When you try to start your ATV and you hear a click instead of the engine roaring to life, it’s more than annoying. Instead of joining your friends as they go mudding, you now need to figure out how to make your quad start. So, what can you do when your ATV doesn’t start?
Your ATV most likely clicks when you try to start it because of the battery. The reasons for this are numerous, from loose connections to a current draw that drains the battery. If the battery is not the cause, the ATV probably has a faulty starter solenoid.
Your ATV is meant to be ridden, not sitting in the driveway, so let’s get to troubleshooting.
This is an easy solution to check for and fix. Examine the connections to the battery and the starter. Sometimes the connections get knocked loose, especially if you’ve ridden some rough trails. Also, check for corrosion on the battery terminals, and if you find some, clean it off.
If the connections are clean and tight, then it’s time to move on to the next possible problem.
Battery problems are the number one reason ATV owners hear the dreaded click when trying to start their quads. ATVs give batteries a workout, so it’s not uncommon for one to go bad after a couple of years.
Your climate, how well you maintain it, and the quality of the battery affect its longevity. If you bought a cheap battery, do not expect it to last for more than a year or two.
One sign that the battery doesn’t have enough of a charge is multiple clicks in rapid succession. If there is a single click, then you may have another problem with your ATV—the starter solenoid. We will talk about that in a bit. For now, we’ll assume the battery is the issue.
Here are a few reasons this could be happening:
To test for this, unplug the battery and charge it completely.
Then measure the voltage using a multimeter. Let the battery sit unused for a day or two and recheck the voltage. Significant loss of voltage means you most likely it is time to replace your battery.
Before you go out and buy a new one, you might want to do some additional troubleshooting. Check out, How To Keep an ATV Battery Lasting for more info.
Let’s say you charged up your battery. After riding for a couple of hours, you stopped. When you tried to start your ATV, you heard the click (or silence).
If your battery can’t hold enough of a charge, then you should do a load test. For this, you need a multimeter and a load-tester if you want the most accurate results.
First, charge your battery to at least 75% (typically 12.4 volts). Use a multimeter to check the levels.
Reconnect your battery. Try to start your quad and check the battery’s voltage. A number below 9.6 volts means your battery doesn’t hold a charge.
Perhaps you made sure your battery was charged in the evening, but it is dead the next morning. Something in your ATV is using current. Parasitic amperage draw is the term for when a vehicle’s component is drawing electricity when it shouldn’t (i.e., the engine is off.) Typically this is due to a bad relay or fuse.
This used to be a more common problem when most ATVs had lead-acid batteries. If your quad has one of those batteries, then a fluid check is required. However, most ATVs come with an AGM (absorbed glass mat) or SLA (sealed lead-acid) battery, which cannot be topped off.
If you need to check fluid levels, clean the outside of the battery first to keep crud and dirt from falling into the battery.
Open the covers and check for the fluid levels then fill the battery cells so that the plates are covered and replace the cover.
Charge the battery and see if it can hold its charge. If not, buy a new one.
And when you do, buy a higher quality AGM or SLA.
Another problem with lead-acid batteries is they suffer from poor performance in cold weather. Since you can’t do much about the weather, once your lead acid battery no longer performs well, you have to replace it.
Here’s a helpful video showing how to test an ATV electrical system:
Have you left your four-wheeler sitting idle too long? Cars use an alternator that charges the battery while it is running. But most ATVs use a stator, which is designed to provide electric power.
Unlike alternators, stators do not recharge the battery. This is why a four wheeler’s battery needs to be charged while a car’s does not.
So if you forgot to charge the battery, it might have a little juice left, but not enough to start your vehicle.
In that case, you need to charge the battery. You can do this with another ATV battery or a car battery. Do not turn on the car if you use a car battery. You will risk frying your ATVs’ electronics.
If you haven’t already invested in a jump box, like the NOCO Boost Plus (link to Amazon) this is a good time to do so. Jump boxes are designed to connect safely to 12-volt batteries. The USB ports are handy for charging phones and other devices as well.
Since the number one cause behind an ATVs failure to start is the battery, keeping your battery healthy is essential. Follow these tips to keep your battery healthy:
How To Charge an ATV Battery will walk through all the steps to keep your battery charged and lasting a long time.
I like to use the Ctek Smart Charger found here on Amazon if the ATV is going to be sitting for more than a couple weeks. That way the battery is good to go when I need it.
If you have checked the battery, charged it, or replaced it and the ATV still does not start, it could be due to a bad solenoid. Also called a starter relay, the next most common reason an ATV doesn’t start is a bad solenoid, also known as a starter relay.
A solenoid provides the contact point between the battery and the starter. It works like this: when the starter switch is activated, amperage is sent to the solenoid. The amps cause the armature inside the solenoid to move, which completes the starter and battery circuit.
When you try to start your ATV and hear a single click, chances are good your starter relay is the problem.
But there are a few other signs that the solenoid is the cause of the clicking.
You will have to replace it. The starter solenoid will have two wires going from the battery and a pair of smaller cables going to the fuse housing. Before taking it off, make sure the battery is not hooked up. Otherwise, you are risking getting shocked.
