Rebuilt, won't start.

[Antifaith]

I've just nearly completed the rebuild on my 2001 400EX after getting the frame powder coated. This is the biggest project I've ever undertaken, and it's also the first time I've used tools other than screwdriver ( spent almost 1500$ on tools so far and i can't seem to stop, i think i'm addicted to shopping for tools but that's off the point).

Up until now everything was going great and i managed to rebuild I'd say 95% of the quad in 2 days of nonstop labor.

Now the problem is .. the damn thing won't start. The engine start button does nothing, and i have no lights turning on anywhere.

Since i didn't do any work on the engine aside from taking it out and putting it back in, I'm assuming the mechanical aspect is not behind this.

My current thought is that something is wrong with the way I plugged the wires.
I had taken pictures of the wiring before disassembling it, but it turns out the memory stick in the camera was faulty so the pictures are corrupted.

I realize you guys can't do much without actually seeing how i plugged everything, so i took a couple of pictures. The more i look at them, the more i think they won't be very helpful, but you guys are one of my last resorts before i have to take it to the shop and having to pay 400$ or more for something they'll probably fix in 1 hour.

Anyway, here's a bunch of pictures that i took before it got dark.

View of the front, from the left side of the bike:
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/4536/img0417xt3.jpg


A View of the battery and the surrounding area:
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/5681/img0418ln6.jpg

A top view of the front, much easier to look at:
http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/1097/img0420tj4.jpg


Another top view of the front:
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/7941/img0422oi1.jpg

A view of the ignition coil( at least i think that's what it's called?). There was this green wire that i had no idea what to do with so i just put it where my finger is pointing since the wiring diagram in my service manual says it's a ground. Is this a mistake?:
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/2027/img0424hn3.jpg

OK, here is the one that's bugging me the most. I have these 2 wires that i cannot plug anywhere! They are the same color as the tail light's wires, but those cannot reach those 2 unconnected wires, and i already put them in 2 other wires of the same color that were closer. I don't have much experience with wiring diagrams, but based on what i can read from it, they are supposed to be unplugged. I have a hard time believing that... can anyone confirm?:
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/7388/img0425ad2.jpg

A view of the rear taken from further away:
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/957/img0426nm9.jpg

Last one.. another one much like the ignition coil, but for the battery. I have no idea where the negative was grounded so i just hooked it up to the screw that holds the battery box, or whatever it's called ,to the frame. Mistake?:
http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/8338/img0431cy3.jpg

The more i look at that one, the more i think my negative is not positioned right.

One last thing, since i rebuilt this thing, i am only able to shift between neutral and second. If i try to go in first or third and up, i just kinda hit the lever and encounter no resistance whatsoever.

Anyone help would be GREATLY appreciated. I'm kinda starting to lose hope here, this started our real well and now nothing is working right.

Also, if anyone wants pictures from a different angle just ask and i'll upload them right away.

[JOEX]

I haven't looked at the pics yet but have you checked the fuse? There are two fuses next to each other but one is a spare.

With the shifting, are you rocking the quad back and forth between shifts? You'll need to.

[Antifaith]

Yeah the fuse thing is one of the first things that came to my mind as well. I only have 1 in there because i blew one during a night right, but it's plugged into the right area (the one in the rear).

[JOEX]

Your connections look correct from what I can tell but the negative side of the battery may need a better position. I don't remember where the stock location is.

Another thing, since the frame has just been PC'd there may not be a good metal to metal contact from the frame and subframe, this is fairly common. Check all the frame grounds for good contact.

[Antifaith]

Could anyone post pictures of their wiring? I'm at the end of my rope here, got up at 7am this morning and i've been working on this problem for 4 hours and it's still not working. Moved the battery ground, moved the ignition coil ground, checked for faulty wires, etc..

[northwest Texas]

You're going to need the ground touching bare metal to ensure positive contact.

With you getting absolutely nothing, it sounds an awful lot like a ground.

I'll look at your pics in a minute and I'll go take some of mine for you. Gotta do that anyway for someone else.

[Antifaith]

Ah! Got it working! It was a bad ground like you guys suspected. I grounded the battery right on what i think is called the regulator ( the metal thing bolted to the frame on the right of the battery) and it started right up.

As for only being able to shift to second in neutral, could it be because my clutch is not well adjusted? I just kind of hooked up the cable back to the engine without remembering what the initial adjustment was. I seem to have a lot of free play when i start pulling the lever, and at the middle of it's course it because kinda hard to pull.


