Hello All,


First Time Post, I have a 2004 Polaris Ranger that I volunteered to get going for our little league. I was told that it needed carb work. I loaded it on trailer and brought it home. I charged battery overnight, and the next morning I got it started with no problem at all. I ran it around for 20 mins at least, before it started to backfire, and flat out run poorly. I researched and found a history of trouble with fuel pumps, so I replaced it. I couldn't even get it to start to replace pump, so I pushed it back in garage. No different after fuel pump. I started analyzing spark, and found it to be intermittent, tested coil, and boot actually fell off in my hand, it checked 7500 ohms from coil to end of wire w/o boot. Primary winding checked good at .3 ohms. I purchased new coil, and when I plug it in and try it to plug on block I still have ZERO spark. I know I have some power to coil, but my meter gets a goofy reading. Should I have a full 12 volts with key on to coil, or does it need to be cranking? What's the easiest tests to do on CDI box? How to check stator output without removing cover? Where to go from here?? Any Help appreciated. Thanks

 

Check resistance on the pick up coil white to white/red that leads to the cdi. Should be around 97 ohms.Plus if spark is erratic,pick up ohms out ok,+/- 20 % of the average reading,may be the pick up coil needs to be moved in a tad. Happens a lot on the Sportsman 500s. Book shows .016-.040 clearance between the face of the coil and and the flywheel tab. Some times all it takes is a "gentle" tap on the pick up coil bracket inward and you can get a good spark. Rope breakage were common things that affected the Sportsman 500 on this,but may help checking even though the Ranger doesn't have a recoil start. Here's one members post on this. no spark to plug when using electric starter - Page 3 - ATVConnection.com ATV Enthusiast Community Plus no tests on the cdi module. Manual says to check by replacing with a"known good one" which is easy for dealers,but not for the customer. One other thing is to pull the black wire from the cdi and see if you have spark. Could be a kill wire short.

 

What should I have for voltage on the positive wire to coil? When I check it, my meter is all over the place, I tried a 12v test lamp first, and I think it toasted my light. Meter actually read negative 300 volts somehow even though I had it connected right. I'm pulling my hair out to say the least, need help. Was trying to save league time/money to no avail so far

 

Think you might be thinking about the newer dci ignition systems that had to have direct power. This is the older magneto triggered ignition system.The battery is mainly for the electric start,fan,lights,etc.If you had a recoil start and the battery was dead,you could still pull start it. Same as the older Sportsmans.If none of these things help,then best to get the specs from the manual on checking the stator itself.I don't have any Ranger manuals down loaded and possibly some resistance check specs may be different than the 2004 Sportsman 500,BUT here's what it shows. Have all the stator wires hooked back up to the cdi with the exception of the cdi wire to the coil.With a peak out put tester should show 130 dcv. With a common multimeter should show 20 dcv. Resistance specs on the Red stator wire to the Black/red stator wire should show 19 ohms.Trigger(pick up) White to White/Red should show 97 ohms. Yellow to yellow/Red 0.22 ohms. Again this is from a 2004 Sportsman 500 manual,which may be a little different than the Ranger.Worst case here's a service manual for 10 bucks.2004 Polaris Ranger 500 4X4 Service Manual PDF Download