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Could Use Some Electrical Help...

1719 Views 18 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  retro
So for as long as I've owned my Honda 300 it's given me problems starting. All my mods are in my sig, so you can see what I have...

IF it's left outside overnite and temps are around freezing or very chilly the quad will barely turn over. I need to kick it. Fires up 1st kick.

IF it's left for days or weeks without starting in a heated garage, it's a crap shoot if it will fire up or if I need to kick it.. bur way better than if it was left out overnite. Always first kick it's running.

IF I have to kick it because the battery won't fire it up, & I run the quad for a little bit or hours, it will always fire right up with the battery.

I had installed a new battery over a year ago thinking it was the culprit, however it continued to do the same thing.

I do have the winch wired up to the aux pink wires direct. it's not with key power.



I'm leaning towards the rectifier?? I remember a while back I tried to check the voltage while cranking & was getting something like 7v, but while running it was 13v or 14v if memory serves me correct...


I would love some advice so I can check some things before I just start throwing $$ at it replacing parts!!!!!

Thanks in advance!
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Is it slow to turn over? All my 300s I’ve had start great but once I put the 380 on it they start slowly. They say the starter reduction gears help, I think it’s the 250 big red gears but I’m not sure


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VERY SLOW....mmm good to know. Starter reduction gears eh...


I can't even kick it over unless the decompression lever is up. You could jump on it & the kick won't move....
Does the starter crank it over good while the decomp lever is pulled up? Next thing I'd look at are the battery and ground cables. They might need to be replaced with fatter cable... to carry higher currents. The solenoid should be OEM too. I assume the battery is a stock AGM, 12 ah size?

So funny u ask.... I have NEVER tried to start it with starter & decompression lever up. It hasn’t ran in a good week & half or more... Just went & pulled lever & fired rite up. Tried a second time, fired rite up. Then 3rd time with lever down... Gave me the same issue! It was a half crank & no go!!!!
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Thanks for all the input. This will most defiantly get me going in the rite direction.

Fish, I'd gladly take a set of the starter gears. I'll PM you my address. I as well will obviously inspect/replace the brushes while in there. Never thought of those, but the quad is 23years old now. Who knows if they have ever been replaced...



Yesterday I had to park the quad on the front lawn as I needed to get my truck into the garage. It was just above freezing. Sat outside for few hours. Lifted lever & went to use the starter. Cranked over ever so slow. Wouldn't fire. First kick & it came alive...
Thx guys...


I just removed my back seat & checked the voltage on the batter which was new a year & half ago for this issue. 12.05v. Try to crank it without decomopression lever up drops anywhere from 3v-5vs. Then Kick er over, rev er up, highest it will go is 13.05. That tells me the rectifier is no good correct??????????? She's not charging up to 14.2v or better
Thanks retro! I didn't get to the battery today. However I did remove the rectifier & tested it as well as the stator.

I did the diode test & got .530 .550 & .575 from what I read they are supposed to be close in numbers. So I'm not sure on that one...

The manual says the stator should be between .009-.11 at 68F. I was getting .007 across all three. This is telling me that the stator is bad correct? Oh and I installed a new battery in my multi meter as I read if its not fully charged will produce an inaccurate number.
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