Here's a picture of how i hooked up the clutch cable. Let me know if it's wrong:

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/739/img0416qv0.jpg


Also, if you look at that picture, you'll notice that the dumbass previous owner welded the heat shield to the headers. Any idea how to fix that so i can make a new hole and tap it? The surface is very uneven so i can't drill in there right now.


Thanks for the help so far guys. Once i get the clutch working, i'll have need to do is clean up the wires and cables so they don't hang all over the place and then I'm done for this winter.

[04exking]

Can you post a pic of the final product (entire bike) I would love to see it after following your thread.

[Antifaith]

Sure, will do. It's not looking that good even with the PC'ed frame so far. It was a very beat up quad and was poorly maintained. I plan on powdercoating a lot of parts on the bikes, and then going with a 2007 plastic conversion kit and 4 hiper rims once the body is all cleaned up.

Now that the frame is done, i'll start having various pieces powdercoated individually. Motor mounts are next... i'm thinking it could be better to have them polished or chromed though, still have to decide on that.


Oh, got the clutch working by the way, just messed with the adjustement and it's working ok. Now i just need to wait for my steering stem bearing and i'll be trying it out :devil:

[Antifaith]

Here's a picture of the bike so far. I'm almost done rebuilding:

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/6045/img0432cc2.jpg

Still looks dirty but it's a work in progress hehe. Here's a picture of the frame before the powdercoating. Damn thing looked terrible. The circled footpegs were for some before/after pics of the peg that i never got around to taking.:

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/1151/footpegbeforecn2.jpg


Here's the frame. minus the subframe that wasn't ready yet, after it got PC'ed:

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/3374/img0381zj0.jpg

Subframe:

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/4782/img0379tq2.jpg

[04exking]

That is going to be one bad bike when it is finished. Already you have turned it around 180 degrees.

[ride_red666]

use a punch to get a starter hole then u can drill out that weld. what color you planning on going with. kinda looks like my quad....

[Antifaith]

Double post

[Antifaith]

Bringing this post back from the dead because the ATV no longer starts. I got it to start once and posted here when it did, but all future attempts failed.

My battery is dead so i hooked up the atv to my truck with boosting cables. Lights came on, neutral light was green, everything seemed fine. When i hit the starter button, i heard a "click" and everything went out. No more lights, nothing. After 30 minutes of plugging and unplugging cables, i tried again, and the lights were back. Tried a second time, and got the same click and everything went out again.

My battery always seemed to die on it's own since i bought it so i figured maybe it was draining power or something like that.

I unplugged the negative and positive cables from the battery and hooked them right up to the booster cables. This did nothing. BUT, i accidentally dropped the negative booster cable and when it hit the axle the engine made that sound it makes when you hit the starter button, but at a much faster speed. I figured that's because the current wasn't going through what i think is the ignition pulse generator on the right of the battery. I tried it at different locations and the same thing happens everytime my negative booster cable came in contact with a metal surface.

When i try hooking the negative booster cable back to the black ground cable, nothing. I have checked my ground and changed it's location a bunch of times so i'm certain my ground is good.

Based on all this, I'm thinking that my battery is dead for good. Could this be a possibility?

Also, could someone post pictures of their battery ground just to be sure? A picture of where the ignition coil is grounded would be nice too.

[Antifaith]

bump.

[blown331]

my buddy just bought a brand new yfz450 he did some mods and somehow left his ignition or something

he kept trying to start the bike and it just clicked

he hooked up his truck to the atv battery (bad idea with the truck running)

anyhow, he didnt want to listen to me as I kept telling him the battery was toast.

Pulled the battery off of his wifes atv... connected his terminals and it fired right up

now, because you jumped the current it may have popped a fuse... you may want to check the fuses on your bike and a brand new battery

[Antifaith]

Ok, sent the battery to the store to have it tested, will know the result tomorrow. The fuse is fine, checked it half a million times so far hehe.

So if i understand correctly, hooking p the quad to the truck while it's running will give it too much juice and most likely fry it? If the truck is not running, only the required juice will be pulled from it's battery?

[sextonjd99]

Do you have any side or rear view pics of your quad with the new pc'd frame? Looks good and i've been thinking of doing mine.

[Antifaith]

I'll try to post some tomorrow or saturday. Gotta go to work right now.

[AbnMP13]

Originally posted by Antifaith
So if i understand correctly, hooking p the quad to the truck while it's running will give it too much juice and most likely fry it? If the truck is not running, only the required juice will be pulled from it's battery?

I was told to never jump a quad or bike from a running vehicle 'cause it's too much juice.