Hi guys, I am relatively new to atv's. I just purchased my wife her first atv. It is a used polaris sport, 1999 model, automatic, 2 stroke. The gentleman that I purchased it from delivered it to my house. I test drove it and it ran great. My wife and I both rode it for about an hour and then turned in for the evening. Fast forward six days and it won't start. The electric start doesn't work and didn't when I purchased it. I knew that going into it. However, the pull start worked great for me when I purchased it six days ago. Now, it seems as if it's not getting any fire. I pulled the spark plug and it looked to be fouled. I cleaned it and checked the gap, reinstalled it and still, no fire. It's not even acting like it wants to turn over. Granted, it has sat for six days but I don't think that is the problem. 6 days is a relatively short amount of time. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with it, but it did sit through 2 pretty bad thunder, rain, and lightening storms. I've tried choking it, cleaning the plug, and thats about it. Any ideas of what I should do next? Thanks in advance for the advice.


By the way, I have read through a few discussions that suggest to check the compression. I didn't feel that it was necessary because the pull start feels normal. It tore may hands up after messing with it for about 20 minutes. Then again, it does have a makeshift handle that the previous owner made for it that probably doesn't help. Could this be the carb adjustment that I keep reading about?

 

Welcome to the forum! Pull the plug cap and check if the bare wire has spark against the cylinder. If doesn't have then pull the black wire from the reverse limiter module under the front panel( facing the machine it's the left module black wire,the other module next to it is the regulator/rectifier) If still no spark,then pull the black wire from the cdi module to eliminate the kill circuit as the problem. If still doesn't spark,then could be water from the storms got into the stator area through the "makeshift" pull start handle. Recoil housing may need to be pulled and let the stator dry out. Don't think pulling the drain bolt on the cover would help or would take a while for all the moisture to dry up. Try these things first if it was running ok when you parked it.Possibility also it could just need a carb rebuild if there is no water in the stator.Could be just fouling plugs from excess gas. Try a new plug,because once you foul one might as well trash it. OPT

 

Hi, I tried replacing the plug. Still no fire. I took the plug out and connected the plug wire to it in order to see if there was any spark that way. Still no spark. Is there a diagram or anything that I can reference to actually see the wires that you are talking about? I am not sure what wires to disconnect and don't want to "wing it". Is there a particular way of identifying these wires? Thanks so much for your help!

 

Very simple! Just pop the front cover off. There are two small black modules,just pull the black wire from the one that has the only black wire(the other module(regulator/rectifier) has red and yellow wires. If no spark,then down further is the cdi module. Just pull the black wire from it and see if you have spark. If you don't then it's probably moisture in the stator from the storms. Just 8 or 9 8mm bolts and the recoil assembly comes off and you can see if there is water present in the recoil. If you're still not sure look under you model on "electrical" and "recoil" plus "magneto" will show you whats involved. Browse OPT

 

Alright, I tried to see if the plug would spark again today. I came away with different results. My eyes aren't really all that great so that could explain the first time I tried it, especially in high sunlight. However, today I took out the plug, connected the plug wire to the plug, and placed it against the cylinder. It did have a fairly faint blue-ish colored spark. I then re-installed the plug, wire, etc.. and still nothing. Being that it does have some spark, should I look elsewhere now? Thanks for your help.

 

If you already changed the plug and barely has a spark,then time to pull the black wire from the limiter and also the cdi and see if you have better spark and will crank. If no change then remove the recoil cover and check the stator area out for water/moisture from the storms. You can use an air blower if you have a compressor or even a hair dryer would help IF you see water in the recoil area. Plus hold the throttle wide open when you try to crank it (crank case could be flooded with fuel and this can help on starting by expelling excess fuel.) After that you're down to a good compression check (very minimum 100 psi), carb problems,or may need to ohm out the electrical system (stator exciter coil,charge coil,etc) OPT

 

Just wanted to give an update. I finally had a little time to work on the atv today. I disconnected all of the appropriate wires and still nothing. I pulled off the recoil assembly and dried it using an air hose. Apparently this did the trick because it fired right up. I took it for a quick stroll and everything seemed to work well. The only issue that I am having now seems to be with the throttle. It seems as if when I try to lay down on the throttle a good bit, it is either slow to respond or it has trouble responding at all. Any idea what this could be? Perhaps it is just a little cold natured? Even though it was about 90 degrees today, I figured the engine may take a minute to heat up?

 

Change the plug if you haven't done so (BR8ES). Could be it just needs some fresh fuel,or water from the storms could have gotten into the air box and into the carb bowl causing it to bog. There is a drain screw on the carb bowl(water would settle at the bottom).Plus get it out and ride it a few hours and see how it does after it's completely dried out. OPT