Wow. five more days of vacation and all I did until today was yard work AKA honey-do's. Finally got to my issue this afternoon. I removed, cleaned, and put DE grease on all the connections. That changed nothing. I then took Dirttoy's advice and did the jumper cable test. Again, nothing. Last thing I tried was to jump the starter from the battery on my lawn tractor. I got a strong start from that. I tested the ATV battery again with good results. Right now, I'm guessing my solenoid is bad. The other thought is the wiring between the battery and solenoid has an issue that I haven't seen. Is there anything else I could be missing?
Thanks to all for the great replies. It has really helped keep me from doing stupid things like just replacing parts until things work.
Eh, glad you got back to it, and sure the boss is happy with the list you knocked off for her
I am not sure I gave my advice at the correct level. What you need for a start is:
1. 12v pos to the battery side of the start sol.
2. A path to ground for the starter it self.
3. 12v pos applied to the small wire on the start sol.
Better guidance would be:
1. red jumper from pos on battery to battery side of start sol.
2. black jumper for neg on battery to shinny spot on engine/frame.
3. small jumper from battery side of start sol to small wire on start sol. (this simulates power coming from the ignition switch that would come when it is in the start position).
If the starter engages and turns when the 3 point above exist then:
1. Remove the black jumper (the neg battery cable still need to be in place) and repeat. If you get start, your negative cable is good. If not, you have a faulty ground cable, repair/replace until you get start without the black jumper.
2. Remove the red jumper, now you have both battery cables hooked up, and no jumper cables. Repeat jumper from battery side of sol, to small wire on sol. If you get start, you have an interlock or ignition switch or wire issue. If you do not get start, replace repair pos battery cable and repeat test until you get start.
Report back as time permits, best of luck, glad it turns over, probably wont be too bad.
ed