RandyJ
Master Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2002
- Messages
- 808
This seems like one of those problems I should be able to fix without a problem and feel that it is beneath me to ask for help...but here I am again, lowering myself to ask for opinions or suggestions. My 4 wheeler suddenly decided not to start... like pushing the start button does nothing but makes the neutral light go dim. I tinkered with it a bit then suddenly it began to start just like new. Then all at once back to the same scenario. I tried shorting the solenoid...nothing. I disconnected the battery cable then pulled the hot wire off the starter and connected directly...started fine. She'll sit for a while then start. I did this then started the scooter like 40 times with no problem. Suddenly, back to the same thing. I've checked for loose connections, bad wires etc and can't find anything wrong. I've checked voltage and it seems that when the light goes dim and it won't start then suddenly I'm getting like 6 or 8 volts from the solenoid and it won't do anything when I short the solenoid... but when I'm not getting the dim light thingy I can jump the solenoid and it cranks like new. This is confusing me because it seems that the solenoid is shorting or the start button has a problem but the tests I do seem to eliminate this. Also, when the light goes dim I can smell the sweet smell of a battery being charged (or maybe discharged). Some times, it's like something cools off then suddenly it will easily start when the button is pushed. I'm REAL confused. When I've had boats do this kind of thing it was always a bad battery cable, corrosion inside the terminal... but I don't find this to be the problem this time.