solenoid bad ?

[puttputt]

thanks, everyone, for the answers/tips on the ignition
switch. I was going nuts on that, but finally took a look
at my other M, and got the answer I needed on which
wire to join ( just red to yellow/red stripe , it turns out ).
Now, I'm trying to get the starter working. It works if
you run power straight to it, so starter motor is ok.

Tell me if I have a bad solenoid, or just a wiring problem . . .
There are 4 leads to the solenoid -
1) the cable from the pos side of the batt
2) the cable that goes straight to the starter
3) a small dark green/red stripe
4) a small yellow/red stripe.

With the switch off, I have 12 volts at the batt cable only.
With the switch on, I have 12v at the batt cable, and both
of the smaller leads. It makes no difference whether the
start button is depressed - same either way. And it never
sends any power to the starter cable.

I checked the start button, and it's good. no juice with the switch
off. With the switch on, 12v to one side ( light green/red stripe ),
and nothing at the other side. If you press the button, then you
get 12v to the other side ( dark green/red stripe ).

So, the start button is fine. Question is this - with 12v at
both of the smaller solenoid leads whenever the switch is
on, and no difference when the start button is pressed, does
that mean the solenoid is bad, or the wiring is wrong ?

thanks - I'm sure you guys are as tired of anwering wiring
questions as I am of asking them . . . just for the record,
the wiring was screwed up when I got there - all I did was
pull the ignition switch . . . .

[ATCnut]

I think this is on a 250sx, so i might have the answer. Good job of troubleshooting so far.

The starter circuit grounds through the neutral switch, so you cannot run the electric starter with the trike in gear.

There is a little plug with two wires down under the brake pedal, if it is not plugged on, the starter switch will not function. When the trike is in neutral, the green with red wire should be grounded.

Does your neutral light on the dash work?

The colors you call out for the starter switch do not match my wiring diagram. I have tried to scan in the diagram, but when I get the pic small enough to post, it is unreadable.

Good luck.

[puttputt]

I hadn't thought about the neutral switch, but that
makes perfect sense. That's probably it.

I'll look into that, and post when I get it sorted out
( or, more likely, before . . . )

[Technogeek]

putputt e-mail me at technogeek1989@yahoo.com.au so i can send you those scans:thumbsup:

[ATCnut]

Hey puttputt, did you fix it yet???

[puttputt]

but I'm sure I'll get down the home stretch OK now. Andrew R scanned me a few pages out of the manual with the relevant
stuff ( including how to test the neutral switch circuit ), and I think
techno is going to scan me the diagram when he gets a chance.

Now, if my buddy can just get the front axle out, so I can replace
that blown bearing, all the rest is cake - fabricate a chain guard, do some riveting on the fenders, and I should have a runner.

Thanks all for the help. Really appreciate it.

[Technogeek]

hey puttputt i am andrew. when i find my other bigred manual i will scan that scematic. BTW do you want me to scan all the elect. info on the 200's from my manual. i can if you want.:thumbsup:

[puttputt]

at this point, only the starter circuit is still giving me trouble

( and I still need to wire the lights ) -

So, I can use the M diagram, but not the S,
unless you don't have the M one - in that case , the
S will do ( I can at least use it for the lights )

clear as mud ?

[Technogeek]

putputt i was meaning all the elect. and wiring info from my chiltons manual for the 200 eng's it covers m and reds too. and when i find the scematic i will send it to ya:thumbsup:

[puttputt]

it was the neutral switch - it never goes to ground, just stays open regardless of gear position. So, naturally ( if you know me), I just grounded it, and now the starter works. Time will tell if having a starter that works in gear is a bad or a good thing.
I'm aware, of course, of the danger of having it take off on you -
on the other hand, you have to get a few revs up for the clutch to engage anyway, and it might be handy to be able to start it , say stuck in a hole, without having to find neutral. Neutral light
is missing anyway - I'd planned to fix it, but no point now.

Also made a chain guard out of some thin gauge aluminum I
had lying around. . . fabricate seems like too fancy a term - I basically beat it with a hammer until it was tired of NOT being a chain guard. Its the shiniest thing on the trike now.

The axle came apart, finally, after we got it hot enough, and twisted hard enough - fork leg on one end of the vise, 14"
breaker bar on the other, lifting the whole bench up, but she finally gave up. New bearings went in pretty easy after we got the remnants of the old ones out.

This was more fun last time - next time, I'm splurging on a
$400 machine . . . .

[ATCnut]

:thumbsup: :headbang:

[84BR200ES]

I pretty much have the same problem. Though I think my problem is the solenoid. I checked the voltages/ohms through the chilton manual, now I can't find the manual to save my life, and to me they checked accordingly. I got a new battery as I thought that might be a problem, but the solenoid is still giving me the "click", "click" noise when I press the start button. I get a green light on the dash.

I had a problem with the starter, but after a rebuild it spins nice and free and I was even able to get it to go around when the solenoid didn't give me the click click noise.

The trike is an 84 200es. I pulled the pull start off as I broke the rope, now I'm having a problem getting the rope to coil up like it should, I'll fix that after I fix the electric start problem. Any ideas is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[84BR200ES]

No waonder I can't find the manual, it's a Clymer and not a chilton, I'll be working on it tonight so I'll let you know what I find out.

Thanks

[84BR200ES]

After taking another look at the starter, it looked like one of the washers on the starter post that the cable from the solenoid connects to was touching the starter housing, causing it to ground out. Repositioned the washers and reconnected the cable and it started right up. Now I just need to do some cleaning, replace the oil in the rear end and bearings on the front wheel and the rear axle and some other small things and it will be good to go.