Hello,
I am new to this site, but not to motorsports or wrenching. I was a Field Service Technician on Lawn and Garden equipment for a large company, so troubleshooting is nothing new to me.

Here is the problem: I am not getting any spark on my 2003 Arctic Cat 400 4x4 FIS Auto.

Saturday I started it, let it warm up, drove about 100 yards, put it in neutral and let it idle while I was off starting a tractor. I did not hear the ATV die, since I was starting the tractor. When I got back to the ATV, it was dead.

When I tried to restart it, there was no spark.

I moved it to the shop since it is FREEZING here and to make sure there wasn't any moisture issues (we had a foot of snow).

On troubleshooting, I found that the coil appears OK, but the resistance is a little out of range. It should be .4 - .6 Ohms. It reads .64 Ohms. I wouldn't think that is too far off.

The input from the CDI to the coil should read 35V +/- 20% and rise to 135V +/- 20% when the Starter button is depressed.
It reads 410 V with the key on and doesn't change when the Starter button is depressed.
With the key off, it reads about the same 410V but bleeds down to 0 in the course of less than a minute.

I borrowed a coil off a different machine and still didn't get spark.

Is this a problem with the CDI or is there something else I should look at. The manual tells me to replace the CDI, but I don't have any spares laying around (pun intended)
What would be the best After-market CDI to go with?

Never too proud to ask for help,
Grant

 

Try to wiggle the wires that come out of the crankcase down by the starter. push and pull on the wires. sometimes these wires short out in the crankcase cover where the rubber is. also check the flywheel magnets make sure that they do not turn in side the flywheel.400 is noted for the magnets to come loose.

 

07 400,
Thank you so much for the help! I pulled the left side case off and found that two magnets had come loose. Fortunately, they are not damaged! I am going to try gluing them back on with JB Weld. Of course I will clean everything first with Brake Cleaner.

I will post the results

 

Glued magnets on with JB Kwik. Waiting for it to totally cure, but I have spark and it tried to catch. I didn't have oil in it, so the JB can cure, but I think it will run!

 

Was it difficult pulling the cover off the side to access the internal coil. The wires coming out of the crankcase have a short in them, do you have replace the coils or can you repair the wires. Rich

 

you have to replace the stator assembly. The oil eats away at the wire insulation in that rubber plug area and than it shorts out on the crankcase.

 

How much should I expect this job to cost? Does the engine have to be pulled? Thanks rich

 

the job sould cost about $500-$600+ a oil change kit.no you do not have to pull motor you can do the repair in the chassie.Make sure you also ck magnets in flywheel. did you buy this machine new. if you did arctic cat might help you out with parts they did a few years ago but they might say it has been to many years.

 

Nuttman-

I have the same issue. I tugged on the wires like 07 400 said and mine started right up. I'm obviously thinking that if this problem happened something might be wrong inside so I need to get in there and fix it.

just kind of curious. did you just pull off the pull start casing or the whole left side? I haven't looked at anything in real depth yet, but it almost looks like you can get at them if you take off just the pull start casing.

thanks

 

You have to take off the whole Left Side casing to get to the Magneto. After you pull the side off, take it to an Arctic Cat dealer to have them break loose the Magneto. The puller is propritary and the only way to get the Mag off.
When you install the new Mag, yo MUST get a new gasket!!!!!!!!! Everything is machined in such a manner that it will not fit together right without a gasket and the Starter will not turn the engine over very easily!!!!!!! This is the voice of experience speaking!
Other than taking it to a dealer, it is all a piece of cake.
The mag can be found online for $420