thanks! i'll check that next, and your right about not having extra parts that are good for testing

Now what I did today, was fully charge the battery, tested volts with digital meter got 12.9V .
I then used my Dmm to test the battery volts draw when cranking, and I got reading of 11.55V for 10 sec or so, nothing lower

I tried to start the engine with electric starter but no spark. I pulled the plug and grounded it to frame, still get no spark, I reinstalled the spark plug. I had to pull start it and fired right up on second pull. I then checked battery voltage at idle, got reading of 14.50-53 V (jumping back and forth) and about the same with engine idle up.

The next test I ran was, with engine at idle and battery voltage at 14.50-53 V (jumping back and forth) I flipped the headlight switch on low for a while to observe the battery voltage drop. I got all the way down to 12.48-54 (jumping back and forth)
I then moved the switch up to high beams for a while, and the battery voltage went down to 12.22 V I went to hit the throttle to idle up and it instantly quit running. I then put the key switch in the off position and read my DMM and got 12.45 V at battery so I lost some volts

from my experience, I should be able to let this engine idle for a while and still have a fully charger battery when I shut it down, and the charging system should overcome the use of all accessories when in use?

maybe a charging issue?? and a ignition switch problem

I think maybe I'm in the right area of searching for this issue, but not confident yet that I'm in the right area, maybe I'm missing something

 

Sure sounds like a faulty switch. Check this place out. Item #17 (switch) has been superceded with a new part # which usually means problems with the old one.http://www.cyclepartswarehouse.com/f...007&fveh=11299
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Ok I'll look into it, however what about my voltage testing of the battery charging system ?

 

At idle voltage is at 14.5 volts which is perfect! Even though the battery voltage may drop a little with all the lights on,etc, if the battery (while sitting) builds back up to 12.5 to 12.8 volts,then I would just replace the ignition switch. Especially since you said you have no spark at the plug while using the electric start and do have spark and will crank up with the switch in the on position and recoil starting. This just shows that the switch is shorting out and this is what I'd replace. The ONLY other thing I can think of to check is if the cdi does have a black kill wire leading from it,pull this wire and see if you have spark then while using the electric start. Just trying to eliminate any internal cdi kill circuit problem or left control switch which the black wire ties into. OPT

 

pulled black wire, last week as one of the troubleshooting procedures in the FMS and had no spark

so I think I'll purchase that ignition switch, and go from that point

 

Keep us updated to whether the switch solves the problem or not. OPT

 

I was just thinking, would a bad rev limiter cause this problem?

 

Limiter on the left side under the front panel,just pull the black wire from it and check if you have spark when you use the electric start. They had a habit of failure especially on the very early models. OPT

 

I must ask, is the rev limiter wired into the cdi? I'm looking at the 2009 manual it shows a separate block for the rev limiter. This is an 2007 so thinking not much difference in the wiring between the 2 years, is this correct

 

Look on your 2007 trail Boss 330 under "electrical" will show the limiter as part #15 .Browse
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