I have a 2004 ds650 and the battery seems to have died. I know this is a common topic but I followed the advise given on one of these threads and I have a question about it. One of the ways to check for battery draw was to disconnect one of the battery leads and run a multimeter to that lead and the battery post it came off of. I did that and with and got a reading of about 9.5volts with the ignition off. The battery read almost 11 volts at the time of the test.

Now I have found that if I unplug the thin red wire that connects to the starter solenoid switch, the voltage between the lead and the battery post drops to 0.0. This wire seems to control all the electrical to the dash, but my question is should that draw be there and is that the reason my battery died? The battery will hold a charge for about 4-6 hours after charged and stays charged while riding. But if it sits for 10 hours its dead. The dealer said if the quad sits for more than 2 weeks I have to disconnect the battery or it will die. That seems wrong to me, my buddy has a 450 foreman with a 4 year old battery that never gets unplugged and never fails. Anyway I know I need a new battery but any help as to why it dies all the time would be great, thanks.
P.S. I tested the resistance on the temp plug and I got no reading, so I guess thats good? It was another suggestion on the forum I read.

 

An easy place to start would be to replace the starter solenoid. The information given to you by your dealer may be just precautionary on their part. I have the PC545 (which I would recomend as the replacement), and I have let my DS stand for at least 2 months with no battery tender, and no start. It was fine... plus if it died the battery is guarenteed to charge back to 100% capicity. The stock battery sucks but it seems like your solenoid may the the issue. I'd check there first, then at key. Good luck.

 

The red wire I am refering to doesn't actually come off the starter solenoid. It is attached to the positive battery cable, It just so happens that it is attached to that wire at the starter solenoid. As far as the battery goes, where do I get one? Or will any suitable ATV dealer have one? Thanks for the help

 

I have an 04 DS also, when my bike was new my battery would go flat if let sitting for 2 weeks or more, my dealer also said this was normal. I jumped up and down and argued with them( my raptor can sit for months and still start) and at the end they said they would look at it under warranty. They would not tell me what the problem was , but I did get a new stock battery and since then all is fine, I can leave her in the shed for 6 weeks and still no starting problems.

Gav

 

Bus16,
The volt drain test you performed is the best way to check for the presence of a drain. In you case with the meter showing less then battery voltage, (I assume you battery was charged during this test) your drain is very slight and could be a result of moisture in or around the key switch. Take your dash panel off and clean the area.
It sounds like you have a bad battery. I suggest that you remove one of the cables and see if it discharges without the possibility of anything drawing from it.
As mentioned the PC 545 is an awsome battery if you are in the market. You can get one from Sunn Battery . I noticed that the prices went up but still a good deal. They used to pay for ground shipping, I would look into that.
After looking on the Sunn site I couldn't find the PC545 so if they don't have it any more try here for a dealer close to you.

 

A fully charged battery should read ~12.5-12.7VDC on a meter. If it's around 11, it's low to begin with. That test you were doing isn't going to tell you what kind of load you're drawing from it. The battery voltage will drop as it becomes depleted. Put the meter on "Amps" and see what kind of current is being drawn from the battery. If there is ANY current reading with the key off, there's something tracking to ground through a device, or wire rubbing on the frame. Next step is to pull all the fuses, one by one, to see if you can isolate the problem to one area. Once that's done, you can just concentrate on that system. Good luck.