- Location
- the jetski grave yard
a starter solenoid is just an electro magnet. when energized, it pulls a washer up and makes contact between the two posts, making the starter crank. if you hear it click, it means the electro magnet part is working. that does not mean the washer is making contact with both terminal posts. that needs to be tested with an ohm meter, to see if contact is being made. starters can also be the problem. if the brushes stop on a part of the armature, where the windings are dead, it wont crank. thats why sometimes if you beat on the starter, it will start working. if you zap across the 2 posts on the solenoid and it cranks every time, the solenoid is bad. if you zap across it and it doesnt crank or even spark, one time, its the starter. i have seen a lot of yamaha solenoids that clicked and didnt work. i'd start there. make sure you aint got a bad connection some stupid place first. also, if the black ground wire for the stator into the box is broke and or sometimes making connection, it wont crank. it wont click either. a wire can be ran from the block to the box case.