Bad starter clutch? Long...

My 09 Teryx is just 6 weeks old; 10 hours on the clock; and I try to start it today and it turns over for a bit and just as I let up on the key it kicks back (I think). When I try again it just clicks. So I run the usual suspects from easy to hard. Low battery, no; loose cable connection or ground, no; solenoid direct jump and still nothing but clicks. I stop and call a Kawasaki dealer and talk to a service tech. He says he is backed up for three weeks but he thinks it might just be jammed and I might try turning the crank a bit. I go back at it and dig deeper, tear it apart some more. Pull the alternator cover off the left side and turn the engine crankshaft. Still nothing but clicks… More plastic and covering comes off. I pull the starter off the front of the engine and hold it in my hand. Looks fine, teeth are clean and unmarked. I ground it against the frame and hit the key and the starter motor spins right up. At this point I’ve eliminated all of the relatively easy stuff. I can reach in the starter hole and feel the starter clutch gear. Teeth are good and I can turn it one way and not the other, just as it should be. I’ve gone about as far as I can go, so I bolt the starter back on and try it again. It does a little double click and rattle thing and then settle back into the single click thing. I put my hand on the starter and I can feel it click and torque up but it just can’t budge the clutch. I’m betting the starter clutch is broken and to get to that you have to pull the side cover and alternator apart. Access looks tough… I feel I must let them fix it under warrantee.

Called a different dealer and got an appointment for two weeks away and if it takes them a couple of weeks to fix it I’m probably looking at a month down time. I hope I don’t come to regret this Kawasaki purchase, but we are not off to a great start..

PS: I have the 08 service manual and usually do all my own repairs.

I don't know much but my battery to a sh*t two weeks after I got it.....every time I would charge it it would last a day then just click when I tried to start it....Have you removed the spark plugs and tried to crank it? That will release the compression.....you might have too much fuel or coolant in the cylinders creating a hydrolock situation?! Just my thoughts???????

i would put a 50 amp booster on the battery and try that, it sounds more like a weak battery to me.

Update: Talked to another dealer (1hr 20 min away) last Friday and they said they could take me right in. Winched it up on the trailer and drove over today. Tech went through all of my tests and a few new ones. Conclusions so far: not the battery or any wiring. we jumped to the starter direct with his jumper unit. Pulled the plugs and confirmed the engine turns freely and the drive clutch is not binding. Pulled the starter off and disasembled, it looks good and tests fine. Installed a new starter motor and it still won't turn over. Several techs talked it over and we are left with it must be a bad starter clutch dispite the fact it seems to turn by hand ok. Left it with them and they are going to pull the side case off. Then they can pull the alternator rotor and then the torque limiter and the clutch. This thing really has to come apart to get to it. I'm not happy but what can you do...

I'll update as I find out more

please let me know what you find. my starter and solinoid burned up last weekend but it was doining the same thing that you said. but it only did it every now and then. the dealer said it was my optima yellow top battery that caused mine to burn up. we are fighting it out. every one i ride with has a yellow top!

Update: Talked to the service writer and he said the tech said it was a broken gear tooth that was jammed in there. I named the system parts and he wasn't sure which gear. Since the system has 4 gears and the 2 we could see looked ok, it must be one of the torque limiter gears or the flywheel gear. To be clear, there was no starting problems prior to the failure and once it failed the starter never turned the engine over again. If this happened out on the trail it would mean tow it home.

i have broke some teeth on my flywheel and so has 3 of my friends with brute forces

Yes, it was broken teeth on the flywheel. They replaced the flywheel and the torque limiter assembly under warrenty. I picked it up today and it is back together and in service. If there is a lesson here it MAYBE "Hold the starter engaged until the engine completely starts. If you let off the key before it is running it might kick back and break teeth off the flywheel" Again, this is only a theory as to why this happened. The service writer said the repair would have been over $500 so I think I'm going to spring for the $600 four year extended warrenty before my 6 months is up. Just to be safe...

We just pulled my friends apart and it was not to hard at all. The gear was $71.00. I told the dealer i needed a flywheel and they told me over $400.00! so I went down there and it is not the flywheel it is a starter gear. Thankfully

Great info here...thanks!

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