting solenoid, all seemed good. Monitored the voltage from solenoid to starter and found 12.4 volts when turning then on seize up down to 9 volts.


Decided to remove the starter and bench test but on the bench I noticed a short to ground. I disassembled the starter and found the field coils (magnets) to be unglued from the outer body. Basically they were stuck to the armature.


My neighbor bought a Grizzly 700 about a week before me and after 1 year and 10 days his starter also failed. Lucky for him Yamaha did replace his starter free of charge, warranty was 1 year.


My Kodiak was built in November 2016. I suspect that the starter manufacturer had a batch of defective starters, bad glue or bad application of glue.


FYI the starter Brand is MITSUBA model SM17 12V and can be found on Amazon or EBay cheaper than most dealers.


Hope this can helps someone :smile2:

Look at my post - Code 12 Starter Failure - you’ll see many parallels.