The battery has 13.8 volts. Over 12 volts going to a brand new starter. The starter is spinning. A new Bendix and stator were installed a few months ago. I am at a lost.

 

See if it starts by using the recoil starter. If it does,could be as simple as a dirty or out of aligned pick up coil. Similar to what happened to this member. no spark to plug when using electric starter - Page 3 - ATVConnection.com ATV Enthusiast Community If it doesn't crank,then pull the plug and ground it to the engine and crank it over and check for spark with a new plug. If no spark then you'd need to trace things a little further. One thing you could do is to pull the black wire from the cdi which by passes the kill circuit and see if it has spark then.

 

I just put in a "new" old Bendix and it started right up. It was clean in there so who knows.


Another issue I have is I put and brand new recoil starter (housing and everything) in last December. I used it for the first time yesterday and it started right up. The problem is it would not retract into the housing. As I was driving back to the trailer the rope snapped. This is the second time this happened. Is this a design flaw and is there a better option.

 

No the problem is the plate and fork on the recoil have to be greased properly and pressure on the 10mm bolt holding the plate has to be enough to keep things together,but again loose enough for the rope to recoil back in. On some of these recoil kits you need to check them out before you install them to make sure they're operating ok. Items 4,5 and 6 are the main things to check.Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Polaris, Suzuki & Kawasaki OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

Thanks. I bought it as a brand new assembled unit. I didn't check it. What a waste of money.

 

I got taken big time. I pulled the recoil starter assembly out. The spring was solid rust. No wonder it didn't work. The seller just cleaned up the outside housing and put a new rope on it and sold it as new. I have been working on this ATV for a few months. It has only been running for a couple of weeks and is stored inside. No way the rust came from me. BTW the seller on EBAY is PartsAce from Detroit.

 

Let em know about it. If they're reputable they'll send you a new one. I've see these recoils for sale on ebay and they're exact copies of Polaris recoils without the logo on the cover.

 

So it has been starting (electric) fine 98% of the time over that last three days. Three times it did not start. I could hear the starter spinning. Twice I hit the recoil starter housing and it started. Once, I rocked the ATV back in forth and it started. It seems like the Bendix is not engaging in those situations. It is clean inside the housing except for a little grease I put on the Bendix. Any thoughts?

 

You do have the washer on the back side of the bendix? On some new ones they come with a washer,others you have to reuse the old one. Plus check the bushings the bendix rides in. The recoil cover will have a new one installed. Check the one in the engine case for any burrs or damage that could cause problems. Make sure on the end of the bendix that you push this collar down and have a film of grease and that the bendix kicks out and retracts good by hand.

 

The washer is on. The bushing that goes on the Bendix was stuck on one of the Bendix's I exchanged. That might explain the rattling. For clarity, item #9 on the above diagram is the only bushing right? In other words there is not a bushing that goes onto the Bendix and a mating one that goes into the recess in the recoil cover?