Oddly enough, I had the same thing happen to me last week on my 2021 Expedition 900. I started it to verify fuel level, shut it off. 20 minutes later nothing happened when I hit the start. I assumed dead battery, hooked up the charger and it indicated it was fully charged.

Then it decided to work...

 

Oddly enough, I had the same thing happen to me last week on my 2021 Expedition 900. I started it to verify fuel level, shut it off. 20 minutes later nothing happened when I hit the start. I assumed dead battery, hooked up the charger and it indicated it was fully charged.

Then it decided to work...

okay finally! Im glad to hear this happened to someone else aswell! Now we need to diagnose the issue because I don’t want to drive up north again and have to drive all the way home because the sled wont start

 

my 22 backcountry 850 has been doing this. it has happened on very cold days and above freezing days. around 1700 miles is the first time i recall getting only a click sound from the solenoid area. now at 3000 miles on the machine i would say it has happened 5-6 times total. the last time it happened i hit the starter button 3-4 times with about 10 seconds between each push, only a clicking sound everytime. in the past i had checked battery connections which were nice n tight and clean connections. this most recent time i decided to remove the exhaust side panel and noticed with my trail can that i had decent access to the starter itself. took a long screw driver and lightly tapped the body of the starter with the handle and what do ya know the sled fired up like normal. it hasnt happened since so it may have been a coincidence. told my dealer and they ordered a new starter, dropping it off tomorrow. so guys i would try what seemed to work for me and let us know

 

Back a few years ago they had problems with the 600 Ace starters I don't remember the whole thing about them but they drilled a hole in the bottom for whatever it was to drain out...

 

Hello all. I wanted to tell you guys my story and my experience so far with my new 2022 skidoo expedition LE 900ace.

First things first I want to take it back to last year when I owned the 2021 skidoo expedition sport 600 ace. I had one experience where I took it to the power wash and once I got home and went to start the snowmobile it would not start. I figured OK because I power washed it I must’ve gotten moisture inside the engine bay and froze the starter or the solenoid. After applying a heat gun to those areas eventually I got the snowmobile to start. So that memory got saved in my books for the future.

So fast forward one year I just got my new Ski Doo 2022 expedition LE 900ace.
it has been in great machine to use other than the fact that I have had it not start on me two times. The first time I went out with my girlfriend camping on the ice on Lake Nipissing. I stayed in one spot for two consecutive days and have not started the snowmobile. Once we were all done fishing and packing up I decided I wanted to start the snowmobile to make sure it would turn on before we left. I got the snowmobile to turn on no problem, it was -30 out that day. Little did I know I made a huge mistake by shutting it off after letting it idle for about 5 minutes. Once I got back on the snowmobile ready to leave and tried to start it, it was a dead brick it would not start. Instrument panel would not light up. Absolutely nothing when I pressed the start button. At this point my girlfriend is very frustrated with me lol. After one hour of trying everything in the book to getting the motor to start some type of miracle happened and it started for me.

and before you think that it is the battery it is not the battery 100% because the snowmobile had no problem starting before and after that incident. What I come to realize now is the moisture that I created by letting the snowmobile idle in that freezing cold temperature and shutting the snowmobile off right away created a flash freeze for that moisture that was inside and it froze the starter or the starter solenoid or the relay one of those three that I am not exactly sure which one it is but something along those lines was not letting the starter button engage through to the motor.

fast forward one month later I go out to Lake Simcoe I get to the lake, I open the ramp door of my trailer, I go to start the snowmobile and again I press the button and nothing in response. All I hear is a tick tick tick sound coming from the starter solenoid. The clutch is not engaging but this time I get my instrument panel to light up. I want to explain that three days previous I went out and +3° on the lake and there was a lot of slush so my first thought was maybe I got moisture inside the snowmobile somehow and when I went to put it back in my trailer it had no air to breathe so when I went out three days later what happened was it was -20 and everything froze all that moisture from the previous day was sitting inside the snowmobile in the trailer and froze solid.

What I want to ask you guys, all you experts, is not why this is happening because clearly I understand why but how to solve this issue in the future. What to do in a time of need. Grabbing the battery booster pack does not do anything in the instance where are you tried to start your snowmobile and you get no response. So the battery is not in the question of this discussion. I have hooked up the booster both times in these scenarios and it did absolutely nothing.

I have read on other threads to grab the relay and warm it up in your hands and put it back. Sounds lovely but not even my dealership knows where I can find this so-called relay and warm it up. And No it is not in my fuse box because I already opened it and checked when I was stuck out on the lake in -30.

