honda 250sx electric start just clicks when button is pressed! help please!!!!

[chopdog]

My 1985 honda 250sx just clicks in the round thing next to the battery about the size of a spool of thread. i think a relay not sure. what would be the steps in diagnosing problems? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm not great with electronics so i appreciate any advice:crazy: 162521162526162527

[ColtonGG33]

well does it have spark? my old bike used to do that and i had to replace the ignition coil, does it start when you kick it?

[dustrunner]

try jumping the starter.... i had that problem and the starter was shot...good luck

[chopdog]

yes it will kick start.

how do you jump the starter?

thanks for the quick feed back! This is an awesome forum:TrikesOwn

[ngunter2]

Mine does that when its battery is low. It clicks and doesn't have enough power. If your neutral light on the dash board starts to flicker when your started Id say maybe the battery is dead. Try charging it. Im probably wrong but its worth a try :)

[chopdog]

i put a smaller batt i had in the garage and fully charged it but i might not have the cold cranking amperage! The neutral light does dim when i hit the start button. would call it a flicker just dims until you let off the starter button. clicks when i press and clicks again when i release. thanks again

[chopdog]

how do you jump the starter?

[ColtonGG33]

im not sure how to jump the starter, i think he means get some jumper cables and put it on the wires that go to the battery and see if that works, if it doesn't it could just be a bad starter

[ColtonGG33]

or just a bad battery

[Badbmwbrad]

That rounded component appears to be a starter solenoid. If yes then it contains a large set of contacts for switching on high electrical current flow (amperes) to the starter motor when the electromagnetic solenoid is energized. If there were no solenoid then all of the amperes would need to flow through the engine-start pushbutton contacts enroute to the starter motor!

A voltmeter is used to locate bad connections. Place one of the voltmeter's leads on the battery's ground strap where it bolts onto the engine block/frame. The other voltmeter lead is connected to the engine block/frame (elsewhere). Depress the engine-start pushbutton and observe the voltmeter display for any voltage (electrical potential) developed.

If you see any electrical potential developed at the ground strap connection then it's indicative of electrical resistance at the connection. A high resistance electrical connection will restrict flow of amperes and create a voltage drop across the connection. Your voltmeter is sensing for any voltage drop when high electrical current flow passes through the connection. This is a more reliable method (especially under high current flow conditions) to detect electrical resistance through a connection than is possible through use of an ohmmeter.

Eliminate the resistance by disassembling the connection then clean it with a wire brush, baking soda/water solution then apply dielectric grease before re-assembly. Repeat this procedure at the battery negative terminal and the solenoid's negative terminal except the voltmeter's second lead will touch the threaded fastening stud. You can do this on the positive side of the battery also.

Another simple voltmeter test is to place its probes on the battery positive/negative terminals to measure/display battery voltage. While monitoring the voltmeter display, depress the engine-start pushbutton and observe the displayed voltage. Depending on battery health, the voltage will drop. If voltage drops < 9 volts then battery is either not fully charged or the battery storage capacity is degraded.

The last method is the last resort - Connect the battery directly to the electric starter motor; short-circuiting (bypassing) the engine-start pushbutton, starter solenoid, starter relay (if used) and all interconnecting wiring terminations. If the battery and starter motor are both good then the motor will energize and rotate. Be advised you'll be applying a lot of amperes (> 50 amps) to the starter motor so you will see electrical arcing when the circuit is closed (completed) to direct stored energy from the battery to power the starter motor.


My 1985 honda 250sx just clicks in the round thing next to the battery about the size of a spool of thread. i think a relay not sure. what would be the steps in diagnosing problems? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm not great with electronics so i appreciate any advice:crazy: 162521162526162527

[philgipson]

jump the starter by shorting the two wires on the round thing together.

[ngunter2]

Id go get a brand new battery and charge it fully. Start there then troubleshoot starter and everything else. Good luck :)

[falloutboy]

What Badbmwbrad said (but much simpler)

The clicking is the starter solenoid engaging (the round thing next to the battery)
Try putting power directly to the starter from an outside power source. Car battery, jumper pack, etc. If nothing happens you have a bad starter. If it does turn over, you have a weak battery or a loose connection somewhere.

I don't think it's a bad solenoid but you can check it with a test light. Trace your + battery cable to the one side of the solenoid, the other large wire that is attached should go to the starter. Hook the ground of the test light to the - side of the battery and put the probe of the test light on the wire off the solenoid that goes to the starter. Hit the start button. The test light should light up while you are pushing the button.

[chopdog]

thank you so much for your information! Will give it all a try and reply to the out come. What more can I say than thanks so much you all have been a great help!

