I just bought a 2006 Suzuki LT80 quadspot, it has approx 10 hrs on it. It will not start, It will turn over but sounds like something is drawing power from it ( it doesnt crank over fast)...If I hit the starter button, it turns over for about 5 seconds then the relay pops out/trips. The battery is BN ( I bought it yesterday). The cylinder and exhaust pipe were filled with gas from ( I guess from the petcock) I tore it down and plan on replacing the petcock, I took the carb off and drained it, I took the exhaust pipe off and drained all the gas out of it also. I tipped the bike up from front to back and gas ran out of the inatke port and breather tube hole (I removed the rubber hose also). I held it up til no more fuel came out. When I hit the starter button it turns over for about 5 seconds then the starter relay pops out.....Im in need of some help. Thanks.

 

Could the starter be "fried" ?Is there a way to check it while its on the bike?

 

I got restless and pulled the starter out of the engine....I grounded it on the front of the engine and hit the starter button....The relay tripped/popped in about 3-4 seconds and the starter is warm....Im guessing the starter is bad ??? Any opinions ? Should I buy a $40 EBAY starter or the $170 OEM starter ? How can I tell whats exactly wrong with my factory starter and is it easy to rebuild?

 

I know absolutely nothing about LT80 starter motors.

If I was in your situation, and no experts on LT80 starter motors come forward, then this is what I would test for:

1) You suspect the starter motor is bad because it gets warm and the breaker trips. That's a good indication that the starter is bad, or the breaker is bad. It really depends on how "warm" the starter gets in how much time. What is the starter temperature rise between hookup and breaker popping? How many seconds exactly?

2) Does the starter spin between the time you hook it up and when the breaker pops?

3) What happens if you bypass the breaker? If the breaker is bad then everything should start working hunky dory. If the starter is bad it will will get *really* hot really *fast*. But then the the starter is bad, so who cares (but do keep your shop fire extinguisher handy).

As far as buying on eBay to save money, it is a crap shoot. I've had very good luck averaged over 100's of transactions, but I've had 2 or 3 difficulties (all solved to my satisfaction, but I had to put some effort into it). You can stack the odds in your favor by doing meticulous research on your proposed vendor. Look at the vendors feedback record. Make sure that they have more than 99% positive, with at least 100 feedback responses. Also, look carefully at their positive feedback details. Look at the transaction details themselves. Suppose they have 50,000 positive feedbacks, and 500 negative. That's pretty good, but then you notice that all the positive feedbacks are for selling womens pantyhose, lava lamps, and socks, and 50% of the negative feedbacks are for selling quad parts. That's puts their feedback in my book at 50%, and I avoid them like the plague. Caveat Emptor.

 

If the starter get hot in 5 or 6 seconds, while you have it out with no load (its not cranking anything) then I would say there is a 99% chance it is toast.
Someone trying to crank a hydro locked (full of gas engine) could be the reason the starter is fried.
Hopefully you did not bend the rod or anything nasty from the engine not being able to spin over.

The new starters for my old polaris on ebay, where the exact brand as oem, just not in a oem bag with a monster price. I would not hesitate to buy a new one there if you can confirm this.
Get you fuel petcock fixed, before you do serious damage to the engine.
The accepted fix seem to be use the existing petcock on prime. Cap off the vaccume lines and install a separate fuel shut off and filter in the line.
Ken

 

I had a similar situation last year... Have you been able to start it at all? If it does start, will it run?

I was told by the dealership that I needed a new bore kit, rings, etc... Everytime I went to start my 2001 cold, the relay would pop. Would take forever to start. But once I got it started, gas come out of the exhaust and she ran fine. Cold starts were definitely a problem...

Jack (LT80) told me a simple fix was that gas was leaking out of my petcock and filling the carb and cylinder... Buy a simple fuel on/off switch and keep fuel off when not using... Almost a year later, PERFECT and NO big bucks spents at the stealership....

Let me know if this is similar...

Good luck!

 

I'm sorry...

Mr. Douchebag over here (me) replied to a post that was nearly 3 months old...

Confirmed brain fart.

Apologies.

Carl