All of a sudden last week my 98 500 started acting real funny. I think the batt is flat. The starter solenoid (i think thats it) just clicks or not at all. It will pull start but after 20 mins of riding the bike will quit. Leave it for 5 mins and it will run again. Wouldnt that 25 amp alternator run the machine regardless of the batt condition? If you need more info please ask. And be gentle im new...

Mark

 

I would change the battery, they do all sorts of weird stuff when the battery starts to fail. With the 98 Cat that I had, the electrical connections started to get corosion in the plugs. I got a rainy day and took them ALL apart and cleaned them then put them back together with some dielectric grease. All the little electical gremlins left after that. This is a worth while thing to do before you start to have a electrical problem out on the trail. It may seem a little bit too much but I am a maintenence nut, and do all sorts of weird stuff. But I have never had a quad towed back or left on the trail, and I'm always ready to ride.

 

Thx Mudcat, ill do that. I have all the plastic off of it any way. Good project for the weekend.

Mark

 

I agree, the battery sounds like a good place to start. You could even pop the battery out and take it to an automatives store and let them put it on the test rack and tell you for sure if it is bad. Those testers they use are awesome. They can tell you down to the cell that has gone bad!

 

Something else you might wanna check...when this happened to me, the ground wire was loose.

 

If the battery has a shorted cell it can take everything the alt is putting out and cause the cut out! you can have the battery tested before replacing it any service station will have a battery load tester and probably will test it for you for either nothing or next to nothing. if the battery is old than you should replace it anyways.
just replacing parts can get expensive! so I would try to find out exactly what is wrong before I start replacing parts.

 

[b]vewdew/[b] have you found the problem yet???

 

Update: BTW thx for all the great info. After looking at it more closely the connection block that comes from the stator/magneto was badly corroded and one wire was completly broken off. Also one of the connection blocks coming from the CDI unit was the same way. I have repaired that damage and all seems fine now. The wiring harness needs a serious overhaul or replacement from 4 years in water/mud and snow. I only have one more problem, at idle it tends to stall or "miss" if you will. Mostly a miss as opposed to stalling. I dont know what this could be other than the carb? Any suggestions on this issue would be great. Again thx for all the awesome suggestions.

Mark

My Cat Works Again!!

PS: I also checked all the connects as per the service manual with a meter and everything looks great from the charging circut, as well as all the other standard electrical tests.

 

Hurry up and get that old cat on the prowl again!! I don't want any excuses next weekend when I'm towing you outta the mud!!!! Drop off your battery at my place if you need her charged up. Give me a call if you need any help monday or tues since I'm off. I think I have some dielectric grease kicking around if you need anyfor your harness/connections.

 

Glad to here you found the problem!! we need all the cats up and running!! From listening to all of the entries It sounds like the cats are putting it to the other makes. I cant wait until I have some good challenges and bring back the results to report to you all.