the dreaded click

[njenduro]

I have a 1990 xt 650 with a eletric start. I went to start it and got the click. I took out the battary and went to the auto store to do a load test and she checked out no good so I bought another one. Installed thevnew one and guess what the click again. I was wondering if you guys can give me a quick guide to trouble shoot this so before I get out that manualfor when I get home thanks again

[roger2002]

Do you have a multimeter? If not, pick one up because the very first thing you need to know is how many DC volts the new battery is outputting. You'll measure red lead to positive pole and black lead to negative pole and it should be at least 12 volts DC when measured with a reasonably good meter set to DC Volts. You don't need to spend a fortune on the meter but it should be reliable. If it measures less than 12 volts, put it on a trickle charger for a few hours and measure it again with the charger disconnected. It would not be the first time I've seen a brand new battery that was faulty out of the box...

[njenduro]

12.5 volts , hooked up a wire from battary to starter and the starter turned over

[roger2002]

So if you bypass the starter relay with a wire it works and if you don't, just a click? Then I would trace the wire from the positive terminal through the starter relay all the way to the starter and confirm that there are no bad connections. If you can easily access the terminals on the starter relay, try using your wire to jump over it and see if it turns over. If it does, you need a new relay or at least remove it and see if you can disassemble it and see if you can clean the terminals inside it. Generally, I find its best to just replace bad parts rather than try to fix it because it generally will fail again at a really inconvenient moment but that's up to you...

[njenduro]

I brought a wire from the battary + to the red white of the relay and a wire from the frame to the blue white wire and got a click only. I guess the relay is bad right ?

[roger2002]

If the rest of the connections are clean and tight, I'd say you need a relay. I would still recommend taking the connections apart and checking them though. High amperage (the current draw of turning over an engine) creates heat and heat can do nasty things to loose connections. There really should only be 3 connections if you follow the red wire back from the starter towards the battery. At the starter itself then 2 on the relay and I guess the battery terminals have to be clean and tight as well. If they all look good, relay is toast.

[njenduro]

Well checked the connections , looked good. I went to the yamaha shop bought one which they had in stock for 50 bucks , installed and hit the start button , and vroom vroom. Not bad but the battary that I bought I didn't need got me good.. The only thing that is not getting me real good is that the other one was 2 yrs old
,

[bacardi23]

Usually when the starter relay goes to sh*t it's either because it was old OR because you have an electric problem somewhere!

I suggest you do a stator reading with a multimeter!
you need to remove the connectors that come from the stator (behind the lefthand side seat cover plastic) and check if it has continuity between all three pins! pin 1&2, 1&3, 2&3 they need to have continuity between each other!
After that, check each single pin for continuity to a good frame ground! there can't none!

If that checks out, you're free to go ride!
Vando

[steveloomis]

Humm, the only click I get is the compression release click when I kick start it. Don't even need a battery.....nuff said....

[njenduro]

Originally Posted by steveloomis

Humm, the only click I get is the compression release click when I kick start it. Don't even need a battery.....nuff said....

My xt 350 is like that but sometimes Its nice to hit that button and take off enough said

[njenduro]

Originally Posted by bacardi23

Usually when the starter relay goes to sh*t it's either because it was old OR because you have an electric problem somewhere!

I suggest you do a stator reading with a multimeter!
you need to remove the connectors that come from the stator (behind the lefthand side seat cover plastic) and check if it has continuity between all three pins! pin 1&2, 1&3, 2&3 they need to have continuity between each other!
After that, check each single pin for continuity to a good frame ground! there can't none!

If that checks out, you're free to go ride!
Vando

I checked the battary with volt meter and noticed that volts goes up as the revs increases I thought that the chrging system is good. Put 200 miles on her no problems never thought of a possibly bad stator.

[jjrider]

The stator is fine,the relay just went out, it happens. Your battery would be dead by now if it wasn't charging.

[njenduro]

Thanks got a little worried