Help with Electrical on 150cc GY6

[Allenboy0724]

Hey guys,

This is my first post on here so hi. I just upgraded from a one seater manco to a two seater 150cc buggy. The headlights that were on it were dim and so I decided to switch them out with some from harbor Freight. So after I mounted the headlights and ran them to the battery I took it for a ride. As I was riding I turned the lights on and they worked great. It was still considerably light out so I turned them off. When I met with my buddy in the dune pit we created, I wanted to show him the lights in action. As soon as I switched the lights back on the buggy died and hasn't cranked since. He has practically the same model so we checked and the battery, starter, and CDI all checked out? Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? We tried to jump the starter but it still wouldn't crank eliminating the ignition as well.

Thanks for any ideas or helpful hints.

 

[fowler]

if u put 12v directly to the posative on the starter using an alternate source (ie a car ) then the motors buggered

but id say the battery is dead

how did u test the battery
get a voltage reading off it
then get your buddy to cran k it while u get a volt reading
id say itll drop to 0

also theres a main fuse that will be between the battery and the first power source
like your starter soliniod

it may be a fuse or it may be a fuseable link
which is like a peice of cable thal acts as a fuse
do a voltage test at the starter

what are the lights rated at
their wattage and voltage

the reason the OEM lights were rubbish is because thats proberbl all the little charger on the 150 could keep alight

 

[Allenboy0724]

We even swapped the battery from his cart and no crank. After comparing the two, his battery was bigger. The guy i bought it from said he had just replaced the battery. I guess he bought the cheapest one being as he was selling it. but even still it wont crank on either but his cart will.

There was one fuse in the power box but it was good and intact.

The lights are 100 watt halogen bulbs and run off a 12V power source. I do think that the lights were a little too much for the battery to handle and after I realized I was running on a smaller battery that only makes more sense.

I dont think it is anything to do with the mechanical aspect of the engine. I got the cart on Saturday and I have put at least three to four hours on it and it ran fine. As soon as i switched the lights on it died.

Thanks for the help.

 

[auskarter]

I had a similar problem when re-wiring an engine out of a chinese quad.

A lot of chinese engines are wired so that they won't turn over unless the brake is applied, assuming that this is one of those engines, check that the wires are properly plugged into the contact switch that is attached to the brake pedal/lever. They may have come lose.

If that doesn't work it might be worth unplugging the two wires and joining them together, the switch may be broken. Your brake light will stay on permanently but it might be enough to get you started?

Not sure if it's a feature on the buggy's but the quads also have a kill plug that attaches to the rider so that if you're to fall off the engine is killed. If you have one of them it'd be worth making sure it's properly plugged in.

Edit:
After re-reading the question the brake wires shouldn't have caused the engine to stop, they would have just stopped it starting. So I'd still be checking them but it seems not quite as likely that this will be your problem.

 

[Allenboy0724]

Thanks for the reply, this particular buggy doesnt need the brakes applied. I didnt have time to look at it yesterday but I should be able to take a look today and check and see if the engine is getting a spark and then I will go from there.

 

[fowler]

Do u have a multi meter to text the voltages

A spark won't affect the starting circuit

 

[Allenboy0724]

No I dont have nay gear for electrical work. When I turn the key the starter clicks but like I said, I checked the starter on the other kart and it worked.

How much does a multi meter cost?

 

[fowler]

Anything from $15 to $1500

A cheaply will do u just fine any electronics shop will have them

U need to check volt drop
Done like I described in the post above

 

[Allenboy0724]

Your talking about the battery test and the starter test right?

 

[Allenboy0724]

yea so Harbor freight has multi meters from 6 dollars. I will probably get the 11 function digital for 20 and check the voltage later.

 

[auskarter]

I think fowler mentioned at the start it could be the solenoid, when they stop working you can get a clicking sound.

If you follow the wire back from the starter motor you'll get to the solenoid, should be a short cylinder with two bigger wires connected to it. You can try crossing the terminals with a screwdriver (touch them both at the same time, make sure you're holding onto the handle not the metal of the screwdriver). If the solenoid is the problem that should turn the engine over.

Though as fowler has pointed out the correct way to test this would be a multimeter.

 

[Allenboy0724]

Could that be called the generator too? My manual doesn't mention the solenoid?I think it has a green and black wire going into it. That and the metal box are the only things i didnt know about in the power box.

I will definetely mess around with it tonight and see what I can come up with.

 

[auskarter]

I don't think so, more likely it would be called a starter relay

Looks like this:

If you cross the two gold posts in the picture while your ignition is on that may work.

 

[Allenboy0724]

Yea we did that and it didnt work. The weird thing is that we put the same starter on his kart and it did work?

 

[Allenboy0724]

So the battery is reading 12 volts off or on. When the key is turned the starter clicks and went to 9 for a second but for the most part it was reading 11 volts when the key was turned. Any ideas?

 

[fowler]

Battery is dead

When it is dropping to 9 volts is because the soliniod is clicking and engaging the starter

But it can't turn it over due to low amps

Id say the battery has collapsed

 

[auskarter]

Sorry when you said jump the starter originally I thought you meant you tried to jump start it with jumper cables, my mistake.

If it is the battery you should still be able to jump start it like you would a car with a flat battery? Might be a good way to test if that is the problem without buying a new one.

 

[Allenboy0724]

***UPDATE***

So when I got home today I started messing with the buggy and realized that I was calling the Solenoid the starter the entire time. So i googled what the starter looked like and I found it under the air box. I swapped the starter from the good buggy and touched the cables off the solenoid and boom it cranked. I gave it a little gas and it runs great now. After about 10 seconds it idled just fine.

Thanks for all of the help. Without you guys' help I would have never realized my mistake. I was thinking the solenoid was the starter and you guys cleared it up. Thanks again.

This forum is awesome!

 

[auskarter]

Glad to hear you got it going

So it was the starter motor in the end?

 

[Allenboy0724]

Yes. I am not sure exactly what the issue was but i do know that i switched out the starter and it worked.