Hello to all who respond to my question.

I picked up a Yamaha Big Bear (1987) from my brother. It ran great all summer and then one day I started it up and it ran for about 10 seconds and died. Couldn't get it to start again and then found there was no spark. I checked the coil, replaced it and then got spark from the ignition. I then started to put the gas tank back on and tried to start it and it wouldn't start. Checked for spark again and there is no spark! I then opened the case to remove the stator and oil came out. Is there supposed to be oil in the case where the stator and pickup coil is located?
Also, does this machine have one of those safety switches where if you run it low on oil, it will shut down the ignition?
Thanks for any help.

Eldon

 

I dont know about your paticular quad but ive never heard of a sport quad that was supposed to have oil in the stator. I know my banshee doesnt. Overfilled maybe? Make sure all your connections are good. Did you try changing the plug or just the coil?

Heres a helpful link if you are getting oil in the stator. See if you can pin-oint the problem.
parts finder

 

Well, the plug is fairly new. But I am checking for spark without the spark plug and boot - just holding the coil wire to the engine fins (with a slight gap).
With all of the posts on here about making sure you are grounded, I will start researching my grounds, although I am not very hopeful with this since the machine has run fine for years with no troubles. I guess something could have worked loose.
Using a flashlight I looked at the bottom of the case under the flywheel and it seems there is an opening from this side of the case to the other side where the crankshaft must be. I know it wasn't overfilled because I was checking the dipstick as I was filling it and was carefull about how much oil was going in. I will check with the dealer and see if there is supposed to be oil in there.

 

I have a 2005 raptor its been down for a month or two now i was rideing down the road and braaaaaaaaaaa died pushed it home checked too see if it wqas getting gas and it was did the red neck test put a screw driver in the plug cap turned it over to see if it would zap me an found no spark.So i took the side cover off the stator it all looked good and YES THERE IS SUPPOSE TO BE OIL IN WITH THE STATOR not much but it should be a little wet with oil and i come to find i can only have three problems 1STATOR HAS GONE BAD ---2 CDI ---3 COIL SO I WOULD FIGURE you will find your problems lyes in the same place so if you want to play the guessing game i would replace those one by one which could get costly the stator is $346 for your atv and the cdi is $401 dollars sooooo id say take it to the shot lol thats alots of cash heres a link you can price oem parts in case you dont have it good luck to you. http://216.37.204.206/Partsdirect/Ya...e=13&A=11&B=42

 

I agree with 2FAST, probably either the stator, coil, or cdi. Could also be the wiring in between though, especially on a machine this old the wiring gets cracked and brittle. It's normal for the stator to be wet with oil. And no, they don't have a low oil shutoff.

If you got spark for a short time after you were messing around with the gas tank, my first suggestion would be to start checking out the wiring harness's condition around that area.

 

Okay, thank you for your input. I Put a meter on the stator leads to check for ohms. According to the manual, the source coil in the stator is bad. With this old of a machine, I hate to start dumping $350 for a new stator - especially if that is not the real problem. I agree with you recon99 that it could be a wiring problem when I had a short bit of spark. I will keep playing with it and let all know how it turns out. Thanks again for everybody's help.

 

I have a little bit of good news for you. You don't need to spend $300 for a new stator, you can buy a new source coil seperately on ebay for about $50, maybe less. If you can't find one searching for a big bear source coil, try searching for a warrior, grizzly, raptor, or wolverine source coil instead. Those will be more common, and are interchangable.

 

Well, I feel like a fool with a little less $ in my wallet. I purchased a new source coil - turns out somebody locally sells them for $50.00. When I received it today, I put my meter on it and got the same reading as I did with my old one. I HAD THE THING ON THE WRONG SETTING!!!! Anyway, once I put the meter on the correct setting, both source coils were within tolerance.
Now backing up a bit, remember that I installed a new ignition coil and got spark for about 5 seconds, then installed the gas tank and didn't get anymore spark. Is there a chance that something in my system blew out the ignition coil and my new one is gone also?
Another question is, would it be possible for the cdi box to function intermittently - giving the new coil the spark for a few seconds? I tend to believe that would be false, but I am not an expert. I sure cannot afford to lay out $300-$400 for a new cdi box, especially if that is not the problem. Is there any way to test the cdi unit?
Thanks again for everybody's input.

 

It would be possible for the CDI to work intermittently, but usually when they go, they go all at once and if you sniff it on the back it'll actually smell burnt up. I don't know if there is a way to check it, other than just sticking it in another machine and seeing if it works. Instead of spending $300 on a replacement yamaha unit, you can get an aftermarket CDI for about $70 on ebay.

 

Recon99, thank you for the "smelling" tip. I will definately try that. I have been watching ebay for CDI units and have seen some used ones for around $70-$100 but not any new aftermarket ones. I will keep an eye out and hope something will pop up. Thanks again