Got a '95 Magnum 425 issue that has gone from sporadic to almost constant over the past couple of years. The issue is the engine won't shut down with either the handlebar kill switch or the key switch. When it first happened, it might have done it once or twice a month; now it is nearly constant. I need to use the choke to shut her down. This issue coincides with a running condition where I'll lose power (for example, I'm cruising down a dirt road and suddenly I can't maintain speed - it feels very much like what the reverse limiter does to keep speed down - and just as suddenly as it happens, the machine starts running perfectly again after a couple of minutes of loping along).

Seems to me it's a timing issue and indicative of a problem with the CDI box...but can this problem be related to the switches not being able to shut her down?

I pulled the plug to check spark and here's what I found: with the key and kill switch "on," I'll pull the rope and the plug fires normally - nice, hot, blue spark. With either the kill switch off, the key off, or both off (any combination of "off'), I'll pull the rope and the plug fires a weaker-looking spark but it's almost constant (very high frequeny spark, like running at high RPM). That's something I've never seen before!

By the way, I'm pulling the rope because the battery is dead. It's a brand new battery, but won't hold a charge - I suspect there is a connection somewhere that is draining the battery even when everything is supposed to be "off." Not sure if that could contributing to the problem...

Thanks for any help.

Kyle

 

Get new battery first or have the new one load tested.Not good to run without one or a dead one as it can pop bulbs,plus battery voltage is needed for the electric starter and cooling fan. Make sure the black(kill) wire from the cdi is plugged into the terminal board. You can disconnect the black wire from the reverse limiter and just eliminate this module. If you're not the original owner someone may have pulled cdi wire if they had a loss of spark problem. This can be cause by either a faulty ignition switch or left control switch or a wiring short in either one. Even the cdi kill wire could have shorted internally and only spark with it disconnected. Once running check that you have 14-14.5 volts at the battery. If you just have battery voltage check the wire at the regulator as some are bad about becoming disconnected.If all wires are connected it's usually a regulator fault if it's not charging.

 

OPT - thank you for the reply. I hate electrical problems because, in my experience, they are never consistent or particularly repeatable. After reading your post, I headed back out to the shop to try some things. After sitting in the shop for the better part of the past two months with nothing to show for my tinkering, I did absolutely nothing this time except look over the wiring (already had the plastics removed) and the ignition is back to working normally - kill switch and key switch both work as they should, no high frequency spark.

This drives me nuts when an electrical issue can just "heal" itself...but I'm under no delusion that the problem won't show up again in the next 10 minutes of run-time or next month sometime. So until then, I can't really report that anything you suggested made a difference.

I'm not the original owner. I have owned the machine for about 5 years, and it's given me no problems whatsoever. However, it appears that a previous owner did some serious hacking into the harness. There are wires dangling, not plugged into anything. There are wires with the terminals wrapped in electrical tape and going nowhere. Some of these wires are of a thicker gauge than appears normal, so my guess is they are additions for who knows what. The only non-stock item on this thing is a winch, and it functions normally. One interesting thing of note is there is not a single wire plugged into the terminal board. I have no idea what this could mean...

Is there a wiring diagram available somewhere? Or perhaps a graphic with the terminal board showing what should be plugged in there?

I found yesterday when charging the battery that there was only 5-6 volts when hooked up to the charger. My charger has one of those switches that you flip for "charge" vs. "boost." When I changed that to "boost" but kept the **** on 12v charge, the voltage jumped up to 11v (not the 14v I would except for a charge). I've never had an issue with this charger in the past, so I'm not sure what this could mean. Any ideas there? Whatever the case, I left the battery to charge over night and I'll check it again today. I do need the battery for the winch to plow snow, so I'll get that rectified one way or the other.

For now at least, it's running well. Who knows for how long...

Kyle

 

Battery should have 14-14.5 volts while running.If not the regulator could be faulty.Even if it does show good charging I'd still have the battery load tested as it can lose voltage while sitting if a plate is sulfated.Plus you can disconnect the winch and see if battery voltage is higher in the morning,possible that you could have a drain on the battery.Plus on these old model check the terminal board for any terminal problems.This could be another problem area.As far as wiring chewed up and wrapped up the schematic can help.One free link for manuals,but Tradebit has one for 10 bucks but it lists from for 85 to 95 model that should include your Magnum. https://www.sendspace.com/file/jaa77q https://www.tradebit.com/filedetail....air-manual-all The free on should be the same as the 95 and 96 were basically the same.