it just clicks but battery is not dead!???

[hotshotgoal30]

ok so i have a dilema. its been about 9 degrees out and this problem only happens when its really cold out and if i leave my quad outside for a few hours. tonight we parked the quads around a bonfire for id say 2 hours and when i go to start it, it just clicks like the battery is dead but its not. so we hook up rope and pull it to get it started and it fires right up. i ride it around shut it off and hit the button and it starts right up. what gives? its like the battery doesnt have power to turn the motor over when its really cold out. otherwise its fine. this is the third time it has happened. the other time it did it i thought the battery was junk so i hooked a charger to it but it said it was full so it wouldnt even charge it. it doesnt do it all the time just when you let it sit out in the cold and dont start it for a couple hours. the motor turns over fine the fuel injection works fine and the battery like i said is not dead it just clicks untill i push start it and get the motor fired up. and then its fine it will start and stop all you want after that unless i let it sit for a long time. it doesnt seem like it would be the starter its brand new? could it be a bad cell in the battery that is effected by the cold? its just weird. and if i tell my dealer im sure they will say nothing is wrong because if it sits in a shop it will start everytime. anyone shine any light cause its really annoying and it bothers me. sorry for writing a story. lol

[k4f5x0r]

try using a thinner base oil. might be easier on the starter and let the piston go easier. something like 0w-40. what im about to use all year. since its not much different then 10w-40. it just starts thinner and makes things alot easier ot start.

[hotshotgoal30]

really? you think it had to do with oil? i would think that it should be able to start regardless. cause thats what it is like, it cant turn the motor over untill i push start it. then as soon as it starts if i turn it off and hit the button it will start up. its like why wouldnt it do that before? its really goofy, someone had mentioned a selonoid or a dead cell in the battery i really just have no clue

[crixal]

i think you said you have a fmi.. maybe it's not hooked up right

[hotshotgoal30]

no fmi yet. bone stock

[hotshotgoal30]

the battery is good. it starts all the time accept in the conditions in which i mentioned. and the charger reads 12 volts. but thats not a load test so it might be different. but the lights arnt dim or anything. and like i said as soon as i push start it i can turn it off right away and hit the button and it will start so the battery cant be dead otherwise it wouldnt do that.

[hotshotgoal30]

i know its got me puzzled too, and its totally embarrasing. people were checkin it out tonight and i was like oh take it around. so i do the usual and turn the key on let the pump run and hit the button and i get click click click. so then the jokes from my friends are on me

[bwkcobra03]

Have you tried using a jumper box to start it? You should keep your battery on a battery tender when you are not riding especialy whear you live it is very cold and batterys do not like extream cold. BRP uses a very small battery to keep it lighter than the other 4 wheelers. small battery = less cold cranking amps. I had the same problem last weekend now i have a battery tender and heep the heat on in my garage.

[hotshotgoal30]

so you also had the same problem? the problem is not when its in the garage because it starts everytime. just when im out riding and its cold so there isnt really anything i can do about that. it just wont crank the motor over till i push start it and get the motor running. the battery is so damn small. im thinking if there is enough room to put a larger interstate in there. ill sacrafice the weight because this is getting rediculas. also i was looking in can-ams part book and they make a winter and summer oil kit. not sure if it was for the DS or not but do you think this might have something to do with it?

[WesDS450X]

you sure it has to do with dagree's/oil? my bike was starting up just fine in -2 dagree's with 5-40w oil. it was in a non heatedcheapo metal shed from walmart for like 100 bucks lol

[bwkcobra03]

It is defnatly the battery. The battery just is not big enough to handle the cold. These batterys only last a year if your lucky and live in Florida. lol It is not the oil or the starter. The thing that sucks is that you cant fit a bigger battery in your ds. I'd try not to use the head lights when you are riding during the day so the battery gets a better charge. I also do not recommend having heated hand grips, heated seasts, or heated throttle leaver. These will make your problem worse. Just make sure your battery is fully charged before you go riding and get your self a good jumper box. It is the nature of the beast when you live in Buffalo and own a racing ATV. It isn't as cold hear where i live but It happend to me.

