Hello,

Today I purchased a 1990 kawasaki bayou 220, it has been setting for approx 3 years. The battery was dead and my battery charger is expreiencing issues so I just hooked hot shot cables to it. But as soon as I do it blows the fuse on the starter soleinoid. Why is this? Is there a relay burnt out, I know the wiring hasnt been tinkered with because all wires are in factory harness and in place, any suggestions?

 

What are "hot shot cables"?

 

Jumper cables, ive just always called them hot shot cables.

 

Ive been reading about the starter circuit relay and the starter relay, is this possibly my short, if one of these is shorted would this not allow any of the lights to work? Im hooking my jumper cables to the hot and negative leads on the battery and I know im getting power b/c ive shorted the solenoid out and it turns the motor over, yet no buttons on handlebar seem to work lights wont switch on neutral light wont come on and starter button doesnt work either, is there a fuse or relay for this stuff?

 

Now I'm going to make a few assumptions here. First that you disconnected the battery in the quad and hooked to a fully charged jumper battery. Second that you are sure the polarity was correct and third that the starter solinoid is not energized by a stuck starter button with the key on.

I will also assume that this fuse is not supplying power to the starter motor.

IF all the above are OK then I would suggest you check to see if the solinoid is burned out and shorted to ground internally. If the fuse blows when you hit the start button I would measure the ohms resistance across the solinoid and compair it to standard. This will tell you if the solinoid is drawing more amps than normal.

Keep in mind that usually a very hard short is caused by a wire going to ground or a burned out device such as a coil or motor winding. With the battery disconected try unplugging as many connectors as you can and measure the resistance between the positive and negiteve battery wires as each is disconnected. With the direct short you are experiancing you should see a major increase in the resistance indicated when the offending device is disconnected. If you do not have an ohm meter put a small bulb, such as a tail light bulb, in the circuit in place of or in series ahead of the fuse. As long as you have a direct short it will burn full bright. If there is no direct path to ground thru a short or a closed switch and device it will be dark.

Good luck.

 

Just read your third post about shorting across the starter solinoid. Sounds like this one fuse must supply all power to the bike. If this is correct then do the unplug one circut at a time thing and find where the problem is. Really sounds like a wire going to ground.

 

I am not sure how much amps you are applying when you are doing your "hot shock cable", but you need to be careful NOT to fry the dc-cdi igniter - which is the most sensitive/expensive electronic component on your bike. CDI is located just front of the reverse **** inside the plastic handlebar cover behind the front rack. Usually the max amp rating on Kawi ATV harness circuit is 30-amp. If you have to jump it, reinstall your old/dead battery back in place and jump to the battery terminals. In that way, the battery is acting as a damper. The best way would be to install a new/fresh battery and go from there to find out what the real problem is.

 

If the CDI box was fried it wouldnt spark at all right?Its got fire if I crank it but it does not attempt to run, its getting gas to the carb. going into the head is a different story as I dont know the inside situation of the carb. Will it still run without a battery. On the solenoid there is three wires pluged into the top of the solenoid what are these for, What should I do since it has been setting for 3 years? Pull off carb and clean it, new plug, change oil anything else? Also I have a question (new to bayou 220s) theres a little lever beside the spark plug hole on the head that runs into the valve cover on the front of the motor, what is this? Also there is another lever on the handle bar on the left, front brakes are on the right so what is this. this isnt the clutch is it (bayous dont have clutches, or atleast I didnt think) Is this for the pos in the rear end? Thanks

 

1. Get yourself a new battery - 14 amp-hour.
2. Max amp rating on your Bayou is 20 amp.
3. Do not do anything with the 3 wires on the solenoid (starter relay) since the harness on the bike has not been tempered as you said. Just check to make sure connections are good and there is no obvious shorting.
4. Lever on the front of the spark plug is the Compression Release lever. Push up when you are using the the recoil-start for easier pulling. Good feature but not always needed.
5. There are 3 levers on the left side of handlebar. Rear brake, parking brake and the choke. Push the choke lever (one on the rear) all the way to the left (choke on) when cold-starting. Then immediately turn it off when idling is stable to avoid fouling the plug.
6. Oxygenated gas goes bad in a month these days. Cleans jets and fuel passages inside the carb. It's really easy to R&R the carb on this bike.
Do the first step first - get a working battery.

 

Got it going today, new plug, cleaned carb, changed oil, put battery in it (still not solved the electrical bug, even puzzled a small engine shop) it fires up first crank but has a bad miss and sputter at about 1/4 throttle, is this the carb still dirty, any recomendations?