Hard to start cold, Impossible when hot

[jetdriverbr]

I am working on a buddies' 1997 shee. It is all stock and he has had trouble starting it. I could not start it at all, so I checked for spark and there wasn't any. Going through the steps in the manual I concluded that it needed a coil. I replaced the coil with a new one, and it has spark now, but it is very weak! My briggs and scrapiron lawn mower has way more spark than this.

I cleaned the carbs and found the bowls swapped so obviously the choke was not working. It has stock jetting, but it is stock for now so it should be OK. It is very random as to when it will start. Some times it will start with a few kicks, other times you can kick it until you cant feel anything from the hip down and it will not start.

When it is running it feels pretty good. This is the first Banshee I have ridden so I have a limited frame of reference. I own a 2004 CR250 so I am not at a complete loss on judging acceleration.

 

If you stall it or simply switch it off, thats it, party is over, it will not start again. I tried WOT to clear flood, turning on choke for more fuel, to no avail.

 

What I have done so far:

New plugs

New coil

Copression 124psi 122psi (hot & cold, w/snapon gauge)

Cleaned carbs, swapped bowls

Checked stator coils (I know they still could be bad)

 

My next thought is to change the stator. ::

Edited February 7, 2007 by jetdriverbr

[NYUK]

stator would be my guess.new coil? or used one? try trimming the wires back a quarter inch.cdi could be acting up as well. if you know anyone with a banshee i would swap cdi`s before digging into the stator.

[Banchetta]

Look above the left exhaust, you'll see a little black box w/ a 3-wire plug, UNPLUG IT!!! This is the TORS brain for safety sticking throttle bullshit. You don't need it, if the problem persist, then check to make sure his choke tube is in place. 1/4"x 2" hose between the carbs. If thats good, then check to make sure the slides aren't backwards or swapped. Cutaway in the slides should face the air box. Let us know what happens after that.

[jetdriverbr]

Look above the left exhaust, you'll see a little black box w/ a 3-wire plug, UNPLUG IT!!! This is the TORS brain for safety sticking throttle bullshit. You don't need it, if the problem persist, then check to make sure his choke tube is in place. 1/4"x 2" hose between the carbs. If thats good, then check to make sure the slides aren't backwards or swapped. Cutaway in the slides should face the air box. Let us know what happens after that.

 

Should have metioned that earlier. TORS box is unplugged, hose is in place between carbs, carb slides are in correct.The coil is new from stealership.

Edited February 7, 2007 by jetdriverbr

[Banchetta]

Should have metioned that earlier. TORS box is unplugged, hose is in place between carbs, carb slides are in correct.The coil is new from stealership.

Try synchronizing the carbs, make sure one slide isn't sticking higher than the other or sticking wide open upon starting. What do you consider the stock jetting? sizes? What is your current temp and elevation? You clutch safety switch is disconnected as well?

[dajogejr]

Ohm the stator....or send it to Ricky Stator. they will test it free of charge, you only pay shipping back to you if it tests out bad.

 

I've seen stators that OHM'd good still be bad. Check the flywheel for broken/scatterd magnets.

Take it off, shake it, see if it sounds like a salt and pepper shaker...

 

Lastly, I didn't see it..but, make sure the flywheel key didn't shear, and check your pickup air gap for the flywheel.

[Banchetta]

Ohm the stator....or send it to Ricky Stator. they will test it free of charge, you only pay shipping back to you if it tests out bad.

 

I've seen stators that OHM'd good still be bad. Check the flywheel for broken/scatterd magnets.

Take it off, shake it, see if it sounds like a salt and pepper shaker...

 

Lastly, I didn't see it..but, make sure the flywheel key didn't shear, and check your pickup air gap for the flywheel.

Jr. pretty well said everything I was going to say next. :thumbsup: So now you have some homework.... :biggrin: You can also try to disconnect the kill switch, just unplug the ground wire at the next connection coming from the kill switch. I had a shee that would just die on me every once in a while...maybe yours is grounding out a little.. Just a thought. My father broke a pull cord on his snowmobile, replaced it, and had a hard time starting after that...We ended up finding out that the pull cord piece went inbetween the flywheel and pickup and pushed the pickup away. It had over a 1/4" of space. We moved the magneto closer and started right up first pull after...I even had a bad flywheel once.....It would skip on high rpms just certain times. Weird as hell, never did figure out why. Changed it out and walla......couldn't find any cracks or anything.....Oh well, runs like a champ now!!!!!!!!!!!!!Let us know how you make out. I'm going to bed!

[FireHead]

Check the gap between the flywheel and ignition pick up. :thumbsup:

[jetdriverbr]

I have pulled the flywheel and shaked it with no rattles. Flywheel key is fine. The stator ohms perfectly in spec, it looks fine as well. The pickup coil was gapped properly at .020, I reduced it to .018. There isn't a clutch safety switch. I checked for ground at the cdi on the black/white wire and there is infinite resistance with the switch in "run", so the kill switch is working fine. I added a heavy gauge ground wire from the head to the ignition coil frame mount bolt.

 

The main jets are 200 and the pilot jets are 25 needles are in the middle slot. Reset the float height to 21mm. Carbs are synced using the window on the slide and the idle position of the slides. Current temp is 70 and elevation is 600 ft.

 

Has anyone sent a stator to Ricky Stator and have it test good? Just curious because they have an obvious motivation.

Edited February 7, 2007 by jetdriverbr

[Banchetta]

I have pulled the flywheel and shaked it with no rattles. Flywheel key is fine. The stator ohms perfectly in spec, it looks fine as well. The pickup coil was gapped properly at .020, I reduced it to .018. There isn't a clutch safety switch. I checked for ground at the cdi on the black/white wire and there is infinite resistance with the switch in "run", so the kill switch is working fine. I added a heavy gauge ground wire from the head to the ignition coil frame mount bolt.

 

The main jets are 200 and the pilot jets are 25 needles are in the middle slot. Reset the float height to 21mm. Carbs are synced using the window on the slide and the idle position of the slides. Current temp is 70 and elevation is 600 ft.

 

Has anyone sent a stator to Ricky Stator and have it test good? Just curious because they have an obvious motivation.

Wow!!!.....I'm.....stumped.........So tors is eliminated, coil swapped, stator checked, flywheel checked, magneto pickup checked, stock setup, cleaned carbs, choke tube in place, carbs synced.....Have you pulled the air filter off to see the slides in the carbs? Make sure they are the same height. Air filter is not overoiled? There could be a chance that a critter would have been in the exhaust and plugging it??? Check for any obstructions of intake and exhaust....I'm just throwing out every possibility that I've dealt w/. Bad gas? What kind of oil are you using??? Ratio? What size plugs? Is there any way you can bring your shee to Glamis next week. I'll be there.

[jetdriverbr]

A little update, I bought a RS stock stator and it was DOA. So I put the stock one back in to test, and it fired right up. They sent out another one and it ran, but still has the same problem. I installed a key switch today because it had been removed by a previous owner. I started it up and turned the key to off and it kept running. I ohmed the key switch and it is working fine. So now I am pretty sure the CDI is bad because it will run without a ground on the red/black wire that goes to the main switch. I hope RS will exchange this stator for a CDI. Are the RS CDI as crappy as the stators?