[Ktown]

Howdy all,
I have a 2020 800 Trail. We used it a lot the first year. Not so much the last year as I had knee problems and the smoke was really bad due to forest fires. Got my knee replaced this year and we wanted to go out and the first outing was great although it was pretty darn muddy. We took it it a self serve car wash and cleaned it up as good as we could.

My wife took it out a few weeks later to her Rotary meeting in town and had no problem. She wanted to take it out again but it wouldn't start. No lights came on in the dash, no clicks, nothing.  so I went to put a charger on it. After spending an hour or three trying to find the battery, I put a charger on it set at 2 amps and left it on overnight to get it fully charged. The charger said it was fully charged and so did the 800. It stated fine and my wife took it to the next meeting.

We wanted to take it out the next weekend and went out to start it. The lights came on, but not enough power to turn it over. I neglected to put on the trickle charger wiring, which I will correct this time when I put on the charger.

My question is, do you think the battery is toast? If so, what should I replace it with? Is there a better place for the battery besides the wheel well? I don't have any add ons so there isn't any big power draws but would a dual battery help any?  Also, is there a good jumper relocation kit  at a decent price? Just in case?

Thanks, Ktown

P.S. Anyone else wish they would have bought a 4 seater?

[NMKawierider]

Pull it and have it load tested at any auto parts store. If OK, CFM has had many issues with the main fuse holder...not the fuse itself. Seems internal crimps weren't done right and they open or partly open the circuit. Test the out-bound lead while the key is in the starter position. If bad, it won't show what's at the battery. If OK check all the battery cables...both ends and the ground which goes to the engine. If all good then look to either the starter solenoid, the kill switch which may have got water in it from cleaning or the ignition switch.

Some people relocate or put a second battery in the spare compartment under the drivers seat...which is well and fine..until you travel through water over the floor board. It will then be under water for a while. Not great in my book. Lots of people leave it where it is and put jumper extensions to the plastic behind the seat. Most all of us put that maintainer extension on and rout it to a convenient place.

[doug80638]

The dash lights would go on even with a low battery, so I'll ask: Was the battery low/dead before you put it on the charger?

Check that the charging system is working when the engine is running (14+ volts).
Check that the battery holds a good charge when sitting overnight or a few days (12.5+ volts)

If the charging system isn't working, or if the battery can't hold a charge, fix that first.

If those two things check out, then Clark's suggestion to load test the battery and start checking connections are the next steps. Unfortunately, we've seen far to many instances of batteries failing young and bad connections of various types over the years.