Tell your dealer that you keep having a dead battery issue and they should warranty it if it is less than 6 months old.

If you try using differant oil and blow your motor up it may not be covered by warranty. The manufacture might ask the dealer for an oil sample befour they let the dealer rebuild or replace the motor. If the oil sample comes back and it is not the same as the BRP 5w40 they may not warranty it .
I know this to be true in the automotive dealership world. I was a service manager for a couple different car manufactures, BMW, ACCURA, FORD, MAZDA, And i was a Technition for GM for a long time. I sent out alot of oil samples, fuel samples, when i worked for these companies.

Trust me it is the battery!!!!

[TNT]

Yep sounds like the battery....have you tried checking for a cross over at a battery place, some other company may make the same size with more CCA's I have found them b4.......If not there is a little room to be made w/some mods if you don't mind loosing some plastic......you could find more room by running no air box and relocating it, in snow I would not think the box is needed w/foam $ outerwear......I mean try it and see if you loose power?

Besides that do what BWKcobra03 recommends. Those jumper boxes use a rechargeable battery and have alot of CCA(500-600) and there only like $35. Might be a better fix until the warranty is up since I bet a bigger batt voids it. :rolleyes:

[bwkcobra03]

I got my jumper box at Cosco for $75 it has an air compressor, ac power converter, celphone charger power outlet, flash light. I take this thing whear ever i go. To charge it you just plug it in the wall with an extention cord. the charger is built in to the jump box. that way you dont loos it. This is jump box was the best $75 i ever spent.

I was able to jump start a ford desil truck with it last weekend with it. .

[hotshotgoal30]

yeah its just weird. the thing is. when i bought my atv the battery was dead on it. it sat in the showroom and someone left the key on or something. so they simply recharged it and i know that for a fact. they really should have replaced it but if they can charge it and get away with it then why wouldnt you? so it may be possible that there is something wrong with my battery besides just being small. also what i meant about the oil was not using something different. i just remmeber seeing 2 oil change kits in the accessories magazine one for winter and one for summer. not sure what the difference was i kinda skimmed over it. i have not used a jumper box yet but the one time it did it i hooked it up to my truck with cables and it started right up. that was the first time it ever happened so i put it on charge and it said it was full

[hotshotgoal30]

also is ok to just take the spark arrestor out and do nothing else? i did it and it seems fine, sounds better as well. i would think that our machines would be able to adjust to just taking that out? i left the cover on the airbox as well.

[TNT]

Originally posted by bwkcobra03
I got my jumper box at Cosco for $75 it has an air compressor, ac power converter, celphone charger power outlet, flash light. I take this thing whear ever i go. To charge it you just plug it in the wall with an extention cord. the charger is built in to the jump box. that way you dont loos it. This is jump box was the best $75 i ever spent.

I was able to jump start a ford desil truck with it last weekend with it. .

I got Jealous lol so I went and got a Black and Decker for $70 w/tax, it has 450 CCA, 120 psi air compressor w/built in gage, DC out, light, reverse hook up warn, AC and DC rechargeable batt....I got it cuz I am tried of forgetting to unhook my RV 5th batt I leave stuff on then when I want to jack it up to hook up need a jump from the truck.....They had a 300 CCA for $35 all you need for quads.

HOTSHOT: Just cuz the battery charges does not means its good, get it checked....Cut the pink, take the s/a and lid off....you may run lean and hot since that stock exhaust is terrible w/back pressure but may not in your cold weather. S/a out only no prob!

[Hmf Ds450]

my old polaris 250 did that it turns out the starter was broken, we thought it was the battery but it wasn't

[TNT]

Originally posted by Hmf Ds450
my old polaris 250 did that it turns out the starter was broken, we thought it was the battery but it wasn't

He said it starts up just not in cold weather like 9 deg which I find odd but Id check the batt then if its good not enough CCA.