[rcurtis16]

just get a car battery, and put the postive on the starter. and just find a rough spot on the frame and put the negative on it, try a couple spots, its how i boost mine, and it works fine, i have the same problem with my dads, he changed the battery from original to some crappy energizer one, the original was in her for 20 years

[trike savior]

round thing is your solenoid. if its clicking that is good. it is trying to work but not getting enough juice from battery. check your connections. when using a car battery and jumper cables to jump motorcycle and atc stuff, battery out of car OK, battery in car and key off (engine not running) OK. battery in car and engine running NOT OK. extra voltage from alternator with car running can hurt electrical parts on bikes.
easiest way to test system. hook jumper cables to car battery. on other end hook negative to good ground on engine.
1)on starter should be post with heavy gauge wire going to it. tap post with positive jumper lead. starter should work, if not bad starter
2)go to round thing (solenoid) has 2 posts with heavy gauge wire. front should go to starter rear should come from battery. hit front post with jumper, starter should run if it worked in last test
3)hold jumper on rear post and and press starter switch on handle bar, starter should run.
4)move jumper to positive post of battery and try starter swich on handle bar again, starter should run
if the starter does not run during initial test the starter is bad. if it stops working during any of these other tests and you are sure you have a good connection with jumper leads, you have found your bad connection.
if it passes all these move your ground from the engine to the negative battery post and repeat tests 1-4.
if it fails now you know you have a bad ground
if it passes all tests your battery is bad
good luck

[trike savior]

round thing is your solenoid. if its clicking that is good. it is trying to work but not getting enough juice from battery. check your connections. when using a car battery and jumper cables to jump motorcycle and atc stuff, battery out of car OK, battery in car and key off (engine not running) OK. battery in car and engine running NOT OK. extra voltage from alternator with car running can hurt electrical parts on bikes.
easiest way to test system. hook jumper cables to car battery. on other end hook negative to good ground on engine.
1)on starter should be post with heavy gauge wire going to it. tap post with positive jumper lead. starter should work, if not bad starter
2)go to round thing (solenoid) has 2 posts with heavy gauge wire. front should go to starter rear should come from battery. hit front post with jumper, starter should run if it worked in last test
3)hold jumper on rear post and and press starter switch on handle bar, starter should run.
4)move jumper to positive post of battery and try starter swich on handle bar again, starter should run
if the starter does not run during initial test the starter is bad. if it stops working during any of these other tests and you are sure you have a good connection with jumper leads, you have found your bad connection.
if it passes all these move your ground from the engine to the negative battery post and repeat tests 1-4.
if it fails now you know you have a bad ground
if it passes all tests your battery is bad
good luck

[chopdog]

This is awesome trike savor! Thanks so much for all your help.

[chopdog]

OK starter must be bad:cry: any info on rebuilding the starter or should i just try ebay or someone have one cheap on the forum?
I just realized 3ww shop. I'll look there and would all so appreciate any info you guys have as well!

[ngunter2]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Starter-Repair-Kit-Honda-250-ATC250SX-ATC-250-SX-ATC250-SX-1987-Honda-ATV-/271036952215?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_100&hash=item3f1b0fae97&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-STARTER-HONDA-ATV-ATC250SX-TRX250-FOURTRAX-85-86-/271023611561?pt=Motors_ATV_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f1a441ea9&vxp=mtr

They aren't bad prices. Id probably just buy a new one Save you lots of time and it is pretty damn cheap compared to the time and the cost of the rebuild kits. Good luck fixing it :)

[falloutboy]

Rebuilding it yourself will be cheaper but if you aren't familiar with how these starters go together, it can be a little bit hard. If your mechanically inclined, it shouldn't be that hard, just remember what order things came apart in, remember what shims and spacer go where. It can be very satisfying to take apart a starter, fix it and have it work properly again. As far as price, you can pick up a rebuild kit for around $20-$30. New starters are about $40-$50 for a cheap one.

DON'T buy a used one from ebay. I made this mistake and it cranked the bike over a handful of times be it quit working.

Hope this helps.

[trike savior]

just buy new replacement
if you had a good working starter and it suddenly quit dont bother just buy new. if you recently drowned it or something it might be worth it to clean it out.
but most of the time you can go in and clean brushes and all that bs put it back together and chances are it still wont work because there is a bad winding in the armature and there is no way to fix that. you can test for this by pulling starter out of bike and using your jumper cables again, hook ground to starter case and tap that stud with positive. it should still do nothing. turn the gear with your hand a 1/4 turn and tap the stud again. if it works now you have a bad armature. if it still dont work then your problem may be in the brushes but as falloutboy said you need to be familiar with a starter and willing to put in some time you wont get back if it still doesnt work.
good luck