Will not start with the starter button

[eprovenzano]

99 400EX engine rebuilt this past winter. During the rebuild bike would not start using the starter button. I replaced the solenoid and all was fine for a while. Again the quad will not start with the starter button. The netural light is on, but when you hit the button, nothing. If I cross the solenoid it will fire with no problem. Any suggestions....

[Ntensweapon]

Tighten your battery cables,solenoid cables and main ground point. Even if you think they are tight. Tighten them again and try.
If you have done any painting or powedercoating it could give you a bad ground. Clean up the sub frame mounting points.
If that doesnt work. Open up the starter/kill switch assembly. Spray it out with electonics cleaner and compressed air.
You may also have a bad starter relay.

[Dan207]

check the fuse under the seet.

[eprovenzano]

The fuse is fine, all the lights work. I'll dig into the wiring tonight.

[justinalley00]

There is a diode just above the battery.looks like a relay but is really a diode. i am sure this is your problem . i think you can get them for around 15 bones.

[eprovenzano]

Thanks for the reply. I checked all the wiring last night. The battery has over 13 volts, the power going to the solenoid is getting almost 13 volts. Activating the starter button shows 12.5 volts. So I have ample battery power and, the starter button is working.

So based on my findings I'm thinking I have a bad solenoid. What’s the forum’s consensus?

With a big riding weekend planned (labor day weekend), I wired a starter button directly onto the solenoid as a temporary fix to get through the weekend.

[cheater13]

im not sure how to answer this but yeah its probably your solnoid. but my starter button on my 2005 400ex is hard to start. like sometimes it wont start when you push it in and you have to push very hard and sometimes it starts right back up

[eprovenzano]

I finally figured out the problem.

I wired a button to the solenoid so the quad could be used over the Labor Day weekend as my son took the quad to Power Line Park near St. Clairsville OH.

I got a chance to reevaluate the problem. I retested the wiring, all seemed fine. So I went to my local auto parts store and purchased a new solenoid for a small engine. While at the store, I noticed the new one has only one lead (other than for the starter), while the OEM has two (power and ground). The gentleman at the parts store showed me that the OEM unit is grounded from one of the leads, and the new one is grounded from the solenoid casing. I connected the power to the hot side, and the ground to the solenoid, hit the starter button... nothing...

So I left it for a few days as everything checked out... Thinking about the difference in the solenoids. I temporarily added another ground wire to the solenoid, and ran it to the battery ground... hit the button.... she fires right up... So the original ground was not enough for the solenoid, even though it tested fine. Either there's a break in the wire, or a loose connection somewhere.

At least I know what I'm looking for now... :D

[Ian400ex]

Originally posted by eprovenzano
I finally figured out the problem.

I wired a button to the solenoid so the quad could be used over the Labor Day weekend as my son took the quad to Power Line Park near St. Clairsville OH.

I got a chance to reevaluate the problem. I retested the wiring, all seemed fine. So I went to my local auto parts store and purchased a new solenoid for a small engine. While at the store, I noticed the new one has only one lead (other than for the starter), while the OEM has two (power and ground). The gentleman at the parts store showed me that the OEM unit is grounded from one of the leads, and the new one is grounded from the solenoid casing. I connected the power to the hot side, and the ground to the solenoid, hit the starter button... nothing...

So I left it for a few days as everything checked out... Thinking about the difference in the solenoids. I temporarily added another ground wire to the solenoid, and ran it to the battery ground... hit the button.... she fires right up... So the original ground was not enough for the solenoid, even though it tested fine. Either there's a break in the wire, or a loose connection somewhere.

At least I know what I'm looking for now... :D
Glad you got it fixed, I need to make my way to PLP soon.