[hotshotgoal30]

yes in the cold is the only time i have had problems. when i got back to my truck last night my overhead said it was 7 degrees. otherwise if i leave it in my garage it will start fine. i bought it in december so i have no idea if i will have problems in the summer. although im thinking not. me and my buddies have been trying to come up with conclusions but it just doesnt make sense. its like the starter is frozen or something. and sense the battery was dead when i bought it im thinking of buying a interstate possibly with more cold cranking amps and seeing if i have the same problem. if i do thwen i know it cant be the battery and it has to be something with the starter or a selonoid. the part that really boggles my mind is howcome it will start when i hook up jumpers or push start it? then the second it starts i can shut it off and fire it up under its own battery?

[WesDS450X]

dude my batt is 14 months old!! never had a problem with it lol. a trinker charger will be your friend =]

[TNT]

Originally posted by hotshotgoal30
yes in the cold is the only time i have had problems. when i got back to my truck last night my overhead said it was 7 degrees. otherwise if i leave it in my garage it will start fine. i bought it in december so i have no idea if i will have problems in the summer. although im thinking not. me and my buddies have been trying to come up with conclusions but it just doesnt make sense. its like the starter is frozen or something. and sense the battery was dead when i bought it im thinking of buying a interstate possibly with more cold cranking amps and seeing if i have the same problem. if i do thwen i know it cant be the battery and it has to be something with the starter or a selonoid. the part that really boggles my mind is howcome it will start when i hook up jumpers or push start it? then the second it starts i can shut it off and fire it up under its own battery?

Next time it happens run a jumper wire like 4-6 gage from your battery+ to the starter and bypass the starter relay, lets see if that works? Just be very careful not to touch anything but the starter terminal or you'll blow a fuse lol.

Why I hate electric start if someone would make a kick for this quad I'd remove it and build a race harness, no relays and all that crap! Keep the jumper on hand tho you never know when it can come in handy even on the starting line.

[TNT]

Epic told me that plastic battery hold down bar breaks in MX too is anyone making one?

[WesDS450X]

make your own... its not that hard lol

[TNT]

Originally posted by WesDS450X
make your own... its not that hard lol

Guess your right I can get some steel and play w/my new welder! :devil:

[WesDS450X]

ew steel

[jlrenken]

ive had mine since last dec. and never once put it on a charger and i was out over the weekend and it was -12 and turnover and started fine took alittle longer but no probs.

[hotshotgoal30]

i dont get it :( this sucks. its like there is condensation in the starter or something freezing up so the battery csnt trun it over. but i havnt really drove in water. this is just one of the ideas we have come up with. it just boggles my mind how once i push start it once its fine for awhile. frustrates me. im going to have to bite the bullet and buy a new battery and see if that solves my problem. cause you guys say you have had no problems but im sure yours didnt sit in the showroom with a completly dead battery, which in my opinion can have a affect on batteries once they get drained dead

[chevyvortech]

mine starts just fine at -20
just because your batt reads 12v does not mean it is fully charged a fully charged batt is 12.6v but at something like 12.4v its only hafe charge and if it reads below 12v then it has a bad cell

[hotshotgoal30]

thats what im thinkin. and with a bad cell and the cold it might be worse and that could be my problem

[mebcop]

Can't you just test the voltage of the battery while it's trying to crank over. That's what you do with a car..... If it's 12volts without cranking and then it drops to like 3 volts while cranking then it's the battery. If it's still 12 volts while trying to crank then it's something else.....

[cheryl bithell]

I thought i was the only one with this problem. Wont start when its cold, it just clicks. Just this weekend it was about 20 out and i put a new battery in mine, and it started. Rode all day, drove home pulled it out of the back of my van, and again it doesnt start. So either something is draining my battery and it only starts when its full, or my quad is just gay. My brothers bike would always start up, even when its ten out.

[hotshotgoal30]

yeah but something is not draining my battery because lights and everything work just fine. and battery reads full. and plus once the motor starts via push starting it if i shut it off right away the battery will start it up no problem.

[TNT]

I wonder if all that water/snow you ride in is causing something to go to ground? You have two ignition coils and if one gets shorted out both fail. You might try and wrap both your coils in plastic. Just follow your spark plug wires to them and wrap the terminals good.

See what happens if the ECM doesn't detect both primary windings of the coils it will not ground them and allow voltage to the secondary high voltage windings or spark.

