I'm having a problem with a '04 kodiak 450. The engine wont crank over when I push the starter button, instead there is a very loud buzzing/rapid clicking noise coming from under the seat right near the battery compartment where the cables run to from the battery. I have charged the battery with a battery tender for 48 hours and checked the voltage 12.7v and the lights seem bright but it wont crank over. I recently bought this machine used and it had sat unused for several months before i bought it. It will pull start (who needs the gym) [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] and run fine and sometimes will restart with the electric starter right after I shut it down. Wait a while, wont crank. Does this sound like the battery or Starter relay. Any way I can bypass starter relay on this model without tearing the whole thing apart? Also if it is a bad battery is there any way to recover it like an equalize charge? its a sealed agm yuasa battery. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

its your starter selenoid bud,,,,if something HAD to go wrong,you got pretty lucky,,,its the relay box that the possitive wire from your battery goes to,and then goes to your starter

first take the wires off of it,and clean them real good,,,then put them back on

also do the same thing to both connections to the battery

no need to check the wire at the starter because the juice isnt getting that far

if cleaning the connections doesnt fix it,the selenoid needs to be replaced,,,all n all pretty painless,and one of the less expensive issues it could have been

good luck

 

Sounds like a bad connection, or bad battery. Have the battery load tested. Its sounds like it isnt holding the 13 volts under load.

 

I would completly agree with hoopharted but the only thing is it works right after you run. Ether bad connection orbattery. Easy way to check the battery... JUMP START... or START WHEN ON CHARGER... ether of those will tell you. I would personally try jump starting.


good luck

 

when its a bad battery,the selenoid usually will only click once,,,,each time you hit the start button,because the battery doesnt have sufficiant juice to trip the selenoid to close the circuit,,so its one try,and done

everytime ive ever heard the selonoid jump rapidly (click rapidly) its been the selenoid itself,,,,,the rapid clicking indicates the battery is supplying enough juice,its just that the selenoid is hung up,not "closing " to supply the juice to the starter,,,,,the rapid clicking is a sign that the selenoid realizes it has to close and is trying to supply the starter with juice but isnt able for some reason so it continues to try,,,hence the repeated "clicking" sound

 

but if it's the selenoid then why would it work right after he shuts it off.... I think the battery could be goging bad and it gets just enought juice to start it from the magneto right when he shuts it off.... Donovan one way to sheck the selenoid is to jump it... hoopharted will prob be able to tell you how to do that b/c it has been a while for me and he seems to know alot about selenoids....

 

Thanks guys for all the input. Had the battery load tested and it was bad. Other people have also posted trouble with fairly new batteries going bad. Mine dropped to less than 9 volts under load. Guess i'll have to take better care of this battery than the guy I bought the 4 wheeler from did! Thanks for the help.

 

BTW does anybody know whats the best way to maintain a battery? Leave battery tender hooked up all the time or only for a couple days each month?

 

past experiences would immeadiately point to the battery... Because it would start after running for a while... that usually points to the battery not being able to hold a charge.

as for taking care of the battery... If you plan on not riding for a while... a few months or more, then a battery tender is the way to go. Of course, you should always remove the battery from the bike when doing this, just in case. Wouldn't want a blown battery to ruin the bike...

 

I am having the same problem... I replaced the starter relay and still won't start. Did you solve the issue and if so what was it?