Hello all. I've been having an interesting problem with my '06 Sportsman 700, and finally thought I'd post the details here to see if anyone has any ideas...

My machine starts and runs fine. However, after riding for a while - maybe 30 minutes to an hour, if I stop for a view or something and turn the machine off, it does not want to restart. If I try restarting it within just a few minutes, the key turns on and all the lights work, but absolutely nothing happens. No click of the starter or anything. Quite often when this happens, the engine fan kicks on, so I think it might have something to do with some temperature sensor in the engine that is preventing the ignition from engaging.

When this happens, if I just let the machine sit for 10 or 15 minutes, and try to start it again, it will fire right up without any problem. I do sometimes have that engine wrench symbol flashing on my display, which I still need to figure out, but I'm not sure if it's related to this issue.

From a cooling perspective, I've got plenty of fluid, and everything else about the machine seems great.

Any ideas?

 

you need to check for diagnostic trouble codes,maybe ecm prob.starter could even be binding when engine gets hot......................

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: MECHANIKE

you need to check for diagnostic trouble codes,maybe ecm prob.</end quote></div>

Ya, I meant to do that over the weekend, but got distracted. All you have to do is turn the key off and on 3 times, while in Neutral, right?

 

yeah,if that dont work try park........

 

Hmmm... I finally got around to checking the engine trouble codes, but all it did was say "WAIT"... Then a few seconds later, it said "END". Does that mean no codes were stored? I did this twice - both in Neutral and Park, and it did the same thing each time.

I guess back to square one?

 

could be,clean your starter connections.do you have a meter?make sure your charging should be between 13-14 volts running,put high brights on should not drop much.when it happens, can you pull start it?try jumping across the starter solinoid if its just a big spark with no spin then your starter is being influenced by the heat of your motor,but i would try this dead last.try starting it (when it wont start) with your headlights on,if they dim when you turn the key your starter is locking up most likely......................

 

Finally tracked down the root of this problem, and it wasn't far from MECHANIKE's last suggestiions.

As it turns out, it had nothing to do with the engine temperature. It was simply due to a loose wire that connected the ignition switch to the starter relay. All that bouncing around on the mountain, and possibly the connection itself expanding as it warmed up, caused the connection to get so loose that starting it was questionable.

The fix is easy - just look under the left rear fender and trace the thin lines running to the relay. Pull the closest one off, and that's the problem I was having. Everything works, but no power is ever making it to the starter. To fix it, just crimp the connection until it's tight, and you're good to go!

Thanks for the help MECHANIKE!!