Just a thought but doesnt explain why you can push start it? unless the water/snow falls off then?

The starter solenoid is under the batt you might check for loose connections or dirty ones...

You might even have a short in your start button...

[BSTURDIVANT]

Next time it does it- put in gear and rock backward to clean the brushes in the starter-cold temps may affect contact!
If ok, switch starters with one that will start- may be bad brushes in starter! We had to clean ours once- grease on brushes!

[cheryl bithell]

Im just saying that a brand new battery will start the quad. And when i disconect the battery and let it charge overnight it works.

Could the celinoid not be working properly? Could it be falty?

Hey Brent this sucks cause i only bought it about two weeks ago, i'll try swiching the starters w/ my race bike thanks for the help

[hotshotgoal30]

yeah the whole push start thing has got me puzzled too. actually come to think of it when i was out riding on saturday i ended up in some deep snow so i started rocking it back and forth side to side and i stalled it. well when i went to start it back up it just clicked like i mentioned. so my buddies pushed me and on the first attempt the tires just skidded on the snow so it didnt start. but i figured id try the starter again before push number 2 and it fired up. does that make any sense?

[bwkcobra03]

Check all of your connections to the battery, starter, grounds, and have the dealer put in a new battery under warranty. Then keep a battery tender hoocked up to your battery when your not riding.

[TNT]

Both of you could go to your dealer and have them check for any fault codes through BUDS.

If you veryfy that your battery's are good by a loads test besides what I have listed to do and check in snow and water you may have a charging system problem. The batt s/b @ 12.5 no load but that does not mean its good and has enough power to crank the engine. Make sure you got clean batt, starter solenoid, starter, and cable connections and that all load components such as lights are not bad shorted out.

Just so know what happens is the Magneto(Stator) sends AC voltage to the rectifier/regulator that coverts it to DC to the main 20A fuse then to the starter solenoid then to the battery to keep it charged. If water or moisture gets on the rectifier or solenoid and shorts the circuit the batt will not charge or if you have bad mag. If you push start it successfully and loose the short then the mag can charge the batt and future starts are possible.

First check your charging system fuse to make sure you are not running on batt power only. At about 4000 RPM(use a digital inductive tach) the batt should read 14.4-15.2. if it is too high replace the rectifier, to low try and replace the rectifier or check the mag.

Hope that helps!

[hotshotgoal30]

turns out it must be the battery. although the chrger said full i took it to the dealer today and they put a load test on it and read 8. hopefully this was my problem

[bwkcobra03]

It should be fixed now. I have a digital battery load tester that i use at my repair shop. You type in the battery's cca and then it test the battery. This thing tells me alot of batterys are bad or if they are weak. It even tells me how many cca's are left in the battery. I can even print the results to give to customers. I have had many people tell me ther battery is good because the lights work. Lights only use aboutr 5 amps to light up bright. The starter uses over 100 amps in a car. Batterys are funny like this.

If a battery goes stone dead they never recover properly. When you got your ds and the battery was dead in the show room they should have replaced it s you didn't have these problems. When i got my ds the battery didn't have acid in it they had to wet the battery down and charge it for a couple hours befoure they could deliver the ds to me.


Good Luck

[mebcop]

hmmmm... I think someone mentioned that already....

"Can't you just test the voltage of the battery while it's trying to crank over. That's what you do with a car..... If it's 12volts without cranking and then it drops to like 3 volts while cranking then it's the battery. If it's still 12 volts while trying to crank then it's something else....."


LOL..... glad you got it taken care of

[hotshotgoal30]

well the reason i say hopefully is because they didnt have another battery in stock. so they took one out of another machine thats was in the showroom. they load tested that one as well. under a load it read 10 which is 2 more than mine. so they said well we can charge it up for you now unless you want to do it. so i said nah thats fine ill take it home and charge it which is exzactly what i did. so ill be riding this weekend, see if i have any problems. i agree they should have replaced it from the beginning but they threw a charger on it, probably because they didnt have another battery for me. and obviously it had enough juice to start it up untill it got really cold out