ATV Help & Brand Specific Topics

Ok. Things like to be used.. They get rusty and unreliable sitting around.

I doubt silicon will keep the water out for long. I'd use vaseline or some soft seal, but you need to be careful where it goes if the starter is a press contact, rather than a sliding contact. Press contacts get dirty easy and even vaseline can stop them working. Sliding contacts cut through vaseline or soft seal so those contacts can be covered in the stuff.

I tried starting it a few more times and finely got it started and it now starts first time.

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I'll be using gasket seal or silicone when I put it on the handlebar.

That sounds like a good choice, hope it gets you going.

Solenoid is fine. Start, kill, and headlight switch is badly rough inside. Copper contacts are black, metal retainer plates are rusted. A new switch has already been ordered.

I ended up welding it

Nut splitter is a good idea i have one and never think to try it, generally we dont think to try these things until we have already broken the nut off, but as a rule i always try something on muffler bolts that have never been removed 99 percent of the time they break.

Yeah it could be the solenoid, and a good test to verify that, is to give it a hard tap with a screwdriver handle, while holding the start button down. There is a danger though that if the solenoid earth is bad, or the start button does have a bad contact, or the isolation relay has a bad contact, or, in some bikes, the kill switch has a bad contact, causing low current to the solenoid windings, then the hard tap might just be enough to get the solenoid to move and operate with the low volts to the windings.. The best check for bad contacts or connections is to look for voltage drop through that windings circuit. If the voltage drop checks all pan out ok, then try tapping the solenoid.

If you can split the nut it will come loose. There are tools called nut splitters. You'd have to get one that could fit onto that nut if the space is a bit confined.

Check the bendix to make sure it is working properly, you might pull the starter out and check it out to make sure all the parts are in place and and no slop in the engaging gear.

Starter button is definately a strong possibility but i have also had soloenids stick, may work a couple of times as you describe and then stick, and you have to giggle the start button or lightly tap on the soloenoid to get it to unstick.

Those bolts are sometimes hard to get off without breaking, i usually heat them cherry red and then srray with the water hose to cool them quickly and then douse with PB Blaster, it works most of the time.

Thanks guys. So I scored another parts bike , possibly! And now that small hole in my exhaust blew apart into a huge 2inch hole right where the 2pipes join into one !!! So loud and backfires like crazy again . I hate riding it now because of the attention it draws... But anyways, my current parts bike, has good pipes up to and past the join , I want to take it off and weld it on to replace the damaged portion.. But get this ! I tried to take the pipe off my good bike to replace it with the parts bike pipe, but The darn nuts on the header bolts are seized on there and basically morphed into the bolt. I already snapped one off trying to get it out ! I didn't want to proceed beyond that. Do you think I'm better off just cutting out a portion and welding it in 2 places instead of trying to replace the whole front part of the pipe ? Another thing I just thought of , was to weld a new bolt onto the old one , but it's a tight spot and I might not be able to actually do it (haven't really evaluated it yet )

Definitely check the start button. Most start and kill buttons are poorly weatherproofed.. if at all !

I finally got to the wiring today. The Bayou will start easily. I now have to find a dirty or bad connection or check the start button. The solenoid works fine. It fires 3 or 4 times and then will not start unless I jump it straight to the starter post. The critical thing is that it starts and runs well when it does. Again Mech, thank you for your help.

If the bendix has a sprag/one-way clutch, it may be that playing up.

It doesn't hurt to ensure that the fuel tank is venting properly, if it doesn't then the pressure can cause carb flooding. Some Yamaha's have gas caps that use ball bearings in them to prevent fuel loss if the machine tips over. These can get stuck and create problems. I'm not sure if these type of caps are used on their quads but I've found them on the off road bikes. The caps can be taken apart and the steel balls removed.

Hi all, Looking for some help on a starter/bendix issue. Can Am outlander 450 2017. While cranking to start, the starter spins and engages into the ring gear. After a few seconds the bendix retracts while still spinning and there is no damaged teeth on the drive pulley.

Really great advise and info. It all makes absolute sense. I did have a problem with the float needle in the beginning. I replaced it and reconditioned the carb. This is also when I did the top end. Thanks guys

Good call Mech! I have never seen this happen but generally the first thing i do is check the oil and if its over full or smells gassy or feels just not oily, change it immediately. Glad you got that sorted out.

The fuel starts evaporating out of the oil once it gets just slightly heated and the fuel filled fumes drowns the engine... just like flooding. Seen it plenty of times. At the same time the thin oil, carried with this excessive amount of fuming, gets past the usual oil/air separation systems and fills the air-box with oily fumes which separate out in the box. The float needle allowed the sump fill, but may not be the cause. Float needles can seal plenty well enough for maintaining the fuel level during a days use, but let enough leak through to flood an engine over night if the fuel tap doesn't get turned off. If the needle valve worked perfectly it wouldn't happen, but a lot of needle valves that seem to work just fine during the day can fill the sump if the tap leaks. I'd check the fuel tap because that test is so simple.. Turn it off, pull the hose and watch for a drip. I'd open and close it a few times checking it closed every time. If the tap is working ok then I'd check how the bike runs and consider cleaning the carb, but I'd check whether the float level seemed to be ok and was ok during a days use.. It is possible that someone forgot to turn the tap off one day, or, the tank breather didn't work ad pressurised the tank and caused the problem.

That should not have fixed anything but diluted oil, it should still run with gas in the oil just doesnt lubricate well and toast your engine. Generally gas gets into the crankcase when the needle and seat is bad and lets gas seep by and into the crankcase.

I'm familiar with the clutches on these quads, the difference is they utilize an engine braking system which is not on snowmobile CVT clutches. If everything in there checked out, then you may still have a problem relating to the electronic module. Could be its still not working properly.... Since they are likely not available new anymore, you'd have to find a "known good" used one which would be kind of rare. Good luck on your quest! (BTW, that's an inside joke - the quad you have was originally named the Quest I believe, at least here in Canada it was, haha)