hello folks and thankyou for anyone who is looking, im getting really desperate now, but a nemesis quad atv from a so called friend a year ago, was told it was a Honda and cost £1000 NEW, Hardly been used, and stood for 3 months.was also told that it was running perfect except when starting you couldnt start with switch you had to run a screw driver across 2 positive sticks * a small circular metal ,an inch long with 2 positives and a negative on it , at the rear of the quad* i got back home and charged up the battery, it wouldnt even turn the engine even though my tester said the batetry was fully charged, i rang him back and he said to jumo start from a car, which i did and eventually it struck up....its a 2 stroke and had plenty of oil in the tank, smoked like heck, even after a run it kept stalling on me, i had my brother following me in a van so we could jump start it.
ive never owned a quad so even working out what switches do what was a nightmare, i then changed the fuel in the tank, checked plugs even just to stop the stalling, didnt help.... stripped the carb and cleaned out the dirt in it,jump started and stil no better, im at a loss with it now, im guessing that by them jump starting from a car its broke something.also none of the lights work,electric start doesnt work.
soooo

1) what am i bridging with a screwdriver? what checks can i do to get it started electrically? it doesnt have a kick start so really need this sorting, its been stood for 3 months as i had enough, ran my tester on it and the battery had 5.5 volts in it, wouldnt even turn the engine, i rigged battery upto a 12 volt car battery... tester read 11 volts, still wouldnt turn the engine over... started my truck and jump started and the engine span round as it should till it started...any replies please speak in real simple terms as im new to quads

2) stalling... im guessing its auto choke as i cant see a lever on the carb,when it first starts it throws out puffs of smoke and stinks of oil... could it be to rich? hence why it stalls..... i have lifted the back end and got my son to gently increase throttle and it seems ok, now rev it quiet hard and it cuts out, ease of throttle and revs die... once it starts dying theres no way of keeping it running.....restart and dont rev.. had it ticking over for 15 minutes or more.

i bought the quad as a Honda knowing that there would be loads of help out there, but never seen a honda nemesis, it says on the engine nemesis 100 atv... thats all i know, im not bothered about the lights working... but the starting and stalling would really benefit us, the kids keep getting excited but havent even been on it yet

thankyou for any advice given in advance Steve

 

been doing more research online and suppossedly its the same engine etc as RAM and also Apache....

 

had an idea today, disconnected 6 volt battery and replaced with a fully charged 12v battery, hardly had any guts to turn engine....yet again.... hook up to my truck with engine running and it spins like it should..... any ideas ?

 

£1000 brand new doesn't sound like a Honda to me. Chinese Honda clone perhaps? Dos this quad say Honda on it anywhere?

I know almost nothing about 2 cycle engines. I can't help there.

The thing you're bridging with a screwdriver is the starter solenoid. It is nothing more than a remote controlled switch that allows a small signal current to switch on and off a very large current (the starter motor in this case). The small signal to the solenoid comes from the start switch through a safety interlock of some sort to keep the quad from starting up in gear and lurching forward into someone. This interlock can be through a brake switch or a neutral switch.

You say that nothing electrical works. Have you checked the main fuse? Everything powered off the battery other than the starter motor goes through the main fuse. Then most 12 volt powered stuff (if not all) goes through the ignition switch. Look at both those very carefully.

A battery with 5 volts on it is dead. A battery with 11 volts on it is almost discharged or just plain bad. The fact that jumping to your truck turns the starter fine proves it.

A fully charged battery that won't turn a starter motor, while a running truck battery will turn it, is suspect. A running truck (or car) produces 14 volts or so. A truck/car with a stopped engine produces 12.6 volts out of the battery. That's not much difference. So if you jump your quad to the truck with the engine stopped does the starter turn? If it does than your "fully charged battery" is no good.

BTW as long as you get the polarity right, jump starting a quad with a car battery won't hurt anything.

 

hello Lynne, i bought the quad as a Honda but after research it seams that someone threw some stickers on and as it was a riend i believed him *lesson learnt* after researching online its a chinese copy, built on the Ram/Apache range..
The only fuse i can find is 4 inchs away from the battery underneath the seat,tapers of to the starter motor solenoid and is ok,i will check to see if theres anymore hidden anywhere... but i very much doubt it, although i could be wrong,a fully charged 12v battery will spin the engine but doesnt turn enough for it to start, however my truck has twin batteries on and when jump started of those with engine running it spins fast as anything...and strokes up first or second time....is there a coil on the quad like on a car that increases the power from the battery? could that be the problem? if so what does it look like, where would it be and how do i test with a voltage tester? also how do i test starter solenoid? it works by bypassing with a screwdriver but if its broke could that be why its not starting from the switch? sorry about all the questions but i would really like to get it sorted for the kids, and now there back at school i do have more time... thankyou again Steve

 

Steve,

I found a wiring diagram of a Apache 100. *If* this quad is the same as your Nemisis then here are some observations:

The head light and tail light are powered off AC voltage straight from the stator. What this means in plain language is that the head/tail lights won't light unless the engine is running, since the power source to run them comes directly from the engine and not the battery. And it means that the headlights would be dim at idle and brighten significantly at speed. Have you ever observed this? Does this sound right to you?