Does anybody possibly know where I can find this relay? And how can I access it in the time of need? I really wish I was able to do the pull start trick with the rope over the clutch but unfortunately I can’t with this 4 stroke .

my last resort right now is just bringing a heat gun with me and trying to heat up the starter and the starter solenoid. That’s pretty much where I’m at right now with all this story but I don’t really know what’s the right thing to do in case this happens in the future. I don’t want to just rush and take this to the dealership because they won’t look at it for another month and I will waste the rest of my ice fishing season.

I have already put about 450 km on this snowmobile just ice fishing which is about 3 to 4 days a week and I have had no issues other than these two times with the flash freezes of moisture freezing in the engine area.

Sorry for the long read, I just felt like I had to explain as much as I could as best as I could so you guys can really give me your input. Thank you guys

You need to take the top off to see the relays, lots of videos on youtube on how to do it, it's fairly easy, i would swap out the relay for sure and see what happens, sounds like it's not doing it's job, check the battery terminals as well if you haven't already, keep us posted to what you find, good luck

 

I think that was an oil issue .

 

Back a few years ago they had problems with the 600 Ace starters I don't remember the whole thing about them but they drilled a hole in the bottom for whatever it was to drain out...

I think that was an oil in the starter problem . Should be resolved

 

Not that this solves the problem but….my 2021 900 skandic did the same thing. Drove it to the hut, a few hours later went to start it and no reaction at all. I banged the left side top of the handle bar with my knuckles a couple of times and it started.

 

It can't be a starter issue, if your gauge cluster does not cycle on. Has to be something else.
I could see a possible starter issue, if your gauge cluster cycled, and then no start, no click, no starter actuation. But if the gauge cluster doesnt cycle, the problem is gonna be somewhere else.

 

it a relay problem
cheap Chinese junk
dont know your model but the relays are a problem on all models
they freeze up or just wont work
if you dont have a dash them the main relay is the problem
if it just wont start then its the stater relay
most models have the relays in the fuse box
and most fuse boxes have the diagram on the lid

 

Agree that it's probably a relay. We have an XS style 600 ACE sled in the group and it likes to do absolutely nothing around 0 F. Hit the start button, nothing, no click, no lights. Last time the only thing we had was a torch so we warmed up the fuse box area with the cover off and it came out of it within a few minutes.

 

After warming the fuse area you got it to start?

 

I have a 2022 expedition le 900 ace and a couple times it wouldn't start. On mine when you press the orange switch it wouldn't even wake up the guage or make any sounds.. I think it might be an issue with the switch cuz after I pressed annd tapped it a few times fired up. I also looked for a relay and couldn't find one . There's just fuses in the box. Maybe relay is located somewhere else.

 

Remove entire hood assembly, directly on top of the motor/below handle bar pyramid sits the relay bar. Pop out one small black plastic button and the whole relay bar slides out on the muffler side/ left side of sled. Wires all stay attached. Remove cover and there are 6 total relays inside.

 

Bump

 

Well the same thing happened to me again on a cold day out on the lake. Everything just dead when I tried the starter switch. It did go about ten minutes of trying and worked since. The relays on the G4 expedition are not accessible from the side panels In fact they are so tucked in a tight spot above the motor I couldn't get them out even with the hood removed in a warm shop. I think for peace of mind I would like to somehow relocate the relay panel to somewhere you could get at easy and be able to warm them up if needed. Has anyone relocated these relays? The harness is short and very stiff. Not much flexibility to move them. No confidence to venture out alone like this

 

So your certain it's the relay and warming it up corrects the problem?

 

Sad to read this. . . . . . . .

 

On the intermittently working side of things:

The main junction connector to the relay box could also suffer a disconnect. It happens often in automobiles. Our Canadian winter roads with salt or calcium chloride do corrode the contacts more than usual if you go on or cross them often. If it does disconnect it could explain the reset since the current discharges to ground.

Your negative ground cable could be loose. It happens more often than you think. If the relay circuit remains open (closed circuit) due a residual charge it can't complete the start up list and you sled won't turn on. It's like the BSOD in MS windows 10. Stuck and too dumb to call for help.

On the more serious side of things:

It could also be the ski-doo equivalent of TORS. On skidoo there is no warning if your throttle is depressed even a tiny bit it will cripple the sled when you try to start it. A dirty starter switch will also prevent the sled from powering up. Yes in the early 600 ace days there were issues with the starter relays where you had to stick them side you jacket to warm them up. However in this case the sled was already running for five minutes. The vibration and circulating current alone should have been enough to get it working.

TORS means Throttle Over Ride System. A term coined by Yamaha to prevent a sled form taking off out of control when cold starting in particular. Ski-doo also has this and also has the TPS that also causes sled running issues. The TPS is what matches the position of your hand throttle to the throttle body. TPS = Throttle Position Sensor. And yes both the 900 ace and 850 e-tec have had recalls on this sensor in the past. You need a BUDS to calibrate (aka pairing) a TPS to your particular sled.

