I have a 04 Wolverine. If the bike gets wet it won't rev up. It will idle ok but if you try to open the throttle it will miss and die. This has happened a few times. The first time I was riding through some water about 1-2'deep. It was fun so I took a couple passes through the water. At the end of the second pass the bike lost power totally and died. I just sat there puzzling over what it could be. I fiddled with the plug wire to see if it was wet (nope) and put it back in place. I waited a few more minutes and it started up and drove away. The second time was today. I was riding in about 1-2' snow (I work WAY up north) and the bike started to run poorly. I sat there for about 30 minutes just idling the motor and hoping that whatever was wet would dry out and I'd be on my way. No luck this time. What ever was wet wouldn't dry out in the cold and snow. I checked for water in the float bowl (none) and then took the ignition coil off to dry it out back at camp.
I'd like to ask other wolverine owners if they've ever had this same experience and what did they do to resolve it.

Stuck in the snow (until this is fixed)

Gurbax (AKA Gearbox on www.quads.ca)

 

Areas to consider are the electrical connections under the left rear fender. All the goodies that control the ignition are located there.

 

Dielectric grease on the plug lead where it goes on the plug is a real easy thing to try. It has cured this problem on a number of bikes for me. I do it on all my machines as a matter of course.

 

Yep, I thought dielectric grease would work into this equation... looked for some today in the closest town 1 hr away, 4 different places didn't have any?!? Also read that the parking brake has an ignition cut off curcuit switch that may stick and cause this problem. At any rate I need to get it back to camp before I can go over it. Thanks for your imput!

Gurbax

(Shift! Shift!)

 

I work at a GM dealership, and our parts department keeps small bottles of it in stock. Maybe your local one does too?

 

I will check with the local auto dealers (3 hrs away) if the auto parts guys here (1 hr away) can't supply it. Thanks again for your input! Im going to try and get the bike back to camp today. This morning was a balmy 16F.... winter comes early in these parts!

Gurbax

"Shifting is fun!"

 

Sounds like you have a "damp coil" issue. Remove the bodywork from the coil area, start the machine, and hit it with a hose. That is how we found a buddies problem. The coil works fine while warm, as it gets wet it cools and that is when it takes the big dive into the dumper. Bill

 

Check to see if there is any water in you air box. My wolverine the air box fills up with water if you run fast through deep water

 

I recovered the Wolverine today. It was a tough job to winch it out of the bush, up onto the road and then finally onto the trailer.

I checked the float bowl for water again before I started winching - no water. I reinstalled a dry coil before starting. I also checked the parking brake ignition cut-off switch. It was working fine as the bike would only idle with the switch closed and would idle and rev to about 2000rpm with it open as before (with the parking brake off).

I was stumped. The coil was dry. The rest of the bike was frozen solid so it was unlikely water was still causing a short or getting into the carb from the airbox. I think it could be a piece of grit in the carb jets (?). Really don't know at this point. Something electrical has gone south. Going to take it to a dealer asap as it is still under warranty. This is a 2004 Wolfie that hasn't seen any abuse. Go figure?

Thanks for all your suggestions, guys!

 

Dirt in the carb bowl is VERY common, even on relatively new Wolverines. An inline fuel filter might be a good future investment. I use one on mine.