Once in a while when i try to start my scrambler 500, i'll hear the starter engage for a split second and then i get nothing....the lights won't even turn on; the whole thing is completely dead no matter how i turn the key or move the starter button up/down/left/right. But then as soon as i pull the rope, it starts right up and the headlights come on bright as ever, and then i'll turn it off and it'll start up just fine with the electric starter the next time.

I did a search and found a couple cases of this happening with other scramblers, but no one ever said if they found the problem or fixed it. The most recent case i found of this was posted last year.

I know it's not the battery cause it has plenty of power to run the lights for an extended time on just battery power and then still start the machine afterward, and as long as it doesn't do this little quirk, it has plenty of power to turn the starter and start it each time.

Anyone have any better information than the suggestions i found in the search (one of which was a loose battery cable which would be really nice if that's all it was!)? I haven't started searching for the problem yet and have just dealt with it, but am up for any suggestions before i start trying to troubleshoot the entire electrical system.

Thanks,
-Ron-

 

Really in truely, what you are saying does sound like a loose/dirty battery cable connection - not necessarily at the battery. I've seen a lot of quads (not just Polaris) that would act like this and the cause of the problem was the negative cable end where it grounded to the frame/engine was dirty/loose.

The negative cable end on the polaris is probably behind the inner clutch cover, on the engine.

A few other remote possibilities I've seen are dirty/corroded fuse connections, defective/corroded plug connections, and semi-broken/broken wires.

 

My daughters Kodiak 450 did the same thing. I had the seat to see what the problem was, and I saw a spark at the neg cable. It was tight, but when I removed it it had corroision on it. I used a wire brush to clean it, and have never had anymore problems

 

To those researching a similar problem, my problem turned out to be exactly what quadwrench had stated...was nothing more than the negative battery cable getting a bad connection.
Start with the simple stuff...sometimes you get lucky!

-Ron-