bike no turn over just click from starter magnetic?????

[bens250ex]

ok i am putting my girlfriends 400 back together from a rebuild and i can't get it to turn over? all i get is a click for the starter magnetic. no power to the starter itself. any ideas? im stumped i have charged the battery it was full i have tried to jump start it, i can't get anything more than the click. does this mean something is gone bad? or could i have a wire in the wrong place? (don't know how i could i have been over it 50 billion times. if anyone know please help me out.

[rcatvrider]

Your starter motor brushes are failing to make contact with the commutator. Take off the motor and split it apart and you will see a cylinder in the middle and on the end there will be two brown things pushing against the comm. Take em out, sand them a bit, blow carb cleaner on the brushes and in the brush hoods and apply anti-seize to the outside of the brushes, not the part that touches the comm. slide them in and problem will be solved. This exact same happened to me before.

[bens250ex]

so take off the little round thing i was talkin about by the battery and pull it apart correct?

[ridinga400ex]

mine clicked but it was my solenoid i had to replace..

[rcatvrider]

No, you need to take apart the starter motor on the engine.

[bens250ex]

but i makes the click even when that starter isn't hooked up?

[rcatvrider]

When you hit the starter does it make one click or many clicks? If it's just one I'm still betting it's the starter. It's only a 15 min fix, I would try doing what I said to the starter first.

[speedfoxracing]

mine did that once and i just had 2 tighten the termanels

[bens250ex]

it does one click. i just don't see how it would be that though because i can unhook the startor and it will do the same thing. ill try it. im sitting in the garage right now so ill see how it goes

[bens250ex]

startor is apart

[Pipeless416]

mine did the same thing and it was the relay that went bad.

[bens250ex]

ok brown things? im not sure what im suppose to take out. i see two things that touch the thing that spins? what does the part look like that im suppose to take out?

[bens250ex]

which relay?

[BigBore24]

its prolly either the solenoid or a bad connection. as you said if it does the same thing with the starter unhooked then its prolly nothing to do with it. do you have a 12 volt test light. see if you got power to the cable going to the starter when you push the butrton. if not the take a screw driver and jump across the 2 terminals on the solenoid (round thing by the battery) if you get juice to the cable then, then you either have a bad solenoid, bad ground, or bad start switch.

[bens250ex]

Originally posted by BigBore24
its prolly either the solenoid or a bad connection. as you said if it does the same thing with the starter unhooked then its prolly nothing to do with it. do you have a 12 volt test light. see if you got power to the cable going to the starter when you push the butrton. if not the take a screw driver and jump across the 2 terminals on the solenoid (round thing by the battery) if you get juice to the cable then, then you either have a bad solenoid, bad ground, or bad start switch.

you should be correct.... ill test when i get back from a lil ride i gotta take a break ....

[bens250ex]

ok here is what i have. i have power to startor i pulled the startor and ground it to the frame and bam when i hit the start button it works. that puts out all non workin things we have mentioned. i also put the startor back on and jumped it straight to the startor and it turned the engine over. there has to be a wire some where blocking something. i am also getting electricity throught the throttle cable????? im confused on what could be messed up any ideas?

[bens250ex]

im getting a current that is running through the engine. i can touch the test light to certain parts of the engine and it will light up...?????????????????????????????????????:macho :grr:

[bens250ex]

starter turns when off the engine and ground to the frame?????? what gives??????

[NickG5755]

starter solenoid. Take a screwdriver with the key on and touch the 2 terminals and see if it works.

[alex10]

SOLENOID

[bens250ex]

Originally posted by NickG5755
starter solenoid. Take a screwdriver with the key on and touch the 2 terminals and see if it works.


i did just on accident earlier didn't do anything. i tried again and now im getting no spark???? its driven me nuts

[bens250ex]

Originally posted by alex10
SOLENOID

so yall think the solenoid is bad. so even if its bad it can still somewhat work? the motor went through alot of hassel to get a bolt out from the swingarm i thought somethin inside might have messed up. i guess ill have to buy a solenoid

[bens250ex]

if the solenoid is bad couldn't i jump the two connecting points? this didn't work when i tried it????

[NickG5755]

was the key on ? run switch on?
if the solenoid bad or good you should be able to jump them. is your battery charged?

and sometimes on the 400s the solenoid connections get loose and when you try to start it youl hear clicking.... anywhere from 1 click to continuous clicks

[alex10]

Use a wire or something a jump the positive terminal from the battery to the starter and see if it turns the engine. If not then you need to tear into the starter motor.

check your fuses. there are 2, 1 is the spare. my brothers quad 1st would turn over but wouldnt fire and it would die quick, jumped it pull started it it ran and shut off, then hitting the starter button it wouldnt even make a noise. Switched the fuse and it started no problem. Just saying check your fuse. if its good then its something else.

[bens250ex]

the key was on when i tried to jump the terminals. i have also jumped the starter by going straight to it and it turned the motor over. i can also pull the starter and put it against the frame still hooked up and i can push the start button and the starter will turn. but as sooon as its back on the engine it want spin anymore just click....i checked the fuses but i will switch them out tommorrow

[BigBore24]

sounds pretty clearly like you are losing your ground from your battery to the motor. the starter grounds through the mounting holes. run a wire from the negative on the battery to the starter mounting bolt hole with everything else hooked back up like it should be, then hit the button and see what happens. you may need to use a heavier gauge wire like 12 or 10 ga. if thats it then your proly losing the ground through the subframe mounting bolts. ake it off and clean all the contact points.

[bens250ex]

Originally posted by BigBore24
sounds pretty clearly like you are losing your ground from your battery to the motor. the starter grounds through the mounting holes. run a wire from the negative on the battery to the starter mounting bolt hole with everything else hooked back up like it should be, then hit the button and see what happens. you may need to use a heavier gauge wire like 12 or 10 ga. if thats it then your proly losing the ground through the subframe mounting bolts. ake it off and clean all the contact points.

turned out to be what your talkin about. the ground wire off the engine was messed up even though i had already tried to fix it. i got it figured out and she fired up. i have one more question. i want to make sure my oil lines are hooked up right does the line from the oil tank hook up to the top or bottom oil port spot? or does it matter? sorry i can't remember which one it goes to. and maybe one more question. i had a big problem with the swing arm bolt and i got all new stuff for the swing arm but i can't find the two bushings that went into the case where the swing arm bolt goes through. if someone can help me find were to get them it would be awesome. i have looked on service honda but maybe i am lookin in the wrong spot. thanks for all the help guys