yesterday i was all set to ride and when going to start my sportsman (03) 500 all i got was the sad sound of the starter solenoid clicking away. Theres a new battery in it, the headlights were burning bright, I checked the battery connections for being tight, loosened them and retighted em after cleaning. I pull started the machine and then just left it running all day. I only get one pull from the pullstart because the rope will not retract all the way unless I rev the engine after starting, I have a lot of gunk on the rope and it needs cleaning. Towards the end of the day I took a chance in the woods and cut it off. It restarted with the starter. One guy suggested that I had water in a component such as the solenoid and that it was probably frozen and then thawed over the course of the day. Anyone out there had a similar problem? As well what can I do about that gunked up rope? Another guy said that the section of the engine that contains the rope can be flushed by popping two access holes, one on top and one on the bottom. What should I flush with?

 

With the gunk in the rope ... you should really remove the cover and clean everything under there ... theres alot of "stuff" under that cover that should be clean and dry at all times.

 

i had a similar problem with my solenoid when doing some snow riding. i dunno if it got frozen or it was just packed with snow and it was shorting it out, or what. but i took a hair dryer and thawed it out and warmed it up and it worked just fine ever since. kinda weerd.

X

 

Do you ride in water much? If you do, do you drain the recoil housing often? My scrambler had the same problem. I replaced the solenoid with a new one for a lawn mower that I got at the hardware store ($14 for that compared to $50 from the dealer). It was not the problem. The real problem was that I had corrosion inside the starter as well as the recoil (my rope would not retract all the way either). I got a starter rebuild kit on ebay for $35 and I cleaned the recoil housing up and wound the rope a little tighter. All good now. When it makes that clicking sound, try jumping the battery right to the starter and see if it will start. That way you will know for sure that it is your solenoid