96 Polaris Indy 500, no spark. Swapped CDi and regulator with running sled. No spark. Keyswitch and kill switch show good continuity. Checked all connections, seem alright. Was running when put away last year.Any answers? Where could I find wiring diagram and troubleshooting specs for this sled?
Hello,I have that diagram and testing specs but need to know which 500 you have. Carb? EFI?Doug
Hi Doug, it is a 96 Polaris 500 Indy. 2 cylinder, carbs.
Good, that's much easier than the EFI to check out. Here is the wiring diagram.The first test is to unplug the single black wire from the CDI box going to the kill switch. Do you have spark now? If yes, you have a problem in the kill switch, ignition switch or throttle safety switch. The throttle switch is the most common problem and I suspect this is what has happened to yours. I see that a lot on stored sleds. The throttle cable may be out of adjustment or there is a problem in the switch. The ohm readings for each of the electrical parts is on the diagram next to that part. There are no ohm tests for the CDI.Let me know what you find. DougDoug40499.5905986111
One more question. Where is throttle safety swittch located? Is it the same as the kill switch? Thanks
No, it is a small pin type switch in the throttle lever housing. If your throttle cable play is out of adjustment or if the switch is stuck, it will shut off the spark. You can test it with an ohm meter and it should read fully open and then fully closed as you operate the throttle lever. Doug
Did you get a chance to check the sled out yet?Doug
Just got back from checking it out. Unhooked black wire to CDI still no spark. Check resistance readings back to stator. Infinite readings. Looks like stator needs repair or replace?
You can have a broken wire on the stator plate, going into the engine housing or where the wires are clipped to the stator plate by a metal clamp. Being it worked fine last year and doesn't work now, perhaps there was water under your recoil cover and it froze and cracked the coil or that it rusted over the summer and corroded the coil wiring. Most of the stator coils fail from vibration and heat and yours would have had neither being it wasn't running so that's my best guess unless you have a rodent problem. A chipmunk reduced an entire wiring harness of mine into 2" pieces and put them in a nice pile once!!! Pull the cover and pull the flywheel. Inspect the wiring to the stator coils. Pay close attention to where they attach to the plate. If you get lucky, there may be a bare wire. You can repair with liquid electrical tape and epoxy. Any repairs must be water tight.Let me know what you find. Doug
Experience: Professional mechanic since the late 70's on Kawasaki, Arctic Cat, Jonsered, John Deere and others.
Hi Doug, pulled the stator and everything looks fine. Any bench tests I can do? I am really at a loss here as to why this thing wont fire. Checked the mags on the flywheel and they seem alright. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated; I can go back through Just Answer if I need to. Just wanted to make sure I was talking to you as you know whats going on. Thanks
Hector Lebert
Did you get the wiring diagram I had posted above? It has all of the test specs for the stator right on the diagram.I just clicked on it, and it looks a bit fuzzy. Can you see the ohm tests next to the stator? If not, I can post it again. Doug
Hi Doug, I used a magnifying glass to read it. From brown with white to black with red I show infinite. From brown with white to groud I show infinite. From yellow to yellow with red I show .7 ohms. Does this mean there is an open in that coil?
Thanks
Hector
Yes, that's a clear indication of a problem. Do you still have the stator out? If so, check where the wires are attached to the plate. They can break at that location. I think it's a metal clamp on the rear of the stator, but I don't have one in front of me. Some are clamped on the front. Doug
Hi Doug, I took the clip off and peeled back the sheathing surrounding the three wires. Found no problems. Thinking I need to have this one rebuilt. Just want to double check, by unplugging the black wire, does that by pass everything else,(keyswitch, kill switch, throttle switch). Anything else I need to look at before I have this stator rebuilt. Hate to do it, reinstall and find same problem.
Yes, by unplugging the black wire you eliminate any problems from the harness or switches. That leaves the stator coil, CDI or ignition coil. Even the factory CDI testers are a crap shoot, so you test the stator and ignition coil and if those are good you replace the CDI. The other option is to swap out the parts. I always have a box of coils and CDI boxes under the bench for this purpose. If you are sending in your stator to be rebuilt, they can verify your readings before working on it. From the readings you gave me, it's clear that it has failed. We've all been fooled by electrical parts. All you can do is to repeat the test and trust your results. Doug