I just bought an old 87 LT 250, i did this on purpose because i just want to mess around with it, i dont want to spend alot of money and crash a nice quad i really cant afford.

So i bought this older quad and it seems to have electrical problems, when i turn the key the rear light comes on but nothing else, and its not getting spark.

I have 2 shops near by, 1 i was warned to stay away from but i called them anyway and they said it would be well over $200 to fix electrical problems, WHOA!

The second one didn't make any quotes but i have an appointment in a week or 2, they are very busy.

But in the mean time i was hoping to talk to you experts and see what you think.

What COULD be the problem and how do i go about testing/fixing. All the wires and solenoid and pretty much then entire electrical system looks good, no rust or corrosion.

 

Check the coil and magneto. Coil is easy to get to, Magneto will require some disasembly. Grab a voltage meter so you can test each part to see if they are active.

Dont bring it anywhere. Parts are expensive as it is...anyone can take these things apart and put them back together. (especially with a service manual and a little paitience).

1st step: buy the service manual.

 

thanks for the tips, now when you say coil, is that another name for solenoid or am i confused?

 

the coil is going to be the part that your spark plug wires comes out of. magneto is going to be part of your stator assemble located underneath your pull roap cover. that's what produces the charge, then it will go through your pick-up coil (the really small coil that regulates spark), to the ignition coil (the one you can see mounted on the frame that's connected to the spark plug wire), through your plug wire to the spark plug. that's the basics of your ignition system. if you do it all yourself and do a good diagnostics on it then it shouldn't run you any more than 100 bucks tops (depending on what it is, probably less). you could replace it all i bet for about 200-250 bucks if your heart so desires, whick is sometimes easier just because to replace parts on the stator assembly it will require some soldering. a whole new stator assembly should only be arount 125 and i'd guess a coil at 75. good luck!! anymore questions let us know man

 

wow, thanks for that info, that will help for sure.

I have some more info to add to see if it will help, when i turn the key my rear light comes on, but not the dashboard lights or the headlight, that along with no spark, it seems there is no power getting to the front of the ATV.

 

well all power starts at the stator. you will probably have two lighting coils and one ignition coil then you'll usuall have either pionts or a pick-up coil to regulate your spark. if you start at the wires that come out of the stator cover (the pull rope cover on your bike) and work out and figure out where the power is being lost. if it's not producing power out of the stator then you know to start there. electical is very tedious work but doing it yourself is a great experience, especially on a simpler machine then you can work up, and it also saves a lot of money in most cases. do you know how to check for continuity between the stator coil output lead (the + wire coming out from your stator) and the coil ground lead (the - wire coming out of the stator)? i can walk you through alot of this if you would like. it will probably take some patients, but i will definately help you as much as i can. i'm sure you can find illustrations in repair manuels or something also. i'll keep checkin the forum.

 

thank you very much for your help so far.

Sunday is probably the next time ill be able to work on it, now, when i take the cover off my rope pull whats step # 2? test the power with a tester to see if its working?

Im sure ill know more when i take it off but im just trying to pre-plan my coarse of action [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

I really want this thing running this summer.

 

tell you what, i'll take one apart and post pics. we have a little yamaha 70 that's going to be similar and it's parked until i get a part in. i'll take pictures of what i'm doing so you can see what it all looks like before hand. you can test everything without taking it apart though, but i'll show you all that. i'll let you know when i've got the pics up and you can just click on my camera icon to view them. you should have it going this summer easily. if you do end up having to pull the stator a magneto puller would make it a lot easier but if you don't have a puller that will work tapping on the shaft lightly while applying some pressure with a screw driver or crowbar will work but you have to just tap and pry lightly and just be patient until it comes off. you'll see what i mean when i get the pics up

 

this is awesome, i appreciate it, your certenly going above and beyond to help me.

Hope i can return the favor someday!

 

well it's my passion to work on bikes so if i can help i'm more than happy to!! karma has been good to me so don't sweat it!!