We have a 2001 Scrambler that was running great until our son drove it through some water accidentally. The intake had been moved to the side of the bike and higher and as such water didn't get in, however we've had issues getting it to start since. We've cleaned the carb, drained the fuel/flushed and added new and checked the spark plug. This bike only starts via kick starting as the starter had previously been removed.

The best we've gotten since the incident is for the bike to start and idle for a few seconds before sputtering out again.

Any thoughts (of course other than it shouldn't have been driven through water)?

Thanks much!

 

Pull the plastic stator cover and clean around the stator and pick up coil as best you can. Better if you can pull the flywheel and clean inside it and around the stator. This finned area is the worst on water and dirt that destroys stators. Plus you may still have some residue water in the carb/fuel lines. May take a second cleaning on this. Some will idle good,but once you hit the throttle you suck up any remaining water and they will stumble and die. Not a bad idea also to clean the electrical connections and add a little dielectric grease. Then keep him out of any water..

 

So we did as you suggested below and even purchased a new stator and coil since we werent sure if they were good but the bike still wont run. Its getting spark but will not turn over. We've checked connections, wires, etc. but did not find anything amiss.

What are we missing?

 

Has to have spark,fuel,air and compression. Since you have spark and if you're sure water isn't a problem and has good fuel supply to the carb and the carb is clean,then a compression reading is what I 'd do next. Show 115 psi minimum on compression.Plus depending on where you got the stator,cdi,if they're after market items some people have had problems with them. Here's 90 service manual that has some other tests that may help you track the problem down.
http://gh-ftp.com/ORV%20Manuals/Pola...0%20-%20SM.pdf

 

Thanks much for such a quick reply. Will check on this tomorrow and check out the manual as well.

 

Might be hard to do the cranking output test along with the cdi peak test just with the kick starter,but give it a try.Hopefully you can find the problem.