I've got a 2002 Ski-Doo Grand Touring 380F. Ran great until I tried to start it during a cold snap in January. When it warmed up, I tried to get it to start and found there was no spark. I checked all the normal culprits (checked for loose connections, replaced spark plugs, made sure it was getting gas, etc). After bringing the machine into a garage and bringing it up to room temperature over night, it fired right up and ran like a champ. I road it around for about an hour, ran like a champ. I parked it and came back the next day and no spark again.

So I pulled off the coil and brought it in the house. I put the coil back on and it fired it right up. Idled for a about 5 mintues, died and wouldn't start again. Convinced the problem was the coil, I consulted my local dealer who confirmed that was the problem. After pissing away $350 on a new coil assembly, the machine started right up, idled for about 10 minutes and died. I almost started a few times then I got nothing again.

Before I take it back to the dealer and have them tell me I need a new stator, anyone have any ideas what I can check? I'm baffled.

Thanks,
Brian

[attachmentid=26660]i would say get an ohm meter and check the values of your stator to begin with. i do not know what they should be for your sled but a dealer may be able to help.... i have read that even a good read maymean a bad stator .. i would also look into the voltage regulator.. good luck (o:

More than likely, it's going to be the stator. An easy way to check this is to pull off the coil and unhook the connections. Leave the sled in the heated garage and either leave the coil outside or put in your freezer overnight. Then next day your sled(and the stator) will be warm, the coil will be cold, hook it up and then see if your sled has spark. If it does, nothing wrong with the coil and it's almost garunteed it's the stator.
A winding in the stator may have cracked/broken and stay touching when it's warm. When it's cold (below freezing)the wires shrink and the gap becomes larger and no continuity. No spark. Same thing with a coil.

Good advice already, I'd try the warm sled cold coil trick. My question is $350 for a coil??? Was it an MPEM that was replaced or an ignition coil?

[attachmentid=26660]i would say get an ohm meter and check the values of your stator to begin with. i do not know what they should be for your sled but a dealer may be able to help.... i have read that even a good read maymean a bad stator .. i would also look into the voltage regulator.. good luck (o:
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I talked to my dealer, they said they didn't have the proper ohm value for this particular machien. The closest they could come was a skandic 440. I'm not sure if they're full of crap because they just want me to bring it in or what. I'm new to working on snow machine engines, if all I have is a probe volt/ohm/continuity tester, how/where would I check the the reading from the stator?


More than likely, it's going to be the stator. An easy way to check this is to pull off the coil and unhook the connections. Leave the sled in the heated garage and either leave the coil outside or put in your freezer overnight. Then next day your sled(and the stator) will be warm, the coil will be cold, hook it up and then see if your sled has spark. If it does, nothing wrong with the coil and it's almost garunteed it's the stator.
A winding in the stator may have cracked/broken and stay touching when it's warm. When it's cold (below freezing)the wires shrink and the gap becomes larger and no continuity. No spark. Same thing with a coil.
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I'll give the warm machine/cold coil trick a try. Its going to be a little difficult as I don't have a garage myself and moving this thing around is kinda a pain in the ### when it won't start. How does a stator go bad anyways? All the reading I've been doing people are complaining about bad stators on like 79 john deers or 82 arctic cats. My machine is only a few years old and only has about 600 miles of mostly fair-weather easy trail riding.

When I first noticed that I was getting no spark, the temperature outside was, and had been above freezing for a few days. I know that doesn't gaurentee the machine was, because it had been hovering around -40/-50 for 2 weeks before this, but it didn't seem too cold.

Thanks for the help,
Brian


Good advice already, I'd try the warm sled cold coil trick. My question is $350 for a coil??? Was it an MPEM that was replaced or an ignition coil?
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Your going to have to cut me some slack here, as I'm just now learning how to work in snow machine engines (talk about trial by fire). It was a "CALIBRATION MODULE". It has lead ins from the points (one two prong, on three prong) and the general electic system (4 prong), and connects to the spark plugs on the other side. Weather or not thats a MPEM, I don't know. Everythings more expensive in alaska.