Hey Guys,
I recently bought a 2007 Outlaw 525 IRS. I have been having trouble starting it with the electric starter. I just bought a brand new battery for it and when it is fully charged off the trickle charger it starts the quad fine, albeit it does sometimes take a few tries (as if the starter motor isn't strong enough to turn the engine over.) In other words when the battery is fully charged i sometimes have to hit the start button a few times because it will just not turn over and you can hear the starter whine. Ok but eventually it will start fine. The quad idles and drives perfect once its going. My problem is if I drive it say 1 or two minutes and turn if off I cant get get it started again (if I idle it for say 1-2 minutes without driving it WILL start after being turned off). The starter will do what it did before where it just wont kick over the engine. And if it does kick it over it will go one of two times (not enough to start the quad). I cant imagine the battery would have drained that quickly to not be able to start the ATV after a few minutes of riding from a full charge so I am stumped. I guess my question is do you think it is either the starter motor, stator, both, or something else? I have taken the stator cover off just to examine it and physically dont see anything. Also when I take the stator cover off there is a constant stream of oil coming out from below the flywheel. I have not been able to find any info on if the stator is a wet stator or not so I dont know if there is supposed to be oil in there (I read raptor 700's do have a wet stator). I know this post is a bit long winded but I have been trying to self diagnose this problem a while so I wanna make sure I go over everything I had done. So in summary:

1. Quad starts ok with full charge but takes a few tries as if the starter isnt strong enough
2. 1-2 minutes of riding is enough to make the battery not strong enough to start ATV
3. Stator has oil in it.

I'm hoping someone can help me figure out if:
1. Should there be oil in the stator...if not im assuming crankshaft seal is bad how annoying is that to replace...does it require case being split?
2. Do you think the stator is bad or is it the starter motor....or both....or something else I haven't thought of?

I really appreciate any help you guys can offer cause I am officially stumped on this one.

 

Welcome to the forum! Look up your model under "engine,starter motor" and will show item #10 starter clutch or as the old timers used to call as sprag clutch which is a one way clutch and can freeze up,wear out and just slip and not engage, or have intermittent starting problems. Plus yes this area is oil bathed behind the flywheel for the starter clutch and gears.http://parts.polarisind.com/Browse/Browse.asp
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Thanks for the reply! Do you know how difficult this is to replace? I am pretty mechanically inclined and wouldnt be overwhelmed doing it but would like to know what I'm getting myself into.

 

Never had to replace one myself on the Outlaw,but is similar to the old Honda,Suzuki street bike one way clutches that I've done before. Best to get a manual on this and you might try Partshark.com and see if you can still get a free one. PartShark.com - Motorcycle Parts, ATV Parts, UTV Parts, PWC Parts, Powersports Apparel, Motorcycle Accessories for OEM and Aftermarket.
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Hey so I read the service manual and performed the check they tell you to do on the starter clutch by cranking the drive gear counter clockwise. The starter clutch appeared to be working fine according to the guidelines in manual. So now that it seems to be ruled out, I am back to wondering what else the problem could be. Do you think the battery I got has anything to do with it? Im not sure if the outlaw requires a specific battery I just got a replacement for the one that was in there before which could have been an incorrect one to begin with. I believe there are three things that could be wrong with the atv.
1. The battery
2. the starter motor
3. The stator.

I have not yet tried starting it since I inspected the starter clutch though.

 

Takes a YTX9-BS maintenance free battery. You can try the starter out with 12 volts direct. If it started fine with a good charged battery I wouldn't think it's the stator. OPT

 

So I took out the starter again and took it apart according to the repair manual. The commutator bars were all discolored and looked burnt. All the resistances checked out thought...but I will say the whole inside of the starter had the burnt electric smell. I did hook it up to 12V direct and it spun right up though but according to the manual if the bars are discolored it had shorted out. I think the starter motor is my problem. Opinions?

 

Go by what the manual says and your nose. If it has that putrid burnt electrical smell then I would replace it. Cheap enough here: DB Electrical - Polaris
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Hey so I got the new starter in...same problem. I tried running 12V directly to the starter in case there was a bad relay or something but still had the same problem along with jumping it from a car just to see. Quad still pop starts fine. I took the plug out and it turns over easy indicating too much compression? I have been reading about problems with the automatic decompression valve which is on the cam shaft. Has anyone had any experience with a broken one and is familiar with doing the repair? It looks like I will need some specialty tools possibly to even do it myself so now I am considering bringing it to the shop which I dont want to do but I am running out of options at this point. Anyone have any ideas of if it could possibly be anything else either? With the quad OFF and in gear rocking it back and forth I can hear the engine seep air after it hits compression which almost makes me think the valve is fine but I cant think of anything else that could be wrong with it at this point.

 

Don't remember any of the KTM 525's having this problem ( Of course I didn't work on all of em that came in) too tied up with busted Polaris atvs. Have you also checked the valve settings. Believe they were .005 intake and exhaust. OPT