The brake light is another story. It (an Apache, remember) is powered off the DC side (i.e. the battery), and it looks like the safety startup interlock is the brake switch. When you turn on the ignition and apply the brakes, does the brake light come on? Fiddle with the brake switch while doing this. Any change? Short across the brake switch (leave the ignition on). Does the brake light come on? Can you find the brake switch?

It may well be that the brake switch alone is keeping you from using the start button to crank the quad.

As for the slow cranking, take a voltmeter and measure the voltage right at the starter motor input terminal to ground while shorting across the solenoid to crank the engine. Do this using the "fully changed battery". Then also measure the voltage right on the same battery + and - terminals while cranking as well. Report both voltages. Let's get real - a quad starter draws 50 amps or less. Any good car or truck battery should be able to deliver that without dropping hardly any voltage at all. A car starter draws three to four hundred amps. By reporting both voltages your providing info on the wiring to the starter and the battery itself.

 

thankyou lynne, have been outside and had another play....the lights have never worked since i had it, i tried bridging the switch in the brake with no changes, however i worked my way back to the ignition, took apart and one cable was so heavily corroded and 1 was hanging of,i *bodged it * solder and copper cable, put back together and.... the electric starter now works and the front lights....ok the brake light doesnt work, and front dip doesnt work but front full beam does by ignition and light switch which is a step forward..im happy as in the past year i havent managed any steps forward.... now to get the electric start working from quad battery instead of car.. i did several tests...

test 1... car battery connected to quad volt tester reads 10.91 volts
volt meter on battery while bridging solenoid reads 2.06 volts
volt meter on solenoid while bridging solenoid reads 1.60 volts

didnt have enough juice to turn quad engine over so i hooked back up to my truck and redid tests

reading on battery 12.31 volts
meter on battery while bridging solenoid, baterry reading was 11.55 volts
bridged solenoid,engine was turning and hooked up meter to solenoid and reading was 0.09 volts

is this a normal reading? is it a case of just a new battery? once this is sorted i can then start on the stalling buisness... many thanks for your help its really appreciated Steve

 

Since the lights run off the switch with the engine stopped then you can ignore the apache quad wiring diagram. It does not apply to your quad. Actually this is hopeful since the apaches wiring was really wierd and had many non-standard parts for a typical chinese built machine. Hopefully yours will be more standard.

The car battery is just plain bad.

The truck battery readings are OK, except the last one where the solenoid was reading 0.09 volts. Measuring either of the two big terminals to ground while cranking should give you 12 volts. No matter, the engine is cranking so the solenoid works.

After you put in a new battery you will want to verify that the quad charging system is working. Otherwise your battery will just go dead again and quickly sulphate up and get ruined. To do that start up the quad and measure the voltage across the battery terminals with the engine rev'ed up some and the headlights off. It should read 13.5 to 14.5 volts DC. When you shut the quad off it should drop down to less than 13 volts.

 

well fitted new battery... turned over a treat but wouldnt start, checked plug and noticed something kinda wierd, was a spacer... i went to our local bike shop for a new plug and had a word with the mechanic, the plug that was in had the shortest thread so shouldnt need a spacer, he couldnt understand it, anyways fitted new plug minus the spacer,still wouldnt work... i checked all the wiringand wd40 them, and bingo it started first time.... i left her running while i put the plastics back on, insulated all cables and tidied them up....and let the kids have there first go on the quad in a year..... i also wanted to see if it would stall like it did before, after 30 minutes of playing it didnt stall once, it was sooooo nice to see the kids faces being so happy..... i will check the battery is charging properly tomorrow, if thats ok i will then change the oil.... a quick question, i went to check the level and theres no dipstick.... its just a plastic bung which is threaded... after all this i dont want to seize anything, so any tips on how to check oil level ? thankyou sooooo much for all your help, a new battery was £30 and a new plug £2.50 seeing the kids smiling and having fun in the backyard.... priceless

 

Glad you got it running Steve.

I sure don't know on the oil level. Your quad may be European distributed only (I've never heard of one before now), so many viewers here in the USA may be at disadvantage.

Let's hope your charging system is working as well...