ATVs with an electric starter can sometimes be jumped with the wrench trick. Locate the two wires coming from the electric starter. They should be positioned in such a way that you can use the wrench to jump-start your quad.
The number one reason an ATV clicks and doesn’t start is the battery, so you should troubleshoot that first. If your battery is functioning correctly, the next common source is the starter solenoid or a bad starter motor. Occasionally you could have hydro-locked your engine, or the fuses have failed.
The good news is that isolating battery problems is usually straightforward and replacing them is easy. The hard part will be parting with your hard-earned cash.
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Posted by by MotoDoctor
One of the problems with starting the engine on an ATV is found in the electrical system. To start the engine, we need to turn on the ignition and press the "Start" button (if the ATV is in gear, you need to additionally press the brake pedal). All ATV owners are familiar with this startup process. But here is the problem itself, after the actions performed, your ATV does not even make any sounds. Of course, first of all, we check whether the battery is holding a charge. If the battery is good, we proceed to check the wiring connections. Sometimes at the factory, when installing electrical equipment, the connecting chips are turned on, but not fixed with a lock. So sometimes, due to unscrupulous assemblers, these chips are disconnected and the contact naturally disappears.
It is not very difficult to identify such a malfunction; it is enough to inspect the entire electrical wiring circuit and determine where there is no reliable connection. True, for this it is often necessary to dismantle plastic elements, so that there would be access to all electrical equipment connections. If it's plastic on a Chinese ATV, be extra careful as he is very fragile.
But in rare cases, the power relay itself is working properly, but the power that should come to it is missing and naturally the relay will not work. This is where you will need a control or multimeter to check whether power is supplied (+) and (-) (12 volts) to the starter relay. In some ATV circuits, the starter relay constantly receives (-) and (+) is supplied when the (start) button is pressed, and in others, vice versa, you can determine all this with the help of instruments. For example, you have determined that the power is not going to the relay, then we recommend that you check the start button for serviceability. But as we said, the first thing to check is all electrical wiring connections. And now let's consider the option if power comes to the starter power relay and the relay itself works but the electric starter is silent, then here it seems to be faulty. In this case, you need to unscrew the mounting bolts and remove the starter from the ATV launcher. In this state, turn on the button (start), if the electric starter does not start working, then the malfunction is in it.
In this article, we examined the problem of an electric start malfunction on an ATV, which is directly related to the operation of electrical equipment, but in some cases the engine cannot be started from an electric starter due to a malfunction of the mechanical start system, this is the so-called electric starter overrunning clutch. If it fails, only the hum of the electric starter will be heard at the time of launch. In this case, this part must be replaced. This entry was posted in Motorcycle Repair Tips by MotoDoctor. Bookmark the permalink. Every ATV owner sooner or later faces a breakdown. And it doesn’t matter if you decide to buy an inexpensive ATV or a branded device. Of course, this is an unpleasant situation, but most problems can be fixed by hand. So let's figure out what to do if the ATV does not start.
Constant driving to the limit and improper operation of equipment often causes a number of breakdowns.
Due to high loads, the following may fail:
But more often than not, problems arise due to some little thing, such as low-quality gasoline, lack of oil or improper preservation of equipment.
The first thing a motorist should do if the ATV does not start or stalls is to check the gas tank. If the fuel is idle for a long time, it may evaporate, and if the tank is empty, gasoline should be added. But if there is fuel in it, it is advisable to drain it. Very often, low-quality fuel comes across, which after a while simply ceases to ignite.
Don't forget the oil. If a low-quality liquid was poured into the system, the device will lose dynamics and may even stall. This problem is especially relevant for four-stroke quads, since their power unit must literally “float” in oil.
Another reason why the ATV does not start is improper preservation of the equipment.
Even if you leave the device for a day in the garage, it must be prepared for downtime, otherwise starting the engine will be a real test.
Preservation required:
Many riders ignore this simple procedure, but it is the one that most often causes problems with starting equipment. For example, it is almost impossible to immediately start a “cold” engine. Therefore, the driver begins to methodically press the "start" button, and at this time the battery is discharged. After 10-15 attempts, the battery runs out, and it becomes unrealistic to start the equipment.
Important: In severe frost, it is imperative to carry out conservation of the ATV.
If this is not done, condensation will collect at the bottom of the carburetor, and the quadric will have to “warm up” for several days.
ATV won't start due to starter or bad contacts. In this case, you should:
But what if the Chinese ATV won't start due to problems with the starter in the field or away from home? In this case, the rider needs to close the relay contacts with a screwdriver. Thus, the rider will be able to start the device bypassing the faulty starter.
No spark is another simple but annoying failure. It usually occurs due to damage to the coil or a break in the wires that go to the candle. Solving the problem is easy. The rider just needs to unscrew the candle, insert it into the cap, attach it with a metal part to the motor and press "start".
Even minor downtime can prevent your ATV from starting, especially if it has been improperly preserved. And in order to “reanimate” the equipment after the winter, you should:
