I have a 2003 Polaris 50 Predator that I bought recently. I checked the spark on the plug and it and it only ignites for one or two sparks and then nothing until I let off. If I bump the starter button several times then the plug will spark. Its like it only sparks when the starter button is initially pressed. A buddy of mine that works on ATV's pretty regularly said that he thinks it's the CDI box but I checked at my parts place and they are selling the CDI for right at $220. I would like to know if I could verify this somehow before I drop that kind of change. Thanks.

 

Pull the stator side plastic cover and if possible pull the flywheel and clean up any dirt/mud from inside the flywheel,stator,pick up coil,etc with spray electrical cleaner and see if it helps. Stators were bad about going out because of water entry,but you can't rule out a cdi or coil either. If it doesn't help I would get a cheap online manual so you can do resistance checks on the stator and coil to eliminate them as a problem instead of throwing parts at it. OPT

 

Ok I will do that. Thanks for the help.

 

Ok so I downloaded the manual and I found a section labeled cranking tests. I copied it below. Is this what I am supposed to use to check the stator? If so, I'm not understanding the difference between unloaded and loaded cranking voltage.

CRANKING TESTS
Unloaded Cranking Voltage
Wire Color Wire Description A/C Output
Yellow/Red to Black 3 Prong Plug 4.5--5.9 Volts AC
White to Black 3 Prong Plug 5.3--7.0 Volts AC
White/Red to Black Bullet Connector 0.3--0.4 Volts AC
Black/Red to Black Bullet Connector 90--120 Volts AC
Peak Reading Cranking Voltage
Wire Color (From Stator) Wire Description A/C Peak Output
(With Peak Reading Adapter and meter set to DCV scale)
Yellow/Red to Black 3 Prong Plug 7.85 Volts DC
White to Black 3 Prong Plug 9.50 Volts DC
White/Red to Black Bullet Connector 4.90 Volts DC
Black/Red to Black Bullet Connector 203 Volts DC

 

I always just used the resistance specs for the stator,coil,etc in our shop manuals on the 50's and 90's and usually found the problem. Unloaded means checking stator wires ac voltage while cranking over the engine with wires disconnected. OPT

 

So I did the unloaded cranking tests and the results I got were a little lower than recommended. They are as follows, and I put the suggested readings from my manual in parentheses:

Yellow/Red to Black- 3.8 VAC (4.5 to 5.9 VAC)
White to Black- 4.6 VAC (5.3 to 7.0 VAC)
White/Red to Black- 0.6 VAC (0.3 to 0.4 VAC)
Black/Red to Black- 75 VAC (90 to 120 VAC)

From my readings is it possible to tell if the stator is bad? I know that the readings aren't where they should be but are they 'close' enough?

 

The black/red to black and white to black do show a little low,but look at the wiring schematic in your manual(if it has one) should show the resistance values on the stator and coil wires. You usually can find out quickly if the stator or coil is good or bad. OPT

 

I found them on the schematic and I will check the values tomorrow. Thanks for your assistance.

 

I checked the stator according to the schematic. The 3 wires within the main plug checked out good. The 2 wires with the bullet connectors didn't do so well. One of them was triple what the ohm's reading should have been and the other one wouldn't read at all. I'm guessing this means a new stator, right?

 

From your description sounds like the stator is the problem. OPT