Hi,
I have a 01 rubicon foreman and when I push the starter button the solenoid seems to be receiving the current and makes a two clicking sound but the engine will not turn over. The battery is working fine, I even swapped out a new battery just to check. I guess my question is does this sound as though the starter has gone bad? Or is there a way of testing the starter to see.

Thanks

 

Sounds like a bad battery. The only way to know for sure if the battery is good or not, is a load test.
Will it start with the rope pull? Will it even turn over with the rope pull?
Check the connections at the battery, and make sure they are clean , and where they contact the battery, they need to be shiney and tight.
Id try jump starting from your truck, but make sure the truck motor is not running, just jumper with the motor off.
If the motor is running, the alternator will be putting out a higher voltage then the quad battery has. The starter expects to see a max of 12.6 volts, but a truck can put out much more than that.
If after cleaning the connections, load testing the battery, and jumping fail to turn it over. Then its time to put 12 volts directly at the starter, and see if that spins it over.
I really doubt the starter is bad.

 

Thanks for the reply,

The atv will start by pull starting it and I took the battery in to be tested at Batteries Plus and they said it tested fine. I even bought a new one to test just to make sure. The new battery had the same clicking sound when I pressed the starter button. It will do a two sounds, click click.

This is going to sound stupid but where exactly is the starter on the foreman. I think it's towards the front part of the engine but not for sure. I bought a service manual but it has come in yet.

 

Id be truly surprisd if the starter was bad.
When you get the service manual, there will be a troubleshooting guide, and its gonna have you put 12 volts directly on the starter, before removing it. You could have a bad starter solinoid, or high resistance connection somewhere in the circuit..

The starter relay (another name for the starter solinoid) is right behind the fuses under the seat.

The starter is mounted horizontally, at the rear of the engine, behind the right side cover, the main power in for the starter, is on the side of it. When you remove the right side engine cover, youll see it. Just jump from the positive battery terminal, of the quad to that post on the starter. If the starter turns over with the direct 12 volts, then you have either a high reistance connection, or the starter solinoid is bad.

All the fuses are good?

 

Hi HondaBuster,

I haven't put 12v directly on the starter yet, but will try that. A friend has a light tester and we put that directly on top of the hot wire on top of the starter. When I pushed the starter button the tester lit up but the starter didn't due anything. Do you think I still need to put the 12v directly on the starter? If it is the starter, what would cause it to go bad? We use the atv on the farm and several people use so it's hard to police what they are doing when trying to sstart it. I noticed the starter making a weird grinding sound before it would no longer turn over. Could it be the brushes inside the starter?

Anyways, I appreciate the feedback, it's helped me narrow down the problem.

 

Yep, That test light doesnt carry any current. Youll need to use a jumper cable to have enough current to turn over the motor. If it wont turn over with the thick jumper cable attached...you can be pretty certain that the starter is bad. But to be sure, once the starter is removed, and on the ground, try jumping it again.

Now that you mention that the starter was making funny noises before , makes me change my mind about the starter being bad. Its very unusual for a honda starter to fail at this age.

Depending on whats wrong, its posible it can be rebuilt, and you can also check ebay for used ones, new ones are quite expensive.

 

Ok, it's all making sense. When I get home tonight, I'll try this. Lucky my sister-in-law works for Honda and I can get the starter at a reduced price if I need one.

Thanks for the info

 

If you put the test light on the starter post and the tester lights up when the start button is pushed, the problem is in the starter, everything else if fine. The test light doesn't need to carry any current, that's what the cables are for. The test light is telling you where you are getting voltage and where you are not. Remove the starter and disassemble. Check the brushes and armature for wear.