Hi, everybody. I'm brand new here, and quite frankly, brand new to the world of ATVs. I recently moved, and the previous owners of the place I moved to left us a 110cc Chinese 4 wheeler (they couldn't even tell the brand, just said it was a Chinese quad and had no idea how to fix it and hadn't run it in a while). First of all, I knew the battery was bad so I threw in a new one. That got lights going and gave me a nice click at the solenoid when attempting to start it. That's when I turned to the internet... I attempted a jump by using pliers on both posts on the solenoid and didn't even get a spark or crank at the starter. A buddy came over shortly after and put one end of the pliers on the positive post and grounded it to the chassis of the guad and got a spark at the positive terminal but no starter activity (not sure if that's expected considering it was grounded to the chassis and not the terminal on the solenoid). I'm trying to determine if this sounds like a solenoid issue, starter issue, or an issue with a ground somewhere in the wiring. It's been rainy here, so getting outside and tracing wiring has been difficult but I plan to do so as soon as the weather gets nicer, but wanted some professional guidance on where to start. Thanks in advance!

 

A click from the solenoid, but nothing when you short the heavy wires on the solenoid together indicates a faulty starter motor. Connecting the positive pole on the battery to earth indicates your buddy has no idea what he is doing.

 

Haha, I never doubted for a second he had no idea what he is doing. I appreciate the prompt reply, I'll definitely try and do a rebuild on it or order a new one I suppose. This is another new one for me, so it'll be a good learning experience.