Solenoid?

[warriorkid]

Well i havent started my quad for about 2 months. But i got the beast out and rode it all day on saturday and it started fine. Then as the day went on, i noticed that it turned over slower and slower until it just made a single click sound when i pressed the button. It may be the battery, but when i touch the two terminals of the solenoid together it does nothing. Anyone know if this is a solenoid or battery problem? I think it is battery, but a few people have told me that it might be the solenoid. (the battery is only 6 months old)


Thanx

 

[warriorman11]

check your starter

 

[warriorspeed350]

sounds like a battery problem

 

[bickel76]

charge your battery, start it up and check to make sure it is getting charged by the quad by using a volt/ohm meter

 

[warriorkid]

well, if i push start the bitch and run it for a while (like an hour or so) it still does the same thing, and it doesnt even try to turn over at all. So maybe it could be the thing that charges the battery...(i forget what its called) But i was thinkin the solenoid because when i touch the two terminals together with a screwdriver, it doesnt do anything. And i remember touching them together a few months ago, and it turned over.

 

[dswwarrior350]

sounds like a starter problem to me, touching the 2 terminals even on a bad cylenoid will start it, because it completly bypasses the cylenoid

 

[yamarider]

But i was thinkin the solenoid because when i touch the two terminals together with a screwdriver, it doesnt do anything. And i remember touching them together a few months ago, and it turned over.

shorting the terminals on the solenoid bypasses the solenoid, temporarily removing it from the loop. If it still doesn't do anything when you short the terminals, the solenoid isn't your problem. I'm suspecting a problem with your charging system, since it got weaker and weaker as the day went on, maybe the rectifier burned up.

Next question... do the headlights work when the engine is off? How about when it's running? That'll help the troubleshooting process.

 

[bickel76]

i agree with yamarider as far as it being something with the charging system. follow his tips with checking the lights.

to find out if your battery just isnt taking a charge though, pull it out and take it to batteries plus or wherever and they can check it for you for free. if you are like me and dont trust salesmen, get a second opinion if they say your battery is shot.

another thing to keep in mind is try to troubleshoot it as much as you can before you purchase something. most places will not let you return electrical components.

might sound stupid, but another thing you might want to do is get some dielectric grease and contact cleaner from autozone, everyplace there is a connection, take them apart, clean them and put in some dielectric grease. it is a shot in the dark, but it could help eliminate some electrical mishaps in the future.

 

[87warrior78]

i had that same problem and it was the starter. i even pulled it of there and rebuilt and it did fine for the first start. after that the solenoid would click. i tryed to jump it like you did and all it did was try to weld the screw to the terminals. the starter is messed up try taping on it see if the starter trys to turn over.

 

[warriorkid]

Yea, i got a new battery and put it in with the existing solenoid and it does the same thing. Ive already ordered a solenoid, so we will try that. And even if it isnt those two things, then atleast we know that they are in good working condition. So we can move on to other things, like the starter.