Zrt800 No Spark - Snowmobile World : Your #1 Snowmobile Forum

snowmobiler7c · 07-20-2004, 03:26 PM

A couple of weeks ago i bought a 96 zrt800. Sled ran fine but wouldn't idle. I ran the engine for about 2 minunites and shut it down. was messsing with the throttle and the kill switch(which was broken from the sled being rolled over) fell apart in my hands. So i couldnt get any spark. Now about 10 days later i got a new kill switch from a buddy of mine and still no spark. So i pulled the wire that is white w/blue tacer out of the coil on the left(if you are sitting on the machine) Hooked it up to a test light and it got spark. So i tried the other wire going into the other coil which is black w/white tracer and no light. So i went back a few minunites later and tried the first wire again and no there is no light. So where should i go now? This is my first time ever having to diagnose electrical problems on a sled. could i be having problems at the cdi box or stator? And what is the best way to find out where my problem is? any info will be greatly appreicated. thanks
mark

machz1 · 07-20-2004, 03:40 PM

sounds like you either have a bad connection (check all your elec plugs) or an intermittant stator which you can test by unplugging the wire harness at the stator and with a test light connected to the power wire crank it over and see if it lights. it could also be a bad coil or cdi box.

puree · 07-21-2004, 01:24 AM

you have a 4 prong plug down in front of your oil resevoir,,, uhhook that plug and it will bypass your key switch, kill switch, etc,,,, see if you have spark there,,,, if you do, then your problem is in one of your switches, if you still do not, then you assume all your switches are good and you start looking elsewhere,,,, try that test and post your results

puree · 07-21-2004, 01:25 AM

here is a pic of your connector

snowmobiler7c · 07-21-2004, 03:00 PM

ok i see where the 4 prong connector is i will go out and test it out. Only problem is which wire am i suppose to test with the test light? I will let you know if anything is successful. thanks mark

snowmobiler7c · 07-21-2004, 03:43 PM

While i went out to test the 4 prong connector and just for the hell of it decided to test the white wire w/blue tracer going into the coil on the left sure enough the test light lights up again and same with the wire coming out to power the second coil. so i went and pulled apart the 4 prong connector and tested all 3 female and the male end with none lighting up my test light. i put the connector back together and went back and tested the wire at the coils and it lighted the light again. So i put one plug on the wire and it got spark. so i put all the plugs in the engine and tried to start it 1st pulled backfired second pull started right up. Shut the sled down several times and it started up again. Whats wrong with this picture? I have read a few things about some CATS having problems when they get wet. I have left the sled in my driveway and it has rained a few times but i would think most of the water was kept out by the hood. Today was really hot so i thought if anything did get wet this 90 degree heat would dry it out. Anyways is this something i should be concerned about. I am planning on storing it in a garage just wanted to repair everything before i put it somewhere there is no room to work on it. Thanks for all the help so far
mark

snowmobiler7c · 07-21-2004, 08:03 PM

Also if anyone would have an info on this. The sled is piped with DG tripple pipes. But the only pipe that smokes alot and actually leaves alot of oil on the ground after running it is the center one. I know on both my ski-doo and yamaha they also leave some oil where they were sitting from the exhaust but is that something to worry about being the center one appears to be the only leaving the majority of the left over oil? thanks agian
mark

puree · 07-21-2004, 10:35 PM

wow, so we assume that your switches are fine, maybe you had a loose connection or something,,,, not sure, How are you testing your coils with a test light?? You should be using an ohm meter and reading the resistance in the system,,, I would think that there is very very little signal going to the coil and it would be very hard to read with a test light,,,

snowmobiler7c · 07-22-2004, 12:40 AM

Ok here is what i did. I learned with my old honda trail 70 years ago to make sure that everything before the coil was opperating properly to find the wire leading to the coil. When i got the wire leading to the coil i would disconnect it, connect the test light to the ground and with the needle of the test light i would insert it into front of the connector of the wire leading to the coil. Then i would kick it ove( in this case pull it over) and when the test light would light up i could assume that everything before the coil is working properly. Seemed to make the test light actually light pretty good. Thanks for the help
mark

puree · 07-22-2004, 05:23 PM

you could definetly tell if you have a signal there, but you have no clue how much signal is there,,, I had an old deere that had high speed and low speed windings on the stator,,, so when I pulled it over hard I had spark,,, but when I pulled it over slow I didnt,,,, I would have had a signal though, just not enough to make the coil operate,,,, take a volt ohm meter and test the coil,,, I can test mine as its a 97 zrt800 and I would assume that the coils are probably the same, I will let you know what kind of reading I get and then you can compare that to your reading,,,