I have a 97 foreman with ignition problems. I have had the coil checked out ok. I was checking the spark tonight when I noticed that I only have spark the second I push the starter button and just as let go of the button. There is no spark the rest of the time that I hold the button. I do have a manual but did not read anything in there about this. Does anyone have any idea what it might be, before I trouble shoot everything? Thought I would try this since it is to cold to work in the garage tonight!

 

Hows the voltage holding up while cranking? Leave a voltmeter across the battery terminals while cranking and see where the volts go to. You may have a weak battery or a starter about worn out, and its pulling too many amps.

 

i had same problem its the cdi box after market it cost about 70.00 it is located under front fenders in middle up by handle bars i tried a used 1 from a bike at work b4 i spent money a guy told me it had 2 have same number as mine but it didnt have and it did work hope it fixes yours

 

Did you mean the ICM box? I changed that and did not help. Sometimes I have spark and sometimes I dont! I have now gone thru most of the trouble shooting steps in my manual with no luck as to cure it yet.

 

The voltage seems to be holding up good. It stays around 12 volts when cranking it over. I took the starter out cleaned it up and took readings of it and it checks out ok. I have even left the charger hooked up when I was turning it over and it didnt make any differance. Going to go thru the manual again to see if there is anything I missed.

 

I have a older model (88) I have a Honda repair manuel that say its a ,CDI, I don't know about the new ones but thats what they are calling it. If you have a friend that maybe has a Honda 4 Wheeler or a junked out one just try it before you go buy one and just see if thats your problem. Also this box that I'm talking about is about 1" thick and 2" wide by 3" long. Its got 2 plugens and, one has 2 wires, and one has 4 wires. I'm not sure sience yours is so much newer than mine but thats what the book calls it. ( CDI Pulse generator) Sorry couldn't help

 

They call that box an ICM now. I changed that and that didnt help. I have a friend who I plan to call tonight that has a foreman the same year as mine. I think he is junking it out. I will all him and see if I can try some of the parts off of his old one.

Thanks

 

Pull the spark plug out and do another spark check...this time using the rope pull. If you have good spark then, your cdi is good. Then it would point to a cranking problem, like a bad ground, wet connector, or too much resistance in the starter.