Hi! I'm a mom trying to get my son's atv running. I am NOT a mechanic, do not have a volt meter & can't find anyone to work on this for me!! PLEASE HELP if you can!! Kill switch is off... has gas... battery is charged, connections to battery look good, I push the start button & it just clicks from the starter. I tried jumping it with a screwdriver & nothing happened- just clicking!! How do I know if it is good? I'm getting desperate & my son is devastated. ANY help will be very much appreciated!!

 

So far I'm impressed with what you've done so far. You've been very methodical about this.

Do you have jumper cables? Try jumping the quad battery to your car battery, then try to start up the quad [please take *extra* care to get the jumper cable polarity right - plus to plus, and minus to minus]. Does the starter turn now?

What the last test does is check to see if your quad battery was folding under the starter motor's heavy load. If it cranks when jumped to the car then the quad battery is bad or discharged.

After that you are going to need a meter. We need to find out if your starter is getting adequate voltage right at the starter. If not why? We can trace back the path to the battery and find out where it is going wrong.

In addition, if we find your quad battery is not up to the task, then we will be using the meter to check the battery charging system.

Meters are cheap these days. A really good one is about $20.

 

ok I bought a volt meter. I put it on the battery & it is reading 12.72. I put it on the starter & it's around the same... I'm going to try and jump it now.

 

ok just tried jumping it & still nothing... just a 'click'

btw-- THANK YOU so much for trying to help me!!!!! Please let me know what I should do next!

 

When it just clicks you could have a bad connection. A test light in this case may be benificial as it is very telling. connect the the ground cable( black alligatoer clip) to a metel part of the engine. touch the probe end( the pointy end) to the cable end on the starter.(this should be a heavy red 'wire').Make sure your brake is on and try the starter switch. If the light lights up ,you have power to the starter. If it does not light up then you could have a bad soliniod even if it clicks. The tester is probably 6.00 bucks at walmart. HOWEVER you do have a meter, so same procedure,sort of,black lead to a ground, red lead to the starter motor wire(heavy red wire) set the meter to dc voltage and hit the start button. You should get 12 volts or a little better. that is how I would check for a bad Starter.

 

ok... the red wire that leads to the battery?? or the other one?

 

the red wire goes from the battery to the solinoid switch Another red wire ,same size, goes from the solinoid to the starter terminal. When you locate the solinoid, if you put your hand on it, when you touch the starter button you should feel and hear it 'click'. If you don't hear it click, there is a smaller wire going to a terminal on the solinoid switch. Again take your meter and put the black probe to ground and the red one to the small terminal wire with the meter set to dc volts Or your test light, and touch the starter. You should get a voltage reading, I think 12 volts, or if using the test light, it should light up. If not then you don't have currant to that terminal. But I believe you said it clicked. If the solinoid clicks and you have power at the starter terminal you could very well have a bad starter or a loose connection on the starter.

 

It is really important to make sure that you measured the battery voltage while the start button is pushed and the starter solenoid is "clicked in". Did you do that? Measuring the battery voltage when the starter isn't trying to turn has no helpful information in it. We must measure the battery voltage while loaded down by the starter motor.

You said the starter voltage is "around the same". I need better numbers than that. Vague answers from inexperienced meter users can often times mask problems . Many times the devil is in the details. What was the exact voltage you measured between the starter motor input terminal and the starter motor frame while the start button was pushed and the starter solenoid was "clicked in"?

 

Make sure the click is coming form the starter solenoid. Spits' "feel" method is a good way to do this. If the click is coming from the solenoid (and not some other relay), and you do get good voltage at the starter motor when the solenoid is "clicked in" (I still want the actual voltages), then your problem is a bad starter motor. But let's not jump to conclusions. Let's get the data first... .

 

Ok. Here's what I have gathered. I can feel the starter clicking. I can see it jump when it clicks. The battery reads 12.53 just standing & 12.05 when I try and start it. The big red wire-- I tried two different ways to get a reading on it. I put the black cord (from the volt meter) on the negative on the battery & the red on the big red cord. It read 11.87 when I tried to start it. I put the black cord on the frame & the red on the fat red wire & tried to start it & it was at zero.