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P500 Intermittent no Start ?

ehart814

ehart814

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Went for a ride yesterday and had a heck of a time. I stopped the machine in the woods, in a creek bottom of course - so big hills to climb no matter which way we went. I was riding with two other side by sides and a kingquad. When I tried to start the machine there was just nothing. The same thing as when you try to start it in gear without pushing the brake.

We thought that maybe it was the battery. Hooked up some jumpers and let it charge a while. Nothing.

Checked all the fuses. Checked the battery connections and grounds.

Finally decided to just pull the thing out of the woods. Hooked up to the king quad to try to pull start it. I was able to get it to shift up to 2nd gear and put it in 4x4. He pulled me a little and the engine turned over but wouldn’t fire.

So my friend with the biggest machine among us got the job of pulling me out of the woods. He has a canam defender. we had to pull my 500 up a long hill. After a few attempts (and 4 people pushing my machine ) we got it up the hill. Now completely covered in mud from the canam spinning all 4 tires.

Once we made it to the field, I had a thought. If the machine is in gear, you have to push the brake to start it. Still hooked up to the canam, I told him to pull me a little. I shifted it to 2nd gear and lightly held the brake. He pulled me about a foot and a half and the 500 was running!!

I don’t know if anyone else has ever had to pull start a 500 but I can tell you it is possible.

So I drove all the way home and pulled the machine in to hose it off. Left it running. When I was done I parked it and shut it off. Of course once it’s back home it starts right up like it should! I repeated this 4 or 5 times and it worked fine.

I can’t think of anything else to check at this point. Other than replacing the starter and solenoid. Has anyone else ever had a no start like this??


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Mudder

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What was the dash display? Maybe an interlock switch? if it happens to me, would also try the emergency shift tool to cycle gears and rock back and forth, just for troubleshooting. Nice to know you can pull start it, thanks for info.

Doubt the new radio had anything to do with it. What did your buddies think of the PoPo radio? LOL.
 
ehart814

ehart814

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The dash displayed normal. Believe me we tried everything! It wasn’t hard to get it to shift in and out of gear with a little rocking. I tried in neutral and it gear multiple times.

The radio worked great. Everyone thought it was cool until my machine wouldn’t start!


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Mudder

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Honda computer must have detected the Polaris Radio!

12E308F6 3F8F 4986 8693 F2024254A0CB
 
Hondasxs

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At any point did you think about jumping the solenoid?

Just wondering if it was not tripping.
There have been a few reports of bad key switches here and there.

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ehart814

ehart814

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At any point did you think about jumping the solenoid?

Just wondering if it was not tripping.
There have been a few reports of bad key switches here and there.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I did cross the solenoid with a screwdriver. Also, when we were trying to start it with the key I could feel the solenoid clicking

Kinda makes me think it’s a starter issue


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jwfirebird

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I did cross the solenoid with a screwdriver. Also, when we were trying to start it with the key I could feel the solenoid clicking

Kinda makes me think it’s a starter issue


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if it wasent cranking when you heard the solenoid could be that or loose or dirty big cables on the battery or engine ground
if it was cranking I would replace the plug
 
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ehart814

ehart814

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I checked all the connections on the battery and solenoid. I haven’t tracked down the starter yet to check it.


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jwfirebird

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if you cleaned the terminals and checked continuity to bat neg from the engine get near 0, you can test the red wire at the starter if that has voltage and it doesn't go away when you hit the key(would if battery was bad) then its the starter
 
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