 

Hello all. I wanted to tell you guys my story and my experience so far with my new 2022 skidoo expedition LE 900ace.

First things first I want to take it back to last year when I owned the 2021 skidoo expedition sport 600 ace. I had one experience where I took it to the power wash and once I got home and went to start the snowmobile it would not start. I figured OK because I power washed it I must’ve gotten moisture inside the engine bay and froze the starter or the solenoid. After applying a heat gun to those areas eventually I got the snowmobile to start. So that memory got saved in my books for the future.

So fast forward one year I just got my new Ski Doo 2022 expedition LE 900ace.
it has been in great machine to use other than the fact that I have had it not start on me two times. The first time I went out with my girlfriend camping on the ice on Lake Nipissing. I stayed in one spot for two consecutive days and have not started the snowmobile. Once we were all done fishing and packing up I decided I wanted to start the snowmobile to make sure it would turn on before we left. I got the snowmobile to turn on no problem, it was -30 out that day. Little did I know I made a huge mistake by shutting it off after letting it idle for about 5 minutes. Once I got back on the snowmobile ready to leave and tried to start it, it was a dead brick it would not start. Instrument panel would not light up. Absolutely nothing when I pressed the start button. At this point my girlfriend is very frustrated with me lol. After one hour of trying everything in the book to getting the motor to start some type of miracle happened and it started for me.

and before you think that it is the battery it is not the battery 100% because the snowmobile had no problem starting before and after that incident. What I come to realize now is the moisture that I created by letting the snowmobile idle in that freezing cold temperature and shutting the snowmobile off right away created a flash freeze for that moisture that was inside and it froze the starter or the starter solenoid or the relay one of those three that I am not exactly sure which one it is but something along those lines was not letting the starter button engage through to the motor.

fast forward one month later I go out to Lake Simcoe I get to the lake, I open the ramp door of my trailer, I go to start the snowmobile and again I press the button and nothing in response. All I hear is a tick tick tick sound coming from the starter solenoid. The clutch is not engaging but this time I get my instrument panel to light up. I want to explain that three days previous I went out and +3° on the lake and there was a lot of slush so my first thought was maybe I got moisture inside the snowmobile somehow and when I went to put it back in my trailer it had no air to breathe so when I went out three days later what happened was it was -20 and everything froze all that moisture from the previous day was sitting inside the snowmobile in the trailer and froze solid.

What I want to ask you guys, all you experts, is not why this is happening because clearly I understand why but how to solve this issue in the future. What to do in a time of need. Grabbing the battery booster pack does not do anything in the instance where are you tried to start your snowmobile and you get no response. So the battery is not in the question of this discussion. I have hooked up the booster both times in these scenarios and it did absolutely nothing.

I have read on other threads to grab the relay and warm it up in your hands and put it back. Sounds lovely but not even my dealership knows where I can find this so-called relay and warm it up. And No it is not in my fuse box because I already opened it and checked when I was stuck out on the lake in -30.

Does anybody possibly know where I can find this relay? And how can I access it in the time of need? I really wish I was able to do the pull start trick with the rope over the clutch but unfortunately I can’t with this 4 stroke .

my last resort right now is just bringing a heat gun with me and trying to heat up the starter and the starter solenoid. That’s pretty much where I’m at right now with all this story but I don’t really know what’s the right thing to do in case this happens in the future. I don’t want to just rush and take this to the dealership because they won’t look at it for another month and I will waste the rest of my ice fishing season.

I have already put about 450 km on this snowmobile just ice fishing which is about 3 to 4 days a week and I have had no issues other than these two times with the flash freezes of moisture freezing in the engine area.

Sorry for the long read, I just felt like I had to explain as much as I could as best as I could so you guys can really give me your input. Thank you guys

Here’s what I did with mine, grabbed a jumper cable and jumped the starter lug itself. I had to bump the start button to turn the display on first, without that powered up it wouldn’t start.

I ordered a set of polar wire quick disconnect jumper cables, that also allows me to carry a second battery in the storage compartment. For double the cranking amps.

if the display won’t power up that might be a problem with this method, and that sounds like a relay issue, and I’m not well versed on those yet.

 

something else to try quick.. I can't 100% remember if you can access the starter solenoid with the side panel open.. I think you can. Carry a screwdriver or a pair of plyers and try to touch both "big" terminals of starter solenoid together. The starter will engage and it may start. THIS IS NOT A FIX. It's just to see if you're button may be a problem and may get you off the lake back to the truck. We used to do this on 2010-2014ish? handlebar controls with the little grey button. Super cold temps the contacts in the button wouldn't actually make contact. Again, this isn't a permanent solution or necessarily the best one, but it MAY get you you out of a jam