2002 Polaris Sportsman 700 - Not Running
 

I'm in need of some help in getting my bike running. I bought a used 02 Polaris Sportsman 700, the previous owner said it was running but when I went to look at it, I found out that it was not running. I debated on buying it or not but feel I get a whale of a deal even if I have to put some money into it. I have been unable to get it running yet.

I'm looking for some guidance on where to go next in my efforts in trying to get it running.

I have compression on the low end of acceptable. I took readings with an older compression tester and a new one.
"Cylinder 1" 155 PSI w/old & 147.5 w/new
"Cylinder 2" 157.5 PSI w/old & 150 w/new

I have spark at both plugs (which are new plugs) but I don't know how strong it is. The plug in "Cylinder 1" (which had slightly lower compression readings) seemed to have a stronger spark than the other. When I had the plug out of "Cylinder 2" to check for spark, the engine did fire for 3-5 seconds before I shut it down. I don't have a way to determine how strong the spark is. Visually the one spark looked strong to me (snappy and clear/white/blueish) and the other weak (not nearly as snappy and yellow/orangeish).

I have checked and I have fuel getting TO the carb. How can I check if fuel is getting THROUGH the carb? Is the only way to check if its a fuel problem by putting some gas directly into the cylinders through the spark plug holes and try starting? If so, how much gas should I try?

I know that these models are notorious for needing an ignition upgrade, can anybody (OPT) tell me for sure what to check in the ignition system to try and pinpoint the non-starting issues to it? I really don't want to drop the $500 for the upgrade unless I absolutely have to.

I had the battery tested and its putting out 310 CCA (Calls for 385 CCA new)

What I've done:

1) The carb boot was cracked and has been replaced with a new one.

2) There was a burnt connection going to the voltage regulator / rectifier that I've repaired.

3) There was also some wear in the needle seat that I found when I totally rebuilt the carb.

4) Has a brand new air filter

5) Cleaned out the gas tank well and have new ethanol free gas.

Just get the #2202602 Kokusan kit and be done with it. No use in electrical checks as you can have a coil pack fail(they still offer these for sale for some strange reason) but when(not if) the stator fails,this part updates to the complete kit. Some of the symptoms even if you had spark were hard starting,back firing,excessive fuel use and constant fuel smell.Some people have gotten off their machines only to not have them start back up again. Others have had ignitions go out on the trails and have to be hauled back in. I fought these back and forth at the shop until Polaris started offering the replacement kits.When one came in with ignition problems the Ducati ignition was chunked in the trash.The flywheel makes a good paper weight though..

I disagree. If you have spark then the ignition is doing its job, I would check the battery and clean the carb, my atv needs a good battery that can take a charge to get a good spark

alsidsamu - As previously stated I completely rebuilt the carb and am very meticulous in the work I do although that doesn't mean that there may not be something going on there, which is why I asked: "I have checked and I have fuel getting TO the carb. How can I check if fuel is getting THROUGH the carb? Is the only way to check if its a fuel problem by putting some gas directly into the cylinders through the spark plug holes and try starting? If so, how much gas should I try?"

Also, the battery checked out voltage wise and again as stated the CCA's tested to be ~310 (the battery specs show it should have 385 new). Is the 310 of concern?

Are the compression results more of a concern than the battery readings? I feel like there could be a number of issues and maybe its a few things causing it to not start.

I'm trying to plan out a best path forward and looking for insight on the best path forward and not just start throwing money at it (new battery, another carb kit or new carb, a new ignition system or ignition components)

OPT - I know you've got vast knowledge and I don't want to undermine or play down the experience that you have. Real life experiences many times outweigh what you can read or try and learn from a manual or book. I am just stubborn and need to convince myself that the ignition system truly needs to be changed. Is there anything that can be tested to confirm that the ignition system is bad? Can the individual components all check out and the overall system still be bad?

You can still have spark but not crank because the spark timing is controlled by the pick up coil to the cdi.Which in this case is the combination coil and cdi(coil pack) This is where the timing of the spark is controlled to the coil.We found that out to be one of the problems with this system when it started to fail,not just the stators alone. The Kokusan kit changes the entire system from the old magneto ignition system to the newer dci ignition that has power to the cdi at all times. Start up is quicker,better fuel consumption,etc.

If that isn't enough to make you get the kit,read this post from 6 years back. Same thing,had spark. Got it running,but still had problems. https://atvconnection.com/forums/pol...ml#post3106872

Alright OPT I FINALLY broke down and bought the ignition upgrade. I need to make the final few connections and want to make sure I do it correctly. I have attached the directions for a refresher, and pictures of the jumpers along with the last wiring not hooked up coming out of the CDI and voltage reg.

So I need to use TWO of the provided jumpers (on the left side of the last picture) to make the final connection from the black/red coming out of the CDI?

And use the other jumper on the red wire coming out of the voltage reg? Where does the Brown Wire hook into coming out of the voltage reg?


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...94dcd01020.jpg


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...0a4559d59c.jpg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...4dc38d8440.jpg

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...155cedb9b8.jpg

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Old Polaris Tech's son posted this at the end of April. https://atvconnection.com/forums/pol...ssed-away.html

Thanks for the heads-up jumbofrank.... truly sad as he was such a wealth of knowledge and always SO helpful.

I went back out after posting earlier and realized I just wasn't paying attention, the wiring for the voltage reg was super easy to hook up, and I realized I do in fact need to use both jumpers for the wiring coming out of the CDI.

Now I just need to find that stingy red wire up in the wiring.

Does anybody know if the red wire connector is in the wiring bundle coming out of the Speedo/Cluster or is it in the wiring bundle coming from the ignition switch? I looked in the wiring coming out of the Speedo/Cluster and found no red wire with a connector, although there is a red/white that you can see in my pictures that the winch was hooked in to that I just have a blue wire nut on right now.

I didn't dig into the wiring coming out of the ignition but will try and take a peek tomorrow (I hope to anyway)


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...6b97708198.jpg

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...5ba6e978c8.jpg

Just a guess but I think all the ignition wiring would be in the same loom.