I was out riding Friday doing alot of deep water running. While on dry ground in thick brush the engine suddenly and without warning quit. I don't know if this would be water related, related to catching something with the brush or just bad luck. Checked things and have found I don't have any power to anything. Lights won't work, winch is dead and no power to key switch. I have since found the starter relay to be bad and replaced it, I found the wire going into a diode near the starter relay pulled out and that has been replaced. I've checked all fuses and they are good. I've checked the key switch and it's fine as well as the off/run switch on the left side of the handlebar. I can jump the starter relay and the engine will turn over, but no juice to the spark plug. The battery is good as well. I can't see any wires pulled loose or broken. Any guesses or advice would be helpful.

 

Check the key switch plug connector which is located approximately 18" (under the front body plastic) from the back of the key switch. My connnector was bad. I cut the wires from both connector ends and terminated the wires with "butt splices."

 

I found part of the problem last night. I found a wire in the main wiring harness rubbed through on a bracket holding the top of the engine head to the frame. I spliced it back together and now have power to the key switch, heated grips, headlights, etc. I don't have any spark to the plug and now need any advice on what to check first- coil, cdi box? I have again checked all the fuses and they are good. My word of advice with anybody owning a 2001 500, look up under the tank and make sure your wires aren't held tight against the engine mount or you may be having the same experience.

 

Spam wordSpam word Spam wordSpam word Spam wordSpam word Spam wordSpam word guy,

You might check right below the instrument cluster where the wiring goes from the kill swithc/start button along the steering column. On my TRV where these wires plug into the harness they became pinched and unplugged themselves. I had power just no juice to the starter. I believe I was the one who unplugged it while I was checking my vent hose for a blockage.

There is a procedure for checking the coil and the cdi in the shop manual. However these items usially do not go bad.

Hope this helps.
SJ

 

Alway, and I mean always check the kill switch first. And I mean first to see if it is in the kill position. I can't tell you how many times I've had guys bring in a rig saying it won't start and it cost them $35 for me to turn the kill switch from off to on. Well, after that it gets complicated and you need a wiring diagram. You can easily see where you need power to go to get power to the ignition. I always liked systems that have a sperate plug for the kill switch so you and eliminate it easily, AC however likes neat wire bundles and gang plugs, which when any one item in the gang plug dies means you have to buy the high dollar whole shootin match even though only one of several items is bad.

 

Spam wordSpam word Spam wordSpam word Spam wordSpam word Spam wordSpam word guy, If you just follow what Campin said, you'd find out that's going to be the problem 9 outta 10 times. I had the same problem for a couple of years. I always thought I had found the problem and posted it here but then I really got busy and diagnosed the problem to be the ignition plug. Only happens after deep water runs, the engine dies and no power. Remedy was to eleminate the plug for the ignition. I soldered all the wires together so as not to have a weak connection. You can clean the plug, use dielectric grease on them, run the quad through water and see if that fixes the problem before you cut any wires. That will demonstrate if the ignition plug is the problem. One thing we all should do after cleaning the quad. Use a quality silicone spray on all the metal and wire plugs. Just make sure the engine's not running and the exhaust pipe isn't hot before you spray or you may have a fire in the back yard.
Good luck,
Chuck