Need assistance with trouble shooting the Project 400ex's electrical problems

[Ben]

Guys I need some help troubleshooting the project 400ex's wiring system. Guy400 and I are about to blow our brains out over the electrical problem we are having! :cuss: I have the frame and subframe powdercoated but where they connect is bare metal to metal. The battery is grounded to the subframe (which is down to bare metal at the ground spot). I took off the rigged up kill switch and start switch and plugged a brand new instrutment cluster into the wiring harness. The starter motor is good, I had it tested at a local auto parts store

All of the following observations have been made with my voltage meter. When the key is on the lead from the starter relay to the start motor is dead. When I hit the starter button the lead to the starter motor gets full power and my voltage meter states that it maintains full power until I move the hot lead on my voltage meter away from the lead. If I put my hot lead from my voltage meter back on the lead to the starter motor (even 1 second after I took it away) I get a reading of no power. When I hit the starter button, however, the starter motor does not kick over - it does nothing. It is bolted to the engine properly and is not attached its gears so I know that it isn't bound up. When I hit the start button I get nothing - not a sound from the starter, nor from the relay. I know for a fact that the battery has close to 13 volts of power. Any help AT ALL would be greatly appreciate because I am about at the end of my rope :mad:

Thanks :)

Ben

[Pappy]

call me 800-573-4114:ermm:

[RIjon]

have you tested the starter button?

Is there Constant power going to the button ?

Makes no damn sense:huh

[Ben]

Kenny gave me an idea to see if the starter is getting ground properly - I'll test that in a bit (I might leave work early) and see if that is the problem. Logically it seems that it has to be a ground problem because the starter is in working order, is getting power but is not turning over. :confused: Thanks Kenny, lets hope your idea helps :)

[Pappy]

Originally posted by Ben
Thanks Kenny, lets hope your idea helps :)

if not go to plan B.....















have guy push you around and make engine noises:devil: :blah:

[MIKE400EX]

The subframe probably doesn't have a good electrical contact with the main frame. Best method would be to either ground everything to the main frame or run a + "starter" size cable from the main to the sub-frames.

[Doibugu2]

Ben, I don't pretend to know much about quad engines, but have you tried hooking up the starter directly to the battery to make sure its turning over? Eliminateling the circuit between the switch and starter.

Have you tried push starting the quad yet to see if it will run?

[Ben]

Mike - interesting idea, I will certainly give it a shot :D

Doibugu2 - I know that the starter works so this has to be a ground issue, I believe...... I am going to run a ground from the negative battery terminal directly to the starter motor and see what happens. Keep you fingers crossed :cool:

[Tommy 17]

ben... i've done this b4 and i know a few other guyz that have also...

under the left black side panel ( clutch and shifter side) look at the coil... theres a ground to the front bolt... make sure that ground is workin... i didn't clean the pc off my frame there and i actually forgot to put it on and mine wouldn't start...

check that ground and see if it works...

its worth a shot...

[F-16Guy]

Ben,
Make yourself a jumper wire with some 8 gage wire and some clips, and try jumping from the negative terminal on the starter to the negative terminal on the battery and different points on the frame while holding the start button down. Maybe you can isolate your ground problem that way.:confused:

[wilkin250r]

It's been said before, but I will re-iterate. Check your grounds. Your problem might be that your engine block isn't grounded properly. Check the resistance between the engine block and the negative battery terminal. You should read less than 1 ohm.

I'm not intimately familiar with the electronics on the 400EX, but there has to be some sort of starter relay. It sounds very likely that is where your problem lies.

If you are still having problems this weekend, I'm an electrical engineer, and my Girlfriend has a 400EX. I can help you trace the electrical path and we can determine what voltages you should be reading at certain spots and we'll get this problem fixed for you. Let me know if you wish to do this, I'll give you my cell number and we'll proceed.

[muff]

hmm lets try an easy one...fuse ok?

mine blew randomly the other day, I dont know why but i put a new one in and no probs now

[powerslider]

Ben, votage drop tests will quickly tell you where the problem lies with connection problems. First try going from the battery negative to the starter housing with your voltmeter leads, you should have 2/10ths volts or less with the circuit loaded (try to crank it over) . You can check each cable/frame connection between the battery and starter this way...

[Chef]

Stupid idea, but how is the wire that grounds from the negative side of the battery to the frame look? Mine was broke off, and my 400 was completely dead, just like you are referring. Check that, just in case.

[RIjon]

update?

[2fester]

Ben, are you sure your starter relay or solanoid is any good ? To test it just turn your key on flip switch to run and take a screwdriver [with insulated handle] and use it to jump the 2 posts together . This happened to my 400 and thats how I started it till I got a new one .

[Ben]

Well I got it all sorted out thanks to you guys and Kenny :) The starter motor was not grounding properly. I fixed that and it fired right up :D Thanks guys!

[Pappy]

Originally posted by Ben
Well I got it all sorted out thanks to you guys and Kenny :) The starter motor was not grounding properly. I fixed that and it fired right up :D Thanks guys!


whoohooo:D