So my 04 sportman 500ho is being tempermental again.

It left me stranded in a field last week by failing to start up when i stopped for a minute to let my dog catch up. It didnt even crank, so i knew it would be an electrical issue.

So after a bitter walk through a half mile of mosquito nests at dusk, i was able to tow the quad home and do some tests. I check the battery connections etc and all seemed fine so i aimed my search at the starter. (The quad has been having a delayed crank for the last few months which i assumed was a sign of the starter going bad) so i tested voltage and sure enough the starter was getting a healthy 13v, but still no crank.

So i bought and installed a new starter/ bendix from dbelectrical and for a few days i was the happiest guy around. Not only was i able to correctly diagnose my quads problem. I got the right parts for a great price, installed them myself and got my quad working perfectly once and for all. . . . Or so i thought.

A week after getting it all fixed up i noticed the delayed crank return. Sure enough within a couple of days i was towing it home again because it wouldnt crank at all.

So here i am, dumbfounded and sour that i tricked myself into thinking my problem was fixed. Do any of you wise souls know what my real issue might be?

 

If it's not a new battery have it load tested. Even new ones can fail. Just the first thing I'd eliminate as a problem. Plus when running check that you're charging 14-14.5 volts back to the battery.Couple versions of the 04 500 were under the ecm recall. If it has the big silver module under the front panel,the replacements can go out also. If you have the regulator/rectifier up by the radiator,the the main 20 amp circuit breaker could be starting to corrode causing intermittent problems. Located up from the battery in a plastic pouch.

 

Thanks OPT,

I'll check those out this weekend.

It was really weird today, i tried starting the quad and it fired up as if there were no problems, then after shutting it off i couldnt get any response trying to restart it

Would this be consistant with the ECM problem if the sympyoms are random and intermittant?

 

I'd at least eliminate a battery by having it load tested if you haven't done so already along with connections at the solenoid and starter itself.Even one loose ground wire can cause problems. Could be an ecm problem,but before I started replacing parts,also not a bad idea to pull the recoil housing and check out the flywheel and pick up coil. Could be as simple as trash/dirt round the pick up face or flywheel causing intermittent starting. Plus if pick up to flywheel distance is over spec(.020 -.035 normally),can cause hard starting just like this poster had.

"Have Spark When Using Electric Starter"....


I really had my wits tested on this one, and it had me going in circles only to wind back up at the pulse coil (trigger). I was thinking, I had spark only when using the recoil, so what's up with that? I asked my self, one last time and if I couldn't figure it out, then I'll throw in the white flag, which is something I'm not doing without a fight

I remover the recoil cover last night after work, and began inspecting...

I looked at the pulse coil for any signs of rust, damage ect...nothing except for a large gap between the coil and flywheel magnet, I thought that looks incorrect, thinking back on all my years working on cars and small engines.

Well a while back the pull rope broke while engine was running. The cord wrapped around everything under the recoil housing and caused the starter bendix to jamb. I found frayed cord all over the place and bits of metal stuck to the magnet on the pulse trigger. I cleaned all this up and installed a new starter bindix, buttoned everything up, and that's when this no starting issue came up...well to shorten this up, apparently when the pull rope broke cord jamed everything up inside the recoil housing, it also pulled (bent) the pulse trigger down away from the flywheel magnet. In this position the trigger was only able to send the electrical pulse to the cdi to fire the coil, when using recoil starter, because it rotates the engine at a slower speed, than the electric starter, so the pulse coil could pick up that slower magnet of the flywheel and not the faster moving electric starter because of the large air gap, resulting in a no start when using electric starter, condition

feel free to correct me if I'm incorrect,

but when I bent the pulse trigger back up in the correct position and reset the air gap, re tightened the screws, installed the recoil housing. I went to check for spark at the plug with electric starter.....GOT BIG BLUE SPARK!!!!!!! now lets put the plug back in and see if she will fire up.....YES! YES! YES!!!! it fired up on the first hit of the key..
the end

thanks for all the input, and hope the information contained in this thread will help others

 

The battery is new, connections were good. But speaking of grounds i found this the other day, where should it be connected to?



That flywheel sensor sounds interesting, i'll take off the cover and have a look at it

 

Main frame to engine ground! Yes it needs to be connected.Connects to the top engine mount bracket. The main battery ground hooks to the starter bolt.May be the problem..

 

Alright so ive been testing the quad for the last week or so since i pit this wire on

The quad has been starting for me everyday but it still has the delayed crank wich still worries me. It's hard to describe what this delay is like but i'll give it a try

When i first turn the key the starter makes its normal noise and turns the engine over like it should... But that only lasts for one crank. After the first crank everything goes dead for about 2-3 seconds before slowly starting to crank again. It usually drags for a crank or two before starting to crank normally.

Hopefully you can understand why this makes me a little uneasy. Does this sound like any common problems you know of?

 

What I see wrong with the ground wire is that you really have it frame to frame,not directly to the engine plate as the original was supposed to be. The isolator(motor mount) bolt does not go all the way through the rubber isolator,but is molded on each side.The engine isn't fully grounded this way. Ground this end to the engine bracket top bolt or inside the bracket. May or may not be the solution as it still sounds like once it turns over,slow to turn over the next time. Don't assume a new battery is always good either. I'd have it load tested to make sure it's ok,plus even the starter could be a problem or the bendix could be binding when the cover is on.If this is the case usually it's worn brass cups in the cover and engine block that the bendix rides in. From your description just sounds like it doesn't have enough voltage/amperage after the first start to continue,IF rerouting the frame to engine ground strap doesn't help. Does make a difference where the ground strap is located.

 

Could also be the starter solenoid , internal contacts burned ? No mention of using the pull start , does it start with that ?

 

Yep,could even be a solenoid getting weak.. You can jump the posts and see if the starter does the same thing after the first try at cranking. If it does,then you can eliminate the solenoid as a problem. I mentioned a link to the pick up coil in a earlier post to him about one members' machine that would only pull start because the pick up to flywheel gap was too far and the electric start didn't turn it over fast enough to trigger a spark,but with the recoil it could start up.Several people on the forum have had that same problem and after "resetting" the gap in a little, they could get it to electric start.Plus a pick up coil itself can weaken with time. But as long as resistance is close to 97 ohms,it should be okay.Hopefully between all the things we've mentioned he'll find the problem and let us know.I'm curious like everyone else..