My 03 sportsman 600 starts and idles fine. Once it warms up on a ride it dies and will not start again until cold. Any suggestions?

 

Update ignition kit #2202603. Replaces the Ducait ignition that would fail with a good Japanese Kokusan ignition. Early 600 and 700 Sportsmans (2002-early 2004) were affected. Here's a video on a 700 with the same style kit. Only difference was the jumper wires included.
They also have a cheaper RM stator kit,but not impressed with them. They use the stock Ducati stator lighting coil for an ignition source and I've had lighting coils fail also. Then you're stuck with finding a used Ducati stator. Symptoms you describe are common as some would do this,others would just run crappy,other owners would kill them and they'd never start back up.

 

what could I expect if I tried an after market stator to try saving money?

 

DON'T waste you time on trying to buy aftermarket parts OR used Ducati parts on ebay that people try to pawn off on people!!! These stators can fail along with the cdi/coil packs. Plenty of people have fallen into that trap only to have problems again. The entire electrical system is junk! I've replaced both stators and coil packs back and forth until Polaris "silently" replaced the stator part # in the parts breakdown list with the complete updated ignition kit. Imo they pulled a fast one over on mechanics and owners.There was NO bulletin on this.. Should have been a recall on this but since it wasn't a danger/hazzard to people(unlike the ecm recalls because of fire dangers) they weren't forced to and passed the buck onto the consumer..

 

So when the motor gets hot it's causing all the electrical problems?

 

Ducati ignitions could cause problems hot or cold. Like I mentioned some people killed them only to have them never restart when cold. You can do a compression test to rule out any mechanical problems. Per the manual it should be around 145-150 psi. Plus check that the fuel pump is ok,just pull the fuel line from the carb and crank the engine over. Should be a steady flow of fuel. Plus check for any obstruction in venting on the fuel tank vent and also carb atmospheric vent line. Just make sure these are open. If these check out then yes the most common problem they had was the ignition. if you want to check out other things before you outlay $550 or more on an ignition kit you can get this cheap manual first.2003 Polaris Sportsman 600 Service Manual PDF Download

 

I'll do some testing when I can this weekend. Thanks for your help.