starter?..clicking..

["BLAHH"300!!]

hey, i can't get my bike to start, i can't ride due to the swingarm/carrier so i went out to let it run a minute..

well, i turn the key, the neutral light come's on, both my fog light's come on, and my blue light's work, but...
when i hit the starter it just click's. the clicking isn't coming from the starter it's coming from this little round black thing by the battery...hot wire come's from the battery, to this black thing, then i'm not sure where, maybe to the starter, somewhere under there. i unhooked the wire's from this black thing cleaned the comnnection's and put em' back on, but it didn't help any.
i have rebuilt this starter once already. the little brushe's in the starter went out, fixed it. i believe it was about 2yrs ago..i didin't want to break into the starter untill one of you guy's could tell me why the clicking is coming from this little round thing.. also, what's that flat thing by the battery, and this black thing. it's flat metal and have kooling fins on it, (like the fins on the motor) what is that thing, what does it do....

do i need to replace this round thing, or the starter?. can the round thing be rebuit? what is it and what does it do...

.......DUHH....:huh

[harebounder]

That round thing is the seleniod. If i were to put money on it that is what is wrong. My 400 did that. Was clicking then eventually it started i cleaned all the connections didn't work. I bought a new one and put it on no more clicking works all the time. So i suggest you buy that and it will fix your problem if you want to make sure that is it. Get a test light go from battery to seleniod if you have juice going to it then go from seleniod to the one fuse in your fuse box down there. If it don't light up when you hit the starter that is your problem. Oh by the way that costs right around 50 60 bucks i think that is what i paid.

["BLAHH"300!!]

well..shouldn't having light's/neutral light's and all that. show that power is going through it?...

not doubting you but you know....

i also tried taking a wire and running around this "selenoid" didn't work

[DEAL]

Take a wire and run it from your positive battery connection to when the wire goes onto the starter , if your starter turns then its your sylanoid.

[Crypted1]

Most likely if its clicking its working. pull the ground off the batery where its bolted to the frame... clean this area with a not grease solvant. If you must buff it with like 220 grit sand paper and then reconnect your ground. this is most likely ther problem if its clicking but not starting.

[Pappy]

if it hasn't been started in a week or two...throw a little charge on the battery. that clicking noise is the solenoid . it is not getting enough voltage from the battery. and yes, even with a low battery your lights will work, for a while.

[harebounder]

I clean all my connections before i put my new seleniod on and tried it first because soon as you open any electrical componet you can't take it back. You might not have enough power and that will make it click i would try that. When mine would click it would light up the test light when it actually turn over it would light it up. My seleniod wasn't completly wasted when i replaced it. I never charged my battery and haven't had a problem since i have changed it.

["BLAHH"300!!]

thanx guy's.....i'll try all that.

[Rastus]

Sounds like the battery needs some more juice.

[DEAL]

Its probably not his battery if his lights and everything work. Its either his starter sylanoid or his starter brushes.
I asked the same question a few weeks ago about my 300ex and you guys all suggested the the battery and cleaning the terminals and wire connections.
But it actually turned out that my starter brushes were shot. Take your starter off and pull it apart and see if the brushes are worn at all , if they are replace them and install the starter. (make sure its bolted in place or it won't work), Also make sure all your washers are in the right places when installing the starter. If that doesn't work its defiently your sylanoid. The brushes and starter plate are on like $6-10. The sylanoid is around $20-30.
I ended up replacing the sylanoid first and then realized my brushes were shot and am kicking myself for spending all the money on that sylanoid when the brushes are dirt cheap.

[MX MadMann]

my 400 was doing the same thing , take the cables off the battery , clean 'em and reconnect. it should work like a charm. if not i dunno.

casey

[Rastus]

We know the selonioid is working, because its clicking, thats the sound they make when their working properly. Check your brushes, and your connections.

[toby400ex]

mine did the exact same thing i just clean the battery connections and everything worked

[MichaelS693]

yeah it is your relay it isnt gettin a connection or somethin just grab that black wire and move it up and down while hitting the sstarter button and eventually it will crank i got a friend that has this prob and i used to just play with tighting/loosening the nuts and crap

[slates74]

When my solenoid went it made a tick when you push the start button, I then took a screw driver (insulated of course) and went from one terminal on the top of the solenoid and connected it to the other, this in turn "jumps the solenoid' and lets the electrical current flow to the starter, this will then turn the motor over, if this does the trick it's time for a new solenoid.

This happened to mine a few weeks ago too. Unfortunately no one would reply to my post.:(
It was the solenoid on mine. Do as they said and "hotwire" the starter to the positive battery terminal. If starter turns over, it's your solenoid. Dealer quoted me $54 for one, so I went on ebay and got one for $12. I just hotwired it to start it for the week it took to ship my new solenoid. Works like a charm now. Good luck!

[exrider123]

what do you clean the connections with ?

[exrider123]

???

[DEAL]

The same thing happend to my 300ex ... i went out and bought a $50 cyclanoid , put it on , still didn;t work , it turned out being the $13 brushes in the starter.......
And yes it was clicking from the cyclanoid.

[exrider123]

what do you clean the connections with?

[White_Knuckles]

Clean any electrical connections with spray contact cleaner or starting fluid to clean the grease off. Some cleaners can damage plastic so don't spray into conectors apply to a Q-tip and scrub the metal only. Alcohol may be used safely around plactic. Then scrub connections bright with a small wire brush or sandpaper.
Don't overlook frame grounds or bare metal contact points.

The bypass or "hot wire" trick will test if the solenoid is failing but you should use a large diameter wire like a car jumper cable. The other diagnostic is to turn on the headlamp and hit the starter button, if the light dims way down the starter is eating up current but not rotating like worn brushes. The solenoid is a heavy relay it should pull in with a clicking noise you normally don't hear as the starter hits at the same time.

[Guy400]

White Knuckles, you win the prize for correctly spelling "solenoid"...lmao:D

*oops, I just saw Kenny spelled it right as well so you two will have to split the prize:)

[White_Knuckles]

Thanks guy400, "cyclanoid" really hurt! Well, we know what they mean.

;)