So...I recently purchased a 2002 Polaris Scrambler 90 on craigslist. The few times I went to look at it, the owner fired it up on the first kick. The battery was old/dead and he said he preferred to have it kick-start only so his kids wouldn't ride it without him there to kick it.

I ended up buying it, knowing that I needed a new battery. In the mean time while I was waiting for the new battery to arrive, I road it around our property and it worked great. However, the kick-start took more and more attempts each time until it finally it would not start by kick-starting. I ended up using some jumper cables from my truck and it would fire right up with the electric start. It would occasionally die while riding, but would fire up again with electric start. It had great spark, so I figured it was a fuel issue. I ended up pulling the carb and cleaning up. Ran great again, but still not starting by kick-start.

Then it died again and would not start at all. After pushing it into my garage, I found it was now not getting a spark. Since then, I:
1) Purchased/installed a new plug and new coil. Still no spark.
2) I used a jumper wire to bypass the tether/kill switch. Still no spark.
3) Checked all wiring and cannot find any loose/broken wires
4) Tested the stator with the following results:
Black to White/Red: 499 (@ 2000)
Black to Black/Red: 871 (@ 2000)
Black to Yellow/Red: 0.8 (@ 200)
Black to White: 0.9 (@ 200)
Black to Ground: 0.3 (@ 200)

If anybody has any other recommendations on what to check and how to check it, I would greatly appreciate any info! I called a few local ATV shops and they're all around $80-$90/hour in labor!!! After a few hours in the shop, it would be more than I paid for the quad!!!
Thanks again for any advice!

 

Stator resistance tests show within +/- 20% according to the manual. If you've pulled the black kill wire from the cdi and still no spark,have a new coil,then suspect the cdi itself as the problem. Wouldn't hurt though to clean the stator and pick up coil area as they are bad about sucking in dirt and trash from the open cover.

 

Thank you Old Polaris Tech for the quick reply.

Maybe my CDI is different, but my wires from the CDI are:
Black/Red
Black/White
White /Red
Gray
Then there is a 2 wire plug with an Orange wire and Black wire coming FROM the CDI and connects to a White/Blue and a Black.

Are you suggesting I unplug the connector that has the Orange wire and the Black wire? I cannot unplug just the black wire, as it is part of the 2 wire plug with the orange.

See attachment for photo

 

Oem cdi shows a black/white. All you're trying to do is isolate the cdi kill circuit from the ignition switch and left control emergency kill.

 

Do you know of any other options other than the Polaris CDI (P/N: 0450722)? It looks like a $160 part! Any other manufactures that may be cheaper?

 

A lot of aftermarket parts,but how good they are? Just google Polaris 90 cdi modules and you can check them out. Here's one listed for 20 bucks. XA Ignition CDI Box Module Unit for 2 Stroke Polaris Scrambler Sportsman Pred... - Car & Truck Parts

 

I just went out and unplugged the Black/White wire from the CDI box and still no spark.

I may try that $20 CDI that you mentioned. Thank you for all of you help/advice!

 

The $20 CDI arrived and I installed. There is no gray wire on the new unit. I assume it is not necessary? There was no spark until I disconnected the black/white wire from the new CDI. If the black/white wire is unplugged, I get spark and the machine fires up. Runs great except it will not shut off with the ignition switch, and obviously the kill switches do not work either.
While the machine is running, if the key is turned to the "off" position, I can plug in the black/white wire without any problems. If the key is in the "on" position, it will immediately die.

I've tried unplugging the tether kill switch and connecting them together (to close the circuit) and it does not change anything. Does this mean the problem must be in the kill switch on the left handlebar? I seem to be getting good continuity with all the wiring from that switch (unless the switch itself is bed), so would this mean the problem lies within the ignition switch?

Any thoughts or direction would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again for all the info so far!

 

Possible the left control switch is causing problems(replaced a few of those) or even an ignition switch can cause problems also as both tie into the black/white kill circuit from the cdi. Ohm out the ignition switch wires,if they check out then more than likely the left control switch. At least you know the old cdi was faulty when you disconnected the kill wire and didn't have spark,but have spark with the new cdi. You just have to find the cause of the kill wire grounding out when it's plugged in.

 

You have the wrong CDI. Some work earth the kill wire to stop, some earth the kill wire to run, looks like the bike is wired earth to run, and CDI wired earth to stop. The "work around" is to wire the kill from the CDI to an earthing button on the bars. It is a bit easy to forget to turn the ignition switch off, with this set up though.