I have a baja 250 when I turn the key all I get is a click. I put a meter on the battery and the charge is good. I may have done a bad thing, I had a battery charger on the battery and by mistake it was set at 10 amps. I am guessing I burned something out but don't know what. any help would be great.

 

Put the bike in neutral and set the parking brake. Follow the fat red battery positive lead to the starter solenoid. Find the other fat red wire leaving the solenoid and going down to the starter. Short these two posts on the solenoid together with a screwdriver. A few sparks is OK.

1) Does the starter motor turn?

If not then measure the battery voltage right on the battery terminals while you are shorting across the solenoid as outlined above.

2) Does the battery voltage drop below 11.5 volts?

If the battery voltage drops way down when shorting across the solenoid, then jump your quad battery to your car and try shorting across the solenoid again.

3) Does the starter motor turn now?

Also check the electrolyte level in the six battery cells. Add water as required to bring them up to the fill marks.

 

Thank you for your help.
The starter motor does not turn over.
voltage at the battery is just over 12v no load and 11.5 jumping the solenoid.
I can physically feel the plunger in the solenoid move when I press the starter.
All liquid levels are good
I don,t know if this matters but it is a wilderness 250 model number JS250ATV.
It was a special build for Fleet Farm stores for a promotion.
Thanks again

 

Measure the voltage right at the starter motor input terminal to ground while attempting to crank the engine (with the starter button or jumping the solenoid). What is the voltage at the starter (while the starter is hooked up but stalled)?

If the starter is getting voltage and it doesn't turn then the starter is bad, or the engine is too hard to turn. Can you turn the engine manually over with a wrench on the flywheel , or pushing in gear?

If the starter voltage is low at the starter then there is a bad connection somewhere on the way to the starter, or on the way back from the frame to the battery minus post. Crank it for 30 seconds then feel all the joints to and from the starter/battery for any joint/connection that is hot. Hot joints are bad joints.

 

Well I am guessing it is bad news for me. I tested the starter and I had 11.82 volts while trying to start. On the up side I do have a complete manual for the four wheeler in a pdf file if any one needs a copy. I will disassemble the starter and hope it is just a loose connection on a brush but I am not going to hold my breath. If anyone knows where I can buy a new starter that would be great. Thanks for all the help

 

Well I can't win. I removed the starter cleaned and checked the windings put it all back together and tried it on the test bench at work. ran great so I mounted it back and turned the key. it is spinning but the motor is not turning. I removed the pull start and turned the motor over with a wrench and I have compression. Any Ideas?
Thanks for the help.

 

The starter turns freely and the engine doesn't? Sounds like the starter clutch is slipping. This one way sprag clutch allows the starter to turn the engine, but when the engine starts up it disconnects and allows the engine to run much faster without spinning up the starter motor.

 

OK I understand that part, but can I fix it without ripping the complete motor apart? there seams to be a "cover" that houses it, I don't want to just rip into it without knowing.
Thanks for your help.

 

I don't know the answer to the starter clutch question. I've never changed one. Hopefully someone else will know what is required to do this.