I am having trouble starting my 2004 Polaris Prdator 500. The battery is fully charged but the engine is turning over intermittently when I hit the start button. The only way I am able to start the bike is by push starting it. My local dealer believes it's the CDI system but says there is no way to test it to be sure. They are also saying that this is becoming fairly common on the 2003 and 2004 Predators. Before I go blindly into buying a new CDI system in hopes that it will solve my problems, has anybody else experinced this and what was the outcome. Also, I have a trip planned for 12/30 to the dunes so I was hoping for suggestion on who carriew CDI systems in stock.

Thank you!!!

 

well It can be a hanging valve. I had the same problem with starting it.Olny push startable then it would be fine as long as i keep the engine hot.
The CDI??? let me ask you a question?? when you push start it does it stay running and does it run fine? if so the cdi is ok.Try looking into the valves.Check the valve clearance.Your valve springs may be the problem or just the valve hanging up, this is what i would say is more likely. How many hours are on the Predator?? My had about 200hours when I had a problem.

 

Sadly enough there are only about 2 hours on my Polaris. After I push started the bike it ran fine for a few minutes and than died on me as though I had run out of gas. When I tried to restart the bike using the electric start it struggled to even turnover. I push started the bike again but it only lasted a few minutes again. When it's running it runs great. I left a charger on the battery overnight to ensure that it wasn't a bad battery. When I tried to start it this morning it tried to turn over for about a minute and then it started sounding like the battery was dying and then I start getting the intermittent turnover. I did take the battery to the dealer a couple of days ago to be tested and they said it was fine. Since the bike sat for several months, could the battery take a full charge but then loose it's charge rapidly because it's a bad battery?

Thanks for the response.

 

All fixed...even though the dealer said my battery was fine, I bought a new one just for my own sanity. Low and behold the bike is running fine and ready for a week in the dunes[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I think I'll stick to my instincts from now on instead of listening to the dealer.
Thanks for the help.

By the way, I was checking out your bio and noticed that we have the same 2004 predator. Any suggestions on beefing up? What's worked well and what hasn't?

Thanks again Matt.

 

I had a post awhile ago called Predator with 41mm fcr carb . Look for that post it explanes the problems I have had.
If I was to do everything all over again I would have spent Less money on motor work And more money on goodies like shocks and a-arms.If you want to hop the engine up ,the best things you can do is buy from RATH RACING and Doug Nicholas(nicholas racing) they are the best.
One thing I noticed about the 04 pred is the charging system is weak.IF you biff your start up It will not have enough power/charge to start the engine. To try and fix this problem,I bought the Procom Recifire and black box voltage regulater. Also, pad the battery tray good. I went though 3 batteries from rubbing holes in them,because they moved around in the tray.So far the charging system HAS been better then stock and I have a 558 kit with 13.5.1 compression.
Parts I would buy;;;GET a DYNA TECH FS CDI , I almost killed myself jumming because I hit the rev limiter on the face of a big jump,right where i need the power (4th gear then endo) the stoc cdi Is too low it can kill you .Believe it or not the best pipe set up would be A rath racing head pipe with the PURE POLARIS white brothers e silencer. on the silencer get a turn down(donkey dick) end cap.This has been proven to be one of the best.With the rath header you may also use Doug nicholas's silencer(which is made by HMF)But it is loud.Before any major engine mods I would get her cooled down.Inline coolers work and so does the air scoops for the radiator.If you can aford it,the pwr radaitor is awesome.If you have the money I would upgrade the stock shocks , add the rezzies to the front and buy a Hot seat spring kit or a hpd spring kit(but i broke a HPD spring)
Those are the major things I would get done . As far as engine big bores, valves, and cams go I cann't tell you how I feel because my set up has been hell,and if i was to do it again I wouldn't have gotten this work done.Only because I feel for the money it didn't make it much faster then stock,if at all. The stock set up is awesome and there is many ways to get goog power out of it with out modding the engine inside.
There is alot more if you want to know something pm me, Ive done just about everything to the pred now so maybe I can help.I have to get new pictures up.

Thanks
Matt
Team Bricktucky

 

Thanks for the tips. I'm not the best mechanic in the world so it's good to know that I can make some improvements that don't require me to mess with the engine. Shocks, pipes, the stupid CDI box, etc are all things that I am comfortable working with.
New Years in the sand is my first big ride so I'll have a better idea of what I like and what needs improvement so I'll stay in touch. I'll also take some pictures to post but none of me flying through the air like you have[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I value my limbs too much.

Thanks again for the tip.

Marc