I turn the key and there is nothing. The lights and winch work fine, so it is most likely not the battery. I'm ice fishing and stuck on the lake right now. Want to get ideas before I come up with a plan of action to get it moved.
I turn the key and there is nothing. The lights and winch work fine, so it is most likely not the battery. I'm ice fishing and stuck on the lake right now. Want to get ideas before I come up with a plan of action to get it moved.
Check for an open fuse, check for fuel and spark at spark plugs. Takes fuel, spark and compression to run any motor.
Here are some things to look for:
A bad fuse if you have one in your starter circuit
Starter solenoid failure
bad connections at the battery, starter, or starter solenoid
bad key switch, or bad connection at the key switch
If the engine has a ground strap connecting it to the frame, check for loose or bad connection there.
Starter has gone bad
Not sure what machine you have, but does it have any neutral switches?
Do you know how to "hotwire" it across the starter solenoid?
Thank you all for the fast reply. A friend of mine with an Argo towed me back to shore. I should have mentioned that I get one click from the key when I turn it and that is it. Everything else works, lights, etc., so it is not the battery. Guess I'll take me limited experience and work on it the next few days. Mine is a 1999 Max II.
Did you get it going yet?
What machine and engine? Did you check that the small wire going to the solenoid is still plugged in ? As they wrote check the fuses.
My new beer holder spilled some on the trails - in it's hair and down it's throat.
Joe Camel never does that.
Advice is free, it's the application that costs.
MJ still check your battery. A battery with insufficient charge can still produce a "click" at the solenoid or starter, and it can still produce some light or winch motion. Don't assume the battery is good just because it causes some things to work. Give your battery a good charge and see if anything changes cranking wise.
dirtdobber: Thanks. I thought of that. I keep a battery tender on my Max battery whenever it is not in use. It crossed my mind that the battery had enough juice to run the winch and the lights, but not enough to start it. When I did get to shore, I used the winch for about 5 minutes to get it onto my trailer. That made me think the battery had plenty of life and wasn't the issue. I will check in the morning, after it has been on the tender all night.
If it did that then it's probably ok.I used the winch for about 5 minutes
Back last spring, I took my MAX II out for a quick ride. Along the way, I stopped for a short while, and when I went to start it up again, I had the same/similar issue. After towing back to the garage with my tractor, I replaced the starter solenoid, and problem was solved. Solenoids can die just like that. They are a relatively inexpensive fix finding parts on Internet. However, going to a B&S or Kohler dealer might not be so cheap.
First off, I want to thank each of you that replied to my post from Monday "stuck on the ice, Max won't start". The information each of you posted was helpful, but fortunately, it turns out (so far anyway) that I didn't need it after all. I put my Max II battery on a battery tender for 24 hours. I then tried to start it and it fired up right away. I drove it around my property several times and turned it off, started it and turned it off and started several times over and it started fine each time.
What I don't understand (and my knowledge in this subject is limited), is why did the winch work and the lights work, but the battery not have enough juice to start it? I would think a winch would use as much power as the starter when cranked over. I used the winch once I got to shore to get my Max onto my trailer. Again, my knowledge is limited, so I'm sure the answer has to do with cranking amps or something of that sort. When my Max is not in use, summer or winter, I keep it on a battery tender. Now that I think about it, it was off the tender Sunday night into Monday morning when I used it to get on the ice to fish. I had the heat off in my garage, so the temp inside there was about 28 degrees. Could this, combined with the four hours it sat on the ice in 16 degree temps while I fished, be enough to drain the battery so it couldn't turn over, but the winch, etc. would work? Sorry about the long post. My battery is a year old and is one of the better batteries made for an ATV such as a Max.
Last edited by Mike; 02-08-2017 at 09:41 PM. Reason: merged two threads on the same topic.
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