Hello, and thank you to any responses in advance. I appreciate any help I can get. I'm new to the forum, so please bear with me if I post incorrectly.

A little background on the bike: I bought a 2004 Arctic Cat 90cc 2x4 4-stroke quad knowing it had no spark. The seller said he thought it was the stator, but his son was too big to ride it anymore so he was selling it.

I've now replaced the Battery, Stator, CDI, Voltage Regulator, Spark Plug, and resistor. I see they have the brake wiring looped, and the bike turns over with or without the brake on, so I think the kill switch is deactivated, and the fact that it turns over makes me think the kill switch isn't the problem anyway. However, I may be wrong.

I have a multimeter, and a service manual. I am not getting the voltage readings from the stator that the manual says I should. I sent it back to the parts store I bought it from, they say they bench tested it as good, and sent it back. They said the reason I was getting the readings I was most likely had to do with I need a special adapter between my meter and the bike, or the readings could be off. I'm now at a loss. Aside from the wiring harness and ignition coil, the electrical system is all new.

Does anyone have any thoughts, questions, suggestions to test for, or troubleshooting steps I can try to solve this? I'm getting no spark, and I don't even think I am getting the voltage to the ignition coil. Could it be a ground? faulty new CDI? Any ideas? Again, Thank you in advance.

 

Not familiar with the Arctic cat, but it should have a kill wire on the cdi. Disconnect it and see if you have spark. If you do and it's a new cdi,then sounds like it could be a switch problem or wiring short or as you say can be a ground problem.Plus don't over look simple things like the resistor plug cap that can break down or a break/bare spot in the coil wire. Coil tab to ground should show a small resistance reading,plus the secondary(tab to coil wire end) should have a resistance reading listed in the manual you have.

 

Thank you for the reply.

The CDI has a pulsar wire (blu/yel), the wire to the ignition coil (blk/yel), two grounds, and then a grn/wht and blk/wht,. I think the green white may be for the kill switch. I'll check it again. I also think I may open up the wiring harness protection and check each wire all the way through to be sure it's not the wiring. Again, thank you for the reply.

 

I am in the exact situation as you are (purchased bike no spark). Please post your findings.

My Brother picked up the bike for me and dropped it off at my place but, he didn't leave me the key so I cant get started on it till he gets the key to me.

I am buying it off a buddy and apparently his kid was driving down the road and the biked died and when he checked it, it had no spark so he parked it.

Thanks, Shane

 

usually blk/wht is the kill wire

 

Thank you Zrock. I appreciate your reply. I probably should have updated that I finally got it figured out, and you are correct, the blk/white is the kill wire going from the handbreak to the CDI.

 

Shane, my apologies for not responding to your question sooner. My email associated with this account is seldom checked. I do apologize for not getting back sooner, because I know what it feels like to be frustrated by this issue and looking for help.

My problem ended up being the CDI, AND the connector going into the CDI. After replacing all the electrical components, with the exception of the wiring harness, I finally found the problem. I noticed that when I would hook up the wiring harness to the new CDI it would occasionally produce a high pitch whistle like an old tube TV. I believe that is the capacitors being charged. It would only happen occasionally so in one instance while it was whistling I tried to crank it over while grounding the plug to the cylinder head, and I got a spark. I moved the harness plugged into the CDI around some more, the whistling stopped, I tried to crank it and no spark. I checked the plugs that connect the wiring harness to the CDI and found that one or two were gapped rather wide, and were making poor connections that would come lose. I believe the previous owner most likely had a bad CDI on the bike, and while working on it somehow messed up the plug connections taking it on and off. Most likely forced it while not lined up correctly. I used a small fine tipped screwdriver to make the plug connectors more narrow, and no more poor connection. I could hear the "whistle" of the capacitors even while jiggling the plug and harness. The bike fired right up after I manually helped out the crappy electric choke. It was awesome given all the frustration I went through to diagnose the issue. I had even sent the stator back to have it professionally bench tested.

I'm now an expert I feel on the ignition system on this thing. I have a service manual, wiring diagram, and have replaced all the components. I've even used the manual to get into the drive system. I've replaced the breaks as well. Going to be a new bike before I'm done.

The ignition system is pretty easy, and actually very minimal. You have the stator feeding the blue/ylw wire into the CDI. The plug into the CDI has the pulsar (blu/ylw), two black grounds, the grn/wht is 12vlt power, and the blk/wht is the kill wire that comes from the kill switch and break lever. I doubt the stator would go bad, especially mid ride. My guess is the CDI shot craps, or the kill switch may have shorted. to check the kill switch check for continuity to ground by running your meter with one wire in the blk white at the cdi, and the other end to ground on the bike, switch the kill switch on the handle bars to the different positions and you should hear it only ground in the "off" positions. To check the pulsar from the stator to make sure it is good and providing adequate juice, disconnect the blu/ylw at the connector on the left side of the motor and check with a volt meter on DC and look for 3V. if you have that going into the CDI you are good there. put the connector back together and make sure you are plugged back into the cdi, then check for voltage going into the ignition coil AFTER the CDI. If you don't have voltage making it to the ignition coil, and your blk/wht kill switch test tested okay, then the culprit is most likely the CDI or CDI connections. You can buy a new CDI on-line for $88 on ebay, or Amazon.

Sorry for the long response, just wanted to be thorough. Please feel free to ask any questions and I try to respond more quickly.

 

Thank You for the Great Response!!!

I have found a little hole in the CDI right beside the wire plug connectors so I assume that is the problem because my stator and coil test to spec.

I am going to order a new CDI from Arctic Cat only hold up is I came up with one part # and the dealer has come up with another part number. My Bike is a 2005 (manufactured 2004) however, the parts fiche I used for part # only had a 2006 90 Utility but, I imagine that it used the same CDI.... The difference being $70.00

Part # Dealer gave me is: 3305-861 $260.00
Part # I found is : 3303-413 $190.00

When I enter the Part # the dealer gave me into the Parts finder that I use it comes up as a CDI as well but, doesn't say what for.

Does anyone know the proper part #?

Thanks again,

Shane

 

Just found part # dealer gave me is for the newer 90cc 2009 to 2012

 

If you are having part problems, maybe try a Kymco dealer.
I think your AC is a Kymco.