Could someone tell me how to check the coil to see if it's bad or not. it's on a 2000 sportsman 500.

 

My dad always tells me that in his almost 30 years of working on ATV's that he has rarely seen a coil go bad - usually it's the CDI, or something in the Stator system.....

On the '00 SP500----
Ignition Coil test:
1) Disconnect the white/blue primary electrical connector from the coil, Using a multimeter set to Ohms, read resistance from this lug to the coil's ground (where it bolts to the frame) = 0.3 Ohms
2) Remove the spark plug cap (unscrews from the end of the wire), Using a multimeter set to Ohms, read resistance from the spark plug wire to the coil's ground (where it bolts to the frame) = 6.3 Ohms

Exciter Coils test:
Locate the wire connectors at your CDI box (under "hood")
1) Unplug the 3 wire connector - Using a multimeter set to Ohms, read resistance across the red and green wires going back towards the stator assembly = 1.6 Ohms
---- 2) Read resistance across the black/red and green wire going back towards the stator assembly = 446 Ohms.

Trigger (Pulse) coil test:
Unplug the 2 wire connector at your CDI box - Using a multimeter set to Ohms, read resistance across the white and white/red wires going back towards the stator assembly = 97 Ohms

All of the above Ohm values are "ball park", as different meters read differently.

You may also have one of the "later" 2000 models that do not have the 3 wire connector at the CDI.

Hope this helps

 

thanks for the info. i guess i'll be getting the meter out and trying to figure out whats wrong.

 

ok so i got the meter out and did some testing. here's what i found out. the coil readings match and so do the pulse coil readings. the exciter coil ones don't, only one of them matches. The red and green wire test matches. The one that doesn't is the black/red and green wire. I don't get a reading at all, it is 0. what does this mean? the exciter coil is the bobbins on the stator, right?

 

You need to replace the bobbins - they come as a "pair".... Not real hard to do, as long as you can manage some soldering. All the sets I've seen have come with instructions - we've used both Ricky Stator and RM Stator's bobbins (both are a little different than the other) *** It is VERY important to follow the instructions - we have found that if wired up reverse, the quad will start and run, only if wrong, it will not start off the starter button, only by the pull rope - Go Figure.***

If you are not comfortable doing all this, if you get the stator off the quad, you can send it to RM Stator and they will install them for you - a lot less than buying a new stator.

Dad actually does this with the stator still on the quad - he unbolts the stator to have some "slack" working with it, but it is still attached to the quad.

For the soldered connection "heat shrink" works best for insulating the connection, but in the lack of "heat shrink", small weed eater fuel line works well also - - both methods you will slide the "heat shrink" or fuel line over the wire and out of the way until the solder is completed, then slide them down over the soldered connection.