wont start

[bladerunner]

 My explorer has  been on a trickle charge all the time but when I pull the clutch and press start all I get is a click and nothing . Dash lights all on but wont start.  Eventually starts after pushing start button dozens of times. Any ideas anyone?

[Pomegranate]

Might be that your battery has had it despite being on a trickle charger. You can see if this is the case by using jump leads off a known decent battery. If not the battery sounds like it could be a dodgy starter solenoid. Also check your battery connections , the connections on the solenoid and the cable connections on the starter motor. I would think the most likely problem is the battery. I had similar symptoms on my Ducati 900 Monster and found that the trickle charger had dried out most of the acid in the battery. I topped it up with distilled water but battery never recovered, put a new battery on and it was fine again. I guess this would not be the issue if you have a sealed battery. I now use a more clever battery maintainer. But still don’t trust leaving it on all the time.

[Icy]

There's a parallel running thread...

https://www.tiger-explorer.com/index.php/topic,18085.0/topicseen.html

[Britjunkie]

Trickle chargers are not the best thing for storing a battery. They do just what they are called, trickle a small charge to the battery constantly. Done long enough they will overcharge your battery and kill it. What you really want is called {in the colonies} a "float charger". It has a rather sophisticated circuit that applies a small charge to your battery only when the voltage is sensed to be a little low and then shutoff again when the voltage is sensed as "charged" This cycle of on and off again charging is what you want.

[bladerunner]

Thanks guys, I should have said optimiser for charging, That said, I will try and start it from my booster. if that works then I will no if its the battery. I'll also check all the leads. I've had a few dead batteries  through the years on a few bikes but none gave me this same start problem. especially when it eventually starts like normal after many attempts.

[jaiyenyen]

How old is the battery? On my Harleys I get 6 to 8 years using a smart charger, I have only had my Explorer for 2 years but all is still good.

[unsubtle]

I'm on the original battery on my 2012 with no apparent problems.