Picked up an American Sportworks Trail Wagon 265cc

[Canada_CT230]

I picked up an 2008 American Sportworks Trail Wagon 265cc UTV for around the farm yard. I am not into 4x4 off-roading and do not need to go 80 MPH in my yard. I found a nice shape unit for a very reasonable price.

The only thing with it is that the electric start on the Subaru engine has stopped working. It clicks but doesn't spin. Today I took all terminals off and cleaned them, reinstalled and it worked perfectly. I then thought that it was a bad connection. It died again tonight. clicking but no turning over.

Any ideas?

Solenoid clicking but not contacting the high amperage side?

Dead spot in the starter?

Can a starter be repaired easily?

The unit also has a recoil start and I can start it that way for now.

 

[Raspy]

The classic solenoid problem is clicking but not cranking the engine. The high amperage terminals get burned and won't carry the current. Take the solenoid apart and fix the contacts. In cars you used to be able to just turn the contacts around and it was fixed. In your case you'll have to investigate.

Look for scorched contacts and clean them up. Make sure the contactor piece that moves is closing the circuit properly.

 

[MrChris]

Could be a weak battery. Check the battery, as well as battery connections including the chassis ground connection.

 

[Canada_CT230]

Could be a weak battery. Check the battery, as well as battery connections including the chassis ground connection.

I cleaned the BATT connections, the solenoid connections and checked the BATT voltage off after a rest period (12.64V) but for a laugh I connected via jumper cables to my truck battery...no change.

I guess next thing is to get solenoid off. I take it that the two long bolts that pass thru the solenoid is how to get to it?

 

[Canada_CT230]

Ok, fixed....at least I hope so.

I took the solenoid off and cleaned/lubed the plunger. I took a fine wheel on the Dremel to dress out the contacts. They looked clean (no burns) but I cleaned them anyways. I also put a small brass shim under the contact studs in the cap to lower them a hair (compensates for any material loss from my cleaning and any past cleanings).

I also don't think this solenoid is meant to be serviced...I had to desolder a terminal lug and uncrimp the metal canister to get the cap out. It looks like someone was already in there as there was scratch marks on the case. Also, the plunger was riveted to the contact bar (or what ever you call it) so I couldn't flip that over. It got a cleaning too.

Vaaaaroom....it works. Hopefully no more problems with it because although I don't care about using the recoil start the wife doesn't like it as she doesn't give it enough uummff to start it.

Thanks for the help. I always like learning new mechanical things and I can add solenoid repair to my list.

Happy trails.