Trouble with electric start?

[jk5blazer]

What is (if any) a typical reason for an electric start no...well....start. Its a 250 sx. I can kick start it fine, I try to bridge the relay and get nothing. Turn the key to on, no lights (neutral or reverse) come on. Brand new battery. It is in neutral if that matters. Any help would be great.

[cattle-dog]

if you jump the soliniod nothing? check the fuse?

[jk5blazer]

if you jump the soliniod nothing? check the fuse?

Thanks for the responce. Yes jumping the soleniod did nothing. I checked the one right off the soleniod (yellow 25 amp) and was good. Are there anymore?

[jk5blazer]

Did I put this in the wrong place? Should I have put it in another part of the fourm? New here so just learning the ropes

[MonroeMike]

Manual

http://72.52.143.80/~trikes/atc250sx_85-87_servicemanual.pdf

[big yeller]

try taking a battery charger to the stud on the starter and check if the starter is any good. this may sound stupid but if it doesnt whirl over tap the housing of the starter with a hammer while putting electricty to it and see if that works. i had a tractor and a truck i had to tap it to get it to whirl over, but its generally a sign to start looking for a starter.

[Mr_RPM]

try taking a battery charger to the stud on the starter and check if the starter is any good. this may sound stupid but if it doesnt whirl over tap the housing of the starter with a hammer while putting electricty to it and see if that works. i had a tractor and a truck i had to tap it to get it to whirl over, but its generally a sign to start looking for a starter.

if the starter was bad the lights would still work. it seems like nothing is getting power if the lights dont even work, may be something simple like the battery is not hooked up properly. check all fuses and it helps to probe around with a multi meter to see where the electricity is getting held up at

[Honda_Dude]

Isn't there a 30A ??? fuse by the battery box? It's an odd type fuse.....it's in a black plastic "housing" ..... the fuse is a small, flat metal "strip" that is screwed into the housing. My BIG RED had one that had a hairline crack in it and would conduct intermittently.... SX probably has the same thing. I can't look at the moment, I have both.

If it's bad, what I did was buy a same size auto fuse/holder and splice it in.



hmmm the manual above only shows one 15A fuse it seems..........

[MrGiggles]

If you do narrow it down to the starter, before you start looking for a new one it's a good idea to tear it down. The starter on my Bayou stopped working and it just needed a good cleaning to get working again.

[the great gazoo]

Did you check the connection for the Neutral light, down by the right foot peg to see if it's hooked up? The Rev?neutral light wires are behind a shield @ the right peg, alot of times you'll have an SX that has had that shield removed & the terminals get unplugged.
Also, you might want to take the starter apart & check the brushes, they're real easy to replace.

[big yeller]

didnt see where it said no indicator lights sry, yeah probable cause could be bad connection on battery or bad ground. always start from you know where it works and work on down the wire from there.

[tri again]

isnt there a fuse by the headligh too?

[Name Brand]

Did you check the connection for the Neutral light, down by the right foot peg to see if it's hooked up? The Rev?neutral light wires are behind a shield @ the right peg, alot of times you'll have an SX that has had that shield removed & the terminals get unplugged.

The neutral light has to be on for the electric start to work. If it is plugged in correctly; pull it off and inspect it for corrosion. Being low on the machine it probably has been through more mud and water than other connections in the harness. Might as well do the Reverse switch too; they are right next to each other and use the same style plug. The engine side connector sticks out and can be easily cleaned with a small wire brush. The connector in the plug part is a little deep in the rubber boot; a wire barrel brush for a .22 (or maybe .223 is what I had around around) gets in there pretty well. A touch of dielectric grease is always good too.

There might be a test procedure for checking the Neutral Safety Switch in the Clymer manuel; I don't have it with me at the moment though.

[jk5blazer]

Thanks for all the responces. MonroeMike, at first I was alittle mad at your responce, I could have looked at the manual and chased all the wires back (which I ended up doing anyways) and spent 8 hours (again I did), but wanted to know if there was something that was a "normal" issue with the electric start and would cut off all the headache!!! Well it ended up being three points of contact, one by the regulator, one at the ignition switch and the other being the starter soleniod. On top of that the starter did need a good cleaning to turn over every time. Now though, after all that, its not getting any spark, so FML back to the wiring schematics. And I guess thanks MonroeMike

[MonroeMike]

Glad you got it figured out.

Section 14 should help you narrow down the no spark issue.