Rancher wont start (Clicking in Battery area)

You probably need a new relay switch. More commonly known on your car as a starter solenoid. Should be able to find one for under $40.

Don't assume that is the problem - you need to check a couple of things, but 9 times out of 10 this is the problem when you hear that clicking but need to make sure it is not the starter. If you disconnect the cable attached to the starter and take a jumper cable (heavy gauge cable) and go straight from the battery positive to the starter terminal and touch the starter and it turns over, it is likely your relay switch.

Do you have a Clymer manual or a Honda Service manual? These manuals have the troubleshooting described in detail for these types of problems - usally makes it quicker to diagnose the problem and figure out what parts you need.

If it is the relay, this is an easy part to change yourself - no need to have it done by a dealer.

Get a volt meter and put 1 lead to the post on the starter & ground the other lead , then push the starter button again .. If it has 12v going to the starter then it probably needs brushes ..

Mine was doing the same exact thing. What I did was clean the contacts on the battery real good with a wire brush, screw the treminals down, put a little grease on them and it worked great!

when you here the click,tap on the starter with a hammer at the same time.if it starts ,you know you have a dead spot in the starter...if this doesnt work,your probly lookin at a relay issue...

check your positvie and negitves on the battary. cuz i had the same problem today..

My Rancher does the same thing your talking about, and it does it often. Once it would start clicking, I would take a screwdriver and loosen and tighten and move the battery cables around on the terminals. 100% of the time, it was the cable connections at the battery. Just do like Mudlord said and clean the battery posts and your cables real good and if that doesn't work, check your solenoid. You can take a pair of channel locks and jump across the positive and negative posts on the solenoid and if you starter engages when you do that, than your solenoid is bad.

Your solenoid might have gone out

my wifes rancher is doing the same thing,but the battery is all ways about dry, no water, in it.The bike is a 2004, we have put 2 batterys on it all ready.you can put a charger on it and it will start after a couple of minutes,let it run for a while.then turn it off and leave it alone,come back later and it will just click.

It is most likely not the solenoid if it was bad you would not here the clicking the clicking is the starter solenoid working. If cleaning your battery terminals doesn't work take your battery to an auto parts store and get it tested. Sometimes even though you have 12 volts when you test the battery with a volt meter it doesn't have enough amps to turn the starter.

We had this problem right out of the box, took it in and they tested everything and recharged the battery ( 05 Rancher AT ). It still wouldn't start at times, then somebody on a ride suggested we had a bad ground on the frame. During the 3 day ride we jerry rigged a new ground, never had another problem. We could of been satified with that, but I took it back to the dealer showed them what we did and how it worked with a good ground and how it worked without the good ground and told them I wanted the ground wires traced out and fixed, which they did and it has run great ever since.

I have the same problem and have tried all the suggestions before. If I connect starter(new) direct to battery it will not turn but Ignition light goes out.signifying a short somewhere? Or is there another sensor somewhere? Help!

Is the battery good and ideas the starter turn free? Can you turn the motor over with the pull rope?

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I push my starter button on rancher and get nothing no clicking or anything. Will pull start easily. Could it be the starter button or the starter? How do I check?

I have a 2002 rancher 350 when I push the start button it just clicks, and it wont go in gear , but I can pull start and it will work fine, can someone help me?

knewborn said:

I have a 2002 rancher 350 when I push the start button it just clicks, and it wont go in gear , but I can pull start and it will work fine, can someone help me?

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Is your battery good? Battery cables firmly attached with clean connections?

Have you tried jumping the terminals on the solenoid?

Where is the best place to run a new ground on my Honda Fourtrax 400? New solenoid, new starter, still clicking. Gotta be the ground.

My '04 350 Rancher won't start with the button all the time. If I pull the starter cord through, eventually the starter will run and the engine starts. I keep the battery on a battery tender and even off the tender for a couple days, I'm still reading over 12 volts, usually in the 13 range. I changed the solenoid and still have the same symptoms. I am thinking, as another poster said, that the starter is the failure point. All contacts are solid and clean.

Hunter134 said:

My '04 350 Rancher won't start with the button all the time. If I pull the starter cord through, eventually the starter will run and the engine starts. I keep the battery on a battery tender and even off the tender for a couple days, I'm still reading over 12 volts, usually in the 13 range. I changed the solenoid and still have the same symptoms. I am thinking, as another poster said, that the starter is the failure point. All contacts are solid and clean.

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I have the same identical problem with my '06 TRX350 Rancher. Replaced the battery and starter relay. Still clicks. Pull/rope start works fine. The starter is next. I guess I could have saved some time if I read deeper into the issue or followed the checklist procedure in the service manual.

MooreWoods Rancher said:

I have the same identical problem with my '06 TRX350 Rancher. Replaced the battery and starter relay. Still clicks. Pull/rope start works fine. The starter is next. I guess I could have saved some time if I read deeper into the issue or followed the checklist procedure in the service manual.

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Had the same problem, did the same thing. Changed the starter and no more clicks. It's the starter. Not an expensive fix but it will consume time to change it.