I went out ice fishing today and when I went to start my machine the ignition was really hard to turn over like it was frozen, the machine has been sitting outside in sub zero weather for awhile. It started up and I went out, when I went to leave the ignition was stiff again and the engine would not turn over. My battery is good and I have lights and the winch works. Did I break something in the ignition switch? Where do I start as my machine is sitting on the edge of the lake right now?

Thanks for your help!
Bob

 

More info it is a 2003 model and when I turned the key over nothing would happen the lights on the gauge come on and all electrical works just nothing when I turn the key .

 

2003 model is probably the reason why you're having problems if you still have the original Ducati ignition system.This was a problem on all 700s from 2002 to early 2004 when it was changed to a Kokusan ignition. The kit #2202602 consists of a new flywheel,stator,cdi,coil,regulator,jumper wires and instructions. Just do a simple Google search on 700 Sportsman ignition problems or in this forum.Kit is around $500. Here's the pdf instructions and parts involved.http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...,d.aWc&cad=rja

 

Where you trying to start my machine???LOL!!!
I went to South Dakota ice fishing this weekend and my 2003 Sportsman 700 would turn over without firing. I got it home last night and it has no spark. Is there some kind of fuse by chance or is it the infamous Ducati Ignition? Either way does someone know the easiest way to trouble shoot my ignition before spending $500 on the replacement ignition?
Thank you for your help!

 

Trust me if you have the Ducati system and you loose spark it's not worth trouble shooting! You can have a coil pack(combo cdi and coil) go out and replace it like I did on some of the early ones,only to have the stator go out later. The stator updates to the #2202602 Kokusan kit so you're stuck. Plus DON'T buy any used or left over new parts on Ebay. Just a waste of time and money.This should have been a recall but wasn't. Item #2 on the parts list.http://www.cyclepartswarehouse.com/f...2003&fveh=5618

 

Old Polaris Tech--First off without your great advice and a lot of patience I would not have under went this process on my 2003 Sportsman 700. With that the machine has been repaired and runs fantastic. The problem that I am having is minimal and with your advice I think that I can fix it. When I drive my machine the wrench light flashes and says "statr". I took my brown ground wire that comes off of the new ignition and grounded it directly to the frame of my machine of which i did sand the paint off. I am also showing 14 volts of charging while the machine in running on the display. I did notice that i have a yellow/red or red/yellow wire coming off of the main machines wiring loom that has a black male plug on it that is not connected. For the life of me and looking over the machine I cannot find the female end of this plug to "mate" it with.... So is there any advise that you might have for me as to something else that i possibly did wrong on the install? I did ground the brown stator wire on the install to the stator wire bracket at the stator/flywheel location. Any advise would be greatly appreciated as I believe that my issue is with the yellow/red wire with the male plug that is disconnected that I cannot find a mate to.
All your assistance is appreciated!Thank you!!!

 

As far as I remember you will have an "extra" or unused yellow/red wire from the existing harness. It branches off a"Y" one is used one isn't. At least that's what I can remember. The "statr" flashing is usually because of the ground from the stator area itself. Recheck it,clean the grounding area up,disconnect the battery and see if the flashing symbol disappears when you crank it back up.

 

Old Polaris Tech--- I found what I was looking for and my machine is running A+. No Codes and ready to go!!! Thanks again for all of the good advice!
Cheers!

 

My son did the ignition upgrade on his 700 however it wont turn over. when key is turned on the lights in the display come on, when to try to start it sometimes turns over and sometimes it does nothing. when it does nothing and you hold the key on the display lights will go out, any advise would be helpfull
Thank you