I bought a used marshin 250 and cant seem to get it running. I had it running once but since then Ive had problems. The button start would not work so I replaced the relay. (every time I arked it it would blow the fuse). The ignition key was bad and I just replaced that. Now when I hook the battery charger to it , it hums from around the starter when key is off, when I turn on the key it kicks off the charger. I know the wiring is correct. Can anyone help me please. Thanks. Rodney

 

It sure doen't sound like it is wired right to me...

When you said you replaced the relay, are you talking about the starter solenoid? Or is this another relay?

After you replaced the "relay" you said you "arked it" and it blew the fuse. What exactly were you arcing? At first I was thinking that you were shorting together the two big screw posts on the starter solenoid, but this makes no sense because these wires aren't fused. Were you perhaps trying to short something at the start button?

What is the value of the fuse you keep blowing? It should be 10 amps or so.

So you hook the charger up to the battery terminals and the starter motor hums? The starter motor is not supposed to be hooked up to anything with the ignition off. It sounds like your starter solenoid is shorted, or the battery cable and starter motor cable are shorted together right at the solenoid screw posts. That "humming" is due to the fact that the battery charger doesn't put out a steady voltage under load. It sends out power in bursts at twice the mains power frequency (120 times per second in the USA). The starter is attempting to turn weakly but with power coming at 120 bursts per second it just vibrates.

What do you mean by "when I turn on the key it kicks off the charger"? I don't know what "kicks off" means. Does a fault light of some sort come on?

 

It is the solenoid I replaced. When I arked the two posts it blows the fuse on the solenoid. The wiring for the new ignition could only go one way. When I turn the key on it overloads the charger and kicks the charger off and I have to unplug it and plug it back in to reset it. The fuse is a 15 amp. The wires from the solenoid look new and dont appear to be bare anywhere to short out. Thank you for your help. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated

 

Hmmm. You have a fuse as an integral part of the solenoid? I've heard of these but have never seen one. That would mean the two screw terminal posts have a 'direction' to them, and have to be wired the right way around. I'm wondering if you have the battery side and starter side screw terminals wired backwards. That wouldn't explain all of your problems, but I suspect you have more than one problem anyway.

If you look at your solenoid, can you tell which of the two screw posts is providing power to the integral fuse? Maybe an ohmmeter can help here. This side should hook to the battery - not the starter motor.

When you hook up your battery charger, does your charger have two alligator clips (black and red) that clamp directly onto the battery terminals, or does your charger connect via a connector built into the quad?

When you were blowing fuses while arcing across the starter solenoid , was the ignition switch also on? If you jump across the starter solenoid screw posts with the ignition switch turned off, does the fuse still blow? (I suspect it won't).

15 amps for a 250cc quad is in the right range. The reason I asked is recently we had a post where fuses were blowing after a while when the headlights were turned on. After some back and forth we found the installed fuse was only two amps instead of ten (headlights draw three amps or so).

I'm still curous about this solenoid with an integral fuse. Do you have a link to where you bought the replacement? I would like to take a look...

 

Sorry for the delay. What I did was replaced the solonoid relay located in front of the battery. It has a 30 amp fuse. It can only be wired one way. B for the battery side and M for the starter side. This is the second solonoid Ive put in it and it still will not let the start button crank over the engine. I can ark it with the two posts and get it to turn over but it always blows the fuse. Im using a battery charger with the clamps. I did find out that when I hook the charger to it it throws the charge past the charging range. Meaning my battery is probably beyond bad. If I turn on the key with the charger hooked up, it throws the dial on the charger way past the charging range and kicks off the charger. My ignition key switch was bad however when the old ignition was in there it would still sometimes let the lights on the speedo come as well as the headlights and turn signals. Now with the new ignition it will not let any lights come on. This could only be wired one way. When I turn on the key with the charger hooked up it hums around the starter area then the charger kicks off. Could this be a short in my battery? Or is it something major? Thanks for all your help. Loncin Parts for Loncin Engine Powered ATVs & Dirt-Bikes - Starter Relay Solenoids - Starter Relay Solenoid Switch #04 for Chinese ATVs

 

Monster, that link you posted is a generic supplier. They have the same pages for about every make of China quad. Try this one Loncin.ca Your Loncin Distributor for US and Canada plus Loncin Parts for Bikes, ATV's and Dune Buggies I have an MH200 and the part numbers they list match exactly to the Parts CD that came with my quad. A little more expensive, but you are getting the OEM parts from them. Take a look at their starter solenoids and see if they are different. If you need some reference pictures, let me know and I can get out and take some. Best of luck...

Denny

 

This is really weird. I did a lot of looking today and found a couple of wiring diagrams that use this same starter solenoid (the diagrams were not for a marshin quad - but they should be similar).

On a working quad when you short across the solenoid the battery voltage is connected to the post that feeds the starter motor. It should not be feeding anything else. The fuse is hooked up to the battery side, which is hot all the time, and doesn't know or care is the starter is hooked up - and *none* of the starter current passes through the fuse.

But on your quad there must be a lot of current passing though the fuse, and only when the starter is hooked up. Also your starter hums with the charger hooked up and the ignition switch is turned on. This is not right since the solenoid is not closed and there is no path to get voltage to the starter motor.

But if your "B" and "M" screw posts and the solenoid were reversed it would start making a little sense. The charger would also be tied directly to the starter motor via the fuse (which would be tied to the starter motor side is wired backwards). It would explain the starter motor humming at least. I don't think it completely explains the fuse blowing, but I still think you have more than one problem.

Could you check your solenoid again and be absolutely sure that that short battery wire (that wires the solenoid to the positive battery terminal) is wired to the "B" terminal and not the "M" terminal? Could the solenoid have shipped with the short battery bolted to the wrong screw post?

If your solenoid is really wired right at the screw posts, then:

1) At the solenoid disconnect the fat wire going down to the starter motor. Unplug the ignition switch. Short across the solenoid posts. Does the fuse blow?

2) Plug in the ignition switch. Short across the solenoid terminals again. Does the fuse blow?

3) Repeat the last test with the ignition on. Does the fuse blow?

4) On your four pin connector at the solenoid, how many wires are there and what are the colors?

5) On your ignition switch, how many wires are there and what are the colors. Be sure to report the wires colors on the main harness side of any connector set - not the color of the short pigtails wires coming out of the ignition switch itself.

6) Before when you shorted across the solenoid and blew the fuse, did the starter motor start turning briefly and then the fuse blew? Or did the fuse blow instantly before the starter motor even started turning the engine? I was mentally searching for some indirect way for why the fuse is getting blown - such as the first trigger pulse from the stator to the CDI fires it, and the firing process shorts the battery and blows the fuse. Trigger pulses only happen with a turning engine so the engine would have to move a bit before the fuse blows...

 

I had one more thought...

When you turn on the ignition switch with the charger hooked up and you hear humming from the starter motor area:

Take a long screwdriver and use it as a stethoscope. Probe around the engine case with the shank end of the screwdriver while pressing the handle in your ear. Try and pinpoint the noise source using your ear. Are you sure the starter motor is the source, or is it the stator?