300EX wont start...eletrical problem??

[GTXBrad]

I was riding my 300 today like always and came back from about a 40 minute ride and shut her off. I went to crank her up when I got back from cooling off and it wouldn't start...the siloniod(whatever) would just click...no start. So I roll started it and took off. I got back and it still did the same...well I just went riding again and used the headlight and usaully when you got no battery the higher you rev it the brighter it gets...well I still got the battery and the higher I reved it the dimmer it got...yes it was brighter at idle!!...well I parked her and she still wont start. I don't have a clue what to do!! Please someone help me out!!

[Dune Surfer]

sounds like you have a short. Follow each wire and look for bare spots. also check the connections on the battery. Good luck

[GTXBrad]

I just cleaned the battery connections and tested the battery and it said it was 100% charged...I looked at the wires I could..(that wasn't in harnesses) and they are all ok. up front and out back...:( I dunno what to do!!:confused:

[300exazzkikr]

did you try another battery just for kicks and giggles. If that doesn't work then i would take a voltage meter and get the owners manual and find out what kind of voltage should be comeing out of each component like the mag, solenoid, regulator..etc. good luck and let us know what you come up with.

[ridered86]

yup its shorting out or your battery is dead.

[GTXBrad]

I don't gotta manual...is there an online one that I could print out?. And I got my truck battery and tried to jump it and no go,
so its not the battery. And can the short be in a wiring harness? I would hate to pull them apart just to find a short. thx

[MX_Racer_20]

my brothers was doing the same thing. only when you pushed the buttong it wouldn't make any noise. we couldn't figure out what was wrong with it until my friend came over and cleaned the fuse under the seat. it wasn't blown it just needed to be cleaned and it fired right up. might want to check that.

[countypark]

Under the gas tank in the front tucked up under the frame you will find a grey connector. Inside that connector is about 10 little metal posts. One or more of those posts could be corroded. I've seen 300's less than 1 year old with a post corroded right off. You need to figure out which one is bad and cut the wire on both sides of the connector and use a butt connector to re-attach it. Just cut the bad one out. There is as many wires going into the connector as there are posts.

Take it somewhere if you don't want to tackle this.

[GTXBrad]

I took apart that connector and it looked perfect...everything seems perfect....I know there has to be a short because I hook up a new battery and try to crank it and it clicks and the nuetral light shuts off for about 5 seconds and then will reappear. Any other suggestions??

Brad

[mikeman828]

I had the same kind of problem last year, I spent days troubleshooting the whole wiring harness. I ended up bringing it to a dealer and he said it was a bad battery ground. All he did was take the ground wire off of the frame, grind the rust and paint off again and reconnect it. $100 bucks later, but it worked....
You might want to try that....good luck

:D

[madmike300ex]

hey man i have got a 1993 300ex and the same thing happened to me what you have to do is take your starter off and go to your local atv shop and get starter brushes then unscrew the three bolts on the starter and take the old brushes out line the new ones up and put the bolts back and your ready to go

GLAD I COULD HELP MADMIKE300EX:D

[416exchuck]

You nneed to replace your Fuse! Happened to me like 8 times! There is a 15 fuse in right now on your that blew and there is also a spare fuse beside it! Teh fuses are under the seat with a clear covered case! Its a 15 so just letting you know bro's!

[phatswinn]

try tightening the battery terminals

[White_Knuckles]

Starter failure would cause the lamp to dim when attempting to start if it is drawing excessive current and not rotating. Pull the starter and safely try and operate it with your jumper cables to see if it engages and spins.

[y2k330ex]

If it was the Fuse under the seat as you say, it wouldn't do anything. It wouldn't click it wouldn't power up with the key on it wouldn't do ANYTHING.

That fuse is in line directly from the positive side of the battery, if it is blown there is no power anywhere in the bike.

I had a i think 1996? 300ex. It was doing the same thing.

If you jump the selonid does it start? you know stick a screw driver between the posts ?

My bike had a bad harness..i replaced that with a used one for 50 bucks from east coast atv and it ran great.

The grey plug that was mentioned above looked fine, but inside several of the wires were burnt off and it looked ok from a glance but a closers inspection you can see it was shot.

If you can get one, try a harness off another 300ex and see how it works.

If you have any other ideas or need some direction e-mail me at aaronllmm@attbi.com I've spent a lot time working on 300exs...

[js1976]

1998 300ex rode it all day. . then it just shutoff. just cranks. has sparkn fuel to piston.timimng marks n compression ok . what do i do know