[boulevard]

Well I am back. . . I had a few great weeks of enfield riding bliss.

Here is the story . . .

06 enfield military

About 40 degrees this morning which is cold for Alabama.  I went to kickstart the bike and it kicked back just a little before locking.  I heard a loud whack in the engine.  The kicker will no longer kick.  When I push the decompressor it is still not possible to kick.  It did not sound like anything broke in there or crunched BUT something definitely pinged and locked. 

I just left it alone and headed to work on the Suzuki. 

All I could think was I hope it is not expensive.

What do I do? Where do I start?

[ace.cafe]

99% chance that the sprag clutch  or gears in the electric starter system is broke.

It's common, and is especially likely to occur when the weather gets cold, which puts the jetting into a lean condition, unless it's re-adusted.

So, the likely scenario is that you kicked it, it was lean, so it kicked back causing the engine to try to move backwards, and the sprag clutch can only go in one direction, and it broke.
The sprag clutch is fully engaged 100% of the time. It works sort of like a ratchet-wrench, and can only go one way.
It can break during electric starting or kick starting.
And it can even break if the bike stalls, and the engine tries to go backwards after the stall.

The way to approach this is to remove the primary cover, and inspect all the gears in there, and it's probably got a couple of broken teeth, or the teeth in the sprag clutch itself are damaged.
If the gears are ok, and just the sprag clutch is toast, that's a bit cheaper to repair.
Some people just remove the whole thing, and put the primary back together without the sprag system, and use kick-start only.
Once you do that, it can't break again.

[Vince]

     Ace is probably right, but the other 1% is easy to check. Pop the tappet cover and /or the valve covers to check the push rods. I've had a couple of bikes with the same symptoms that were traced to a push rod popping off the rocker or tappet and jamming.

[boulevard]

That is what I was afraid of!  Well I will enjoy taking her apart and learning.  I will just remove the sprag clutch.

Probably be after thanksgiving before I can start the project.

I am going to research all the posting on this topic from the past and hopefully be able to get it done.

I know there is a lot of controversy on which tools you need.  Talk about a gear puller etc.  Ace what tools do you think I need to get the job done?

[ace.cafe]

That is what I was afraid of!  Well I will enjoy taking her apart and learning.  I will just remove the sprag clutch.

Probably be after thanksgiving before I can start the project.

I am going to research all the posting on this topic from the past and hopefully be able to get it done.

I know there is a lot of controversy on which tools you need.  Talk about a gear puller etc.  Ace what tools do you think I need to get the job done?

I've only taken one apart myself, and I was able to do it all with normal hand tools
But, some things might need a puller, if they are stubborn.

The only reason that I've even done that one, is that I bought a blown engine for parts, and had to disassemble it, and it was an E-start.

I'm sure you'll get some more detailed responses from many many other people here who's e-starts have blown out.

[1Blackwolf1]

  Have you looked into the valve train yet?  That way you don't start disassembly for a different problem.  I'd check that first, then pop it into gear and try to rotate the engine backwards a bit using the rear tire.  Will.

[boulevard]

Haha I can't keep from working on this thing.  I went home for lunch today and did a little trouble shooting.

I had know idea what a tappet was so I looked it up and I think I know what it is.  When I took off the cover I noticed that the right side was moving and that the left side did not move at all.

I put it in gear and tried rocking the bike to see if it would move but nothing happened.  I didn't rock it too hard though.

Does this mean that the tappet is stuck?  Or is it not supposed to move?

Here is a picture to make sure that I am talking about the right thing.  I know it is a terrible picture.  I couldn't find my light.

[ace.cafe]

Well, by looking at the picture, that pushrod does look like it might be on a funny angle. Hard to tell for sure.
You might wanna have a little more fun, and remove the fuel tank, and remove that rocker cover, and check to see if the pushrod is seated on the little ball end of the rocker arm, like it' supposed to be.
That's pretty easy to do, and it might turn up the answer.
Vince had an inkling about it, and Vince is very experienced with this stuff.
I always pay attention when Vince speaks.
Worth a try to look at the rocker.

[Blltrdr]

I did a little work on your pic and it definitely shows the intake pushrod off the tappet. You will want to take your valve cover off your intake side and take a look at the pushrod.

Thanks to Blackwolf for pushing the point again of checking the valvetrain.

[ace.cafe]

Good work, Blltrdr!

I couldn't see it on my screen.

You may have "dodged the Bullet", Boulevard!
If that's all it is, you are in the clear.
Maybe check the pushrod for any bends, to be sure it didn't suffer any damage.

Gotta hand it to Vince!
He really nailed that one, right on the button!
Nice work Vince!

[1Blackwolf1]

  Listening to Vince and Ace has saved me some serious time and $'s so I tend to look pretty close at things they mention.  This happened not too long ago to someone else on the forum.  I remembered that post.  Kind of like the saying in carpentry measure twice cut once.  Will.

[Vince]

    I appreciate the kind words, guys. I hope this is the extent of the trouble. A back fire can cause a push rod to pop off, but until this issue is addressed we are still not sure about the Sprag. An easy test is to remove the push rod and then try to turn the engine over.  There can be multiple problems. I suggested this first because it is an easy check and an easy fix. With any luck at all boulevard will be good to go.
     I would check valve adjustment on both intake and exhaust. Also check timing, and check for a fouled plug. The object being to avoid or rectify the cause of such a big back fire. The next one may take out the Sprag.

[boulevard]

Awesome! I am glad to be moving toward getting it fixed. Hopefully this weekend I'll get to it. I know I'll be asking more questions.

Thanks for the help.  You guys are gonna make a mechanic out of me.

[baird4444]

Man you really dodged a Bullet on this one...
            GOOD CALL Vince!!
If you find the rod needs replaced, I've got a spare I'd be glad to send you....
PM me and I'll post it  next day...
unless someone closer than Illinois has one... gotta dealer close by?
            - Mike
               

[boulevard]

Well once again I couldn't wait. I took the tank off and the top cap of the engine and everything looked fine. Both sides looked the same. The pushrod on the right side rotates and te one on the left does not. I'll post some pictures in the morning. I found my light so these ones look better.

It is like something is putting pressure on the rod from the bottom instead of the top. So much pressure that it won't rotate freely.