How To Troubleshoot No Spark or Weak Spark on Yamaha Big Bear with Full Wiring Walk Through
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 พ.ย. 2022
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Part 9 in this salvage series.
If you have been following along you know that the parts Quad lost spark and my original Quad lost spark. As I get to the final stages of assembling and combining these two ATV's it's time to deal with that issue.
In this video I test out the ignition electrical components by the manual. I ultimately pull the harness, remove