Hi, I bought a little 90 for my daughter in fall last year and had it stored until today. I charged up the battery but have no power at all to speak of. No fuses are popped to my knowledge, I checked the inline fuse and the main fuse near the battery.

I ran a volt meter and found that I do have power going to the ignition key, and confirmed that when the key is turned the power continues.

The problem is that nothing else is getting power that I know of. Lights don't work, obviously nothing with starter button either.

So I've about exhausted the amount of knowledge I have on the subject of electrical and wondering where I should go from here. I've seen a ton of threads on these chinese pieces but none that matched my issue exactly. Thanks in advance!

 

Most of these have a brake interlock switch, so have you put the brakes on when you try to start it?

 

Yeah, it does have a brake lock and that. But the problem is that there's just no power to anything, no lights no nothing. I traced the voltage back to a little black box under the seat right next to the battery. From that point on it's not getting power. Not sure what that is but trying to find out now.

Power goes from battery to ignition switch and back to that box, fuses are good too...

*UPDATE*
I believe that the black box the wires are running into is a remote start/ FOB key kill box. This would make some sense as I don't have the Fob, but, I don't know why there would be no power running to anything, unless that's just part of the feature of it. The CDI is a different box toward the front of the quad so I can rule that out. I may start with replacing the remote start box as it would be good to have the fob anyway. I just don't know that it's the real issue or not?

 

The black box is probably the rectifier/regulator but it could be the CDI. Have you tried jump starting it directly to the starter?

 

Does it have a rear tether kill switch towards the rear of the seat? You sure your red slider kill switch works? Does your brake switch work to satisfy that interlock? Sounds like a bad or unplugged voltage regulator, unplug it, check the spades inside & make sure none pushed back & not making contact, reconnect & try, you sure the battery has volts& amps to crank it?

 

Did you ever run this quad before? Did the lights work before when the engine wasn't running? Think careful here, because many quads power the headlights (and tail light) off AC power from the stator - which only produce power when the engine is running. Remember, your engine is not running. Before, when the lights worked, was the engine running? The exception to this is the brake light, which is almost always part of a safety interlock system. That usually runs off DC - even on AC powered lighting systems.


When you turn on the ignition, and step on the brake, does you brake light light up? More importnat, do you have 12 volt battery power at your brake light switch?


Some quads have DC lighting, and there are more and more CDI's that run off battery power (but the majority of older quads are AC powered), but other than that there isn't a lot that runs off battery power.


Is your quad 4 stroke or 2 stroke? Is there a brand name?


Try this:


1) Put your quad in neutral and firmly set the parking brake. In the next step you will be bypassing all safety interlocks while attempting to start the quad. If (god forbid) it should start up you don't want it taking off unexpectedly and crashing into someone or something.


2) Turn on the ignition, and short the starter solenoid posts together with the shank of a screwdriver. Some sparking is normal. This action connects the battery directly to the starter motor and will unconditionally crank if the starter and starter wiring are good.


Does the start crank?


Does it start?


If it cranks but doesn't start, do you have spark while doing this test?


Do you need any more detail on how to do any of these steps?

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

So here's what I've been able to determine so far.

I have power, ignition works correctly, I found the powered side of the brake switch and tested the switch directly and it worked correct per volt meter, brake light however does not get power at final connection.

Also, when crossing the starter solenoid I get nothing, no spark no nothing. Power into solenoid is fine however.

Did some research into brand and looks to be the TaoTao 110cc.

As far as headlights I can't recall but from previous forums it looks like they may only come on when bike on. Again, brake light not getting power to final connection, reading a tenth of a volt or so.

I tried tracing the wires from the brake switch and back but everything gets so packed in that I really can't tell what's going to what with all the connection points in the middle. I'm going to try to pin down the wiring diagram but upon first try there seems fairly impossible...

I pulled voltage regulator and nothing was out of ordinary upon visual inspection, red wire going in contained 12V , three other wires contain no voltage when not plugged in to regulator.

So I guess I'm stumped obviously. Electrical is certainly not my forte but learning as I go I suppose. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

You might have multiple problems, but lets start on the easiest and most fundamental:


When you short across the starter solenoid you are connecting the battery directly to the starter motor. It should crank unconditionally. The fact that you get nothing is seriously wrong, so this seems a logical starting point.


1) When you short across the solenoid, measure the battery voltage at the same time. Measure the battery voltage right on the battery terminals. By that I mean right on the terminals - not the wires connected to the terminals, or the lugs/screws that are connected to the terminals. When you short the solenoid the voltage right on the battery should drop some, but stay above 11.5 volts. What do you measure?


2) Next do the same thing while shorting the solenoid, but measure the voltage right at the starter motor. Put the plus lead on the starter input terminal, and the negative on the starter motor case. You should se at least 11 volts. What do you measure?


This is the thinking behind those tests:


Starter motors draw a lot of current (up to 30 amps). A good, well maintained quad battery can easily deliver that much current, but a battery that sat around for a year without a maintenance charger connector probably won't. You may have 12 volts on your battery sitting there unloaded, but when you hook up the starter the voltage from a bad battery will collapse to nothing. That's why the battery voltage must be measured while the starter is hooked up (i.e. shorting the solenoid).


You need power to turn an engine, and power (measured in watts) is equal to voltage times the current in amps. You need both voltage and current to turn the starter motor.


Measuring the voltage directly at the terminals, and then again at the starter motor separates whether the battery capacity is limiting the output current, or is it bad connections on the way to the starter limiting current. Or maybe the starter is frozen, completely open, etc. The results from these two tests will point which direction to go from here.


If you find the battery voltage is collapsing under load, then you could always try jumping your quad battery to your car battery. But be careful - you must absolutely get the polarity right - plus to plus, and minus to minus. Then jump the solenoid and see if the starter turns.

 

Thanks Lynn!

So I ran the couple tests and I believe you're right. I charged up the battery again and was reading almost right at 12v. When I crossed the solenoid it fell to around 3-4. Then when testing the starter motor and crossing the solenoid it was less than a volt.

I hooked the battery up to my truck and jumped the solenoid and it was cranking after that. It never did fire up but at least I can start moving on to the next issues!

I'll pick up a new battery and do some basic spark and fuel stuff and see if it gets running from there. I also ordered a new remote killswitch module just so I have the fob and can make sure that doesn't become an issue. Thanks for all the help so far, I'll keep you up to date on the rest of it as I'm able to work on it!

 

Good progress...


When you get that new battery be sure to get a maintenance charger as well made to charge small batteries like a quad or motorcycle battery. A battery that is allowed to discharge and then sit that way is quickly ruined. Don't wreck your brand new battery! While troubleshooting a quad that won't start you can discharge a battery very quickly, and it is imperative that you charge it back up immediately. Never charge these small batteries at more than 2 amps or that will wreck them too.


Even after your quad starts and runs don't stop keeping that new battery charged with the maintenance charger until you have verified that the quad charging system works. And when your quad is parked for more than a week, hook the maintenance charger back up - especially if you have a remote start/kill module which sucks current out of the battery all the time. But this is all for way later - after your quad is running.


Next look to your CDI. Is it 4 pin (DC powered) or 5 pin (AC powered)?


Do you have spark while the quad is cranking?