Ok, so I hadnt riddin my rancher for a few weeks, my GF and I decided to ride today, I went to start it and the battery was dead, no big deal, jumped it with the truck and took off. I figured that after riding for about 30- 45 min it would be charged up...... WRONG, we were down by the river and I shut it off, went to start it 5 min later and would barely crank, pull started it to get home..This is the first time that this has happened.

So does anyone have a clue as to what it mite be ? I thought it would be the stator since the battery didn't charge but thought if that were the case would it have ran for as long as it did? and it runs just fine. Any help would be great!! Thanks everyone!!!!

 

just grab a battery charger suitable for your battery and hook it up...this should charge it within an hour or two. good luck!

 

Hmm 45 minutes might not be enough charge time. ATV's charging systems are not as strong as automobile charging systems. It could also be a bad battery. If you have a 1 or 2 amp charger charge that thing up once in a while. If you use the ATV for frequent short trips, it could just be that it's not running long enough to make up for the loss from starting the engine... If the battery was totally dead, then you jumped it, rode for 30-45 minutes stoped then when you hit the starter it cranked a bit. It is charging.

Depending on how this atv gets used you may want to invest in a battery tender. They can extend the battery life by years in many cases. Easily paying for themselves and in most cases saving you $$$...

Charge the battery and take it to get it tested... Let us know what happens...

 

I agree. It could take quite a while for the bike's charging system to bring a battery back, especially if it was totally flat dead.

Don't charge it faster than 2 amps, preferably with an automatic charger.

If the battery is original equipment it might be due for replacement, but if it were mine I'd want to make sure there isn't excessive key off draw, and that the charging system is working.

Once the battery is charged, take off the negative cable and take an amp meter reading between the negative post and the cable (with key off). It should only show a couple miliamps, but start with the multimeter on a higher range in case there's a big draw.

If that's ok, put the cable back on, and measure battery voltage with the machine off, and with it running and reved up a bit.

An intellegent battery charger/maintainer like a Battery Tender Jr really seems to extend the life of batteries in machines that aren't used regularly. Sitting in a partly discharged state is hard on automotive type batteries.

Lastly, if you replace the battery, I'd spend the extra to get an AGM type. They don't spill, don't require water to be added, and last longer.

 

My orginal battery crapped out after 8 months. Wasn't covered under warranty but I got a new one at cost.

 

Thanks for all the help guys, Im going to check it todaay when i get home. itsw been 4 days since it was charged (2amp) for an entire night and day so I guess this will tell mr