Okay here is the deal, I have a 2005 Sportsman 500 H.O. that i love dearly and baby it tons. I went out yesterday when it was 5 degrees F, i put the key in and it turns over but doesn't start the rpm's. I go to the pull cord and pull it out but it has no tension to start the machine. Keep in mind it reels back in fine. Today i go to start it and the "wrench" light comes on (don't know what that means) and the same thing happens as the day before except today it was 20 degrees F out. Is it just the cold or something more serious? any suggestions? Thanks for your help!

 

the wrench icon is for serivce. are you saying when you pulled it out there is no compression? is the dogs on the pull start engauging when you pulled it? when you tried the ele. start, did it turn over good of slow because of cold weather?

 

Yes when i pulled it out there was no compression at all. When i turned it over it made the sound like it was trying, but it did not catch. it didn't appear that there was liquid in any of the clear lines by the headlight, but i don't know what they are for.

 

is the battery dead? not fully charged for the cold weather start. if you mean the clear lines that run upto the handle bars they are vent lines are not suppose to have fluid in them. iam just wondering when you tried to pull start the bike if the little dogs in the starter recoil housing are stuck in and not engaging when you pull up on the recoil. they could have gotten water in there and either froze, or rusted them. check the battery voltage. it should be 12.5 volts or better to start the bike. if not try charging the battery up before trying to start it again.

 

alright thanks for the advice will try it tomorrow and hopefully it will be warmer out

 

okay i tried starting it today, no dice. But then i got out the blow torch and warmed up the recoil housing and it gave me the compression to start it up. I let it run a few minutes and turned it off. I then tried the electric start it turned over but did not start the machine, i hope i just need to charge up the battery.

 

I always use the recoil in cold weather. It's too hard on the starter and battery in cold weather. Starts easier with the rope anyway.

 

In very cold weather, my starter doesn't engage 99% of the time (push the button and all you get is the wwrrrrrr noise) but it always fires right up with a light pull on the recoil starter. So, like hotdog just said, I just give it a pull when it's that cold instead of worrying about the electric start.

 

o okay thanks guys i will just do that from now on