'02 Sportsman 500HO Starter Dead

[Chef]

The starter died. I can pull-start it alright, but I have no headlights/tailights any more either. Does anyone know what's broken or seen/had this problem?

Also--lost the front wheel power too, but don't think issues are related.

Thakns for your thoughts.

[rundrave]

are you sure its the starter? I have experienced the same symptoms due to a bad/weak battery

[boxcar]

I had same problem with 94 400L I burnt out all the bulbs running with bad battery seems that cant handle all the amps. Get a new battery and should take care of it. Check old battery first.

[Macgyver55]

I'd agree with rundrave, its probably either a weak or bad battery or a loss of power to all the electrical accessories due to a fuse, connector or wiring issue.

Start with a battery test and work from there.

[Chef]

Thanks--I did replace the battery just prior to this issue. I noticed as I was driving/idling, the headlight and display kept getting dimmer and dimmer until they went dead. The ATV kept running.

I pull-started it later and it fired right away. I was able to use it, but I had no lights, etc. and zero reaction from the starter when I hit the start button.

[Macgyver55]

Again, I would start with testing voltage at the battery and see what you have. It should be at least 12.3 or more on a good battery. It could also be an issue with the charging system that caused it to go dead. A simple test for that is to start the motor and check voltage again at the battery. It should be in the 14 volt range when at a fast idle. If it does not read above what the battery normally has for voltage when not running then it is not charging.

[rundrave]

for what its worth, I went through a huge fiasco a couple years ago replacing my atv battery. I went through more than a few, that were bad right off the shelf. It got so bad I started to bring my tester with and make sure they were good before I left the store. Unfortunately the first store I visited every battery on the shelf was bad and I had to go somewhere else before I found a good battery.

[Chef]

Okay, thanks, I'll test it. Thanks for your help!