I've been lurking on this board for awhile trying to research and gather all the info but my problem is my gy6 150cc starter is turning but the motor isn't starting... Yes, I even installed a new battery last night just to eliminate the tiny possibilities first before trying to take on bigger ones. Any suggestions or ideas will be a lot of help so I know where to begin first... Thanks Bobby

 

I would crank the starter for a while then quickly take out the spark plug to see if it is moist with fuel or completely dry.

Then while the plug is out, hook the spark plug wire back up and hold the plug threads against the engine and crank again. Do you see spark across the plug gap?

What is the history of this quad? Was it running fine then one day it just quit? Or did it get progressively hard to start over time? How old is the quad? Does it burn oil? Did the 'no start' condition happen after it sat for a long time?

 

The history of this machine is it runs perfectly fine... let the neighbors kids use it.. turns out i found out that they had actually ran out of gas.. so im assuming they kept starting it without gas in it and probably burned the starter out.. the starter turns but it sounds weak and starter solenoid heats up really hot.. so im really thinking this is a starter issue... let me know what you think.

And to answer all your other questions in order:
1) Do you see spark across the plug gap? - Havent tried that yet

2) What is the history of this quad? - Its actually a hammerhead go kart but the history of it is its never had an issue runs tough all the time

3) Was it running fine then one day it just quit? Or did it get progressively hard to start over time? - Just quit one day

4) How old is the quad? - 2 years

5) Does it burn oil? - Nope

6) Did the 'no start' condition happen after it sat for a long time? - The answer to this would be the first paragraph above

Thanks for your response LynnEdwards

 

It could be a bad starter. The solenoid gets hot? Do the wires feeding the solenoid also get warm? And do they get uniformly warm along their entire length - including the big ground return wire to the battery? A starter that draws too much current will make everything in the starter motor feed path heat up, but they will heat up together. One hunk of wire will get warm at the same rate as another hunk of wire in the starter path because they are wired in series, are the same gauge wire,and the current through each is the same.

On the other hand, localized heating at one spot only suggests a bad connection at the hot spot. Thus a hot solenoid sticks out a little. Try shorting across the solenoid posts with a screwdriver and see if the starter turns any faster. If it does then your solenoid is bad.

A frozen engine can make the starter run slow and draw excessive current. You can eliminate this possibility by removing the fan cover and rotating the engine by turning the fan with your hands. You'll feel the engine compression resistance, but it should be easy to turn.

Is is easy to pull the starter out and see if it rotates by itself. You can also take the starter motor apart and see if anything is amiss inside. When you do this the brushes will spring out. To put it back together you will need to make a little spreader tool to hold the brushes back while you slide the armature back in. I used a piece of steel wire from a closet hanger bent into a "C" shape, with a string attached so I could yank it out after the armature was in far enough that brushes would just spring back onto the commutator edge.

 

Hi I googled gy6 vhard to sart and I came across this tread. My 150cc is the same as the OP describes. I know mine got spark and fuel. The issue I have is when I try start it, it will not run, I also think the starter turns qickly enough, but not as guick as when the booster is engaged, when I engages a separate booster, it starts right away.

any ideas?

 

The fact that it starts when cranking faster (when adding a booster) says that it's not cranking fast enough with the starter.

Try this:

Use a pair of jumper cables to connect your quad battery to your car or truck battery (use *extra* care to get the polarity correct). When cranking off your car battery does the starter turn fast enough to start? If so then you've got a quad battery that is bad or discharged.

Next try this:

Start up your car (jumper cables still connected) and repeat the test. Does the quad start now (the car charging system will raise the battery voltage to 14.0 volts (+/- 0.5 volts) making the starter crank a wee bit faster.

Another question:

When was the last time you adjusted the valves? Hard starting when cold is the classic symptom of misadjusted valves, and adjusting them is a periodic maintenance requirement.

 

I jumped a car battery 12,7v and pushed start button. it cranks as fast as I think it should, but not firing. I also hot wired it direct from the battery (the car battery 12.7v) to the starter, the start motor ran at the same rpm, atleast Icould not hear any difference, but was not starting. Immediately when i engaged the separate start booster, It was firing up.. I just dont get it.


I adjusted both valves to 0.004inch. Is that the correct adustment? I googled valve adjustment for my motor, and it seems to be as many answer to this that it was posters.. so I took the one who had prober walkthrought.

 

Haakon,

Sorry for the long delay. I've been busy beyond belief. Unfortunately it doesn't look like it will be ending anytime soon so I may have trouble keeping up for a while...

0.004 inches intake and exhaust (engine cold) is what I do on my GY6 quad and it works great.

So when you engage the booster does the engine turn faster than with the jumper cables to your car?

If you have spark while cranking normally (no booster), then compression issues seem the most likely culprit. Have you measured compression?

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer

you may be on to something here LynnEdwards. unfourtunately I do not have equipment to test the compression, but Maybe I must buy one.

The first who comes to my mind is leaky valves, may grind paste for valves is the way to go, I will look into it and post the result

I have spark when crankin without booster too.

It cranks faster when the booster is on, and it is likely to think compression issue, thanks for the pointer

 

:SOLVED: It all came down to a bad starter, I ordered a kick on ebay, and it works like a charm

It starts fine with the electric starter when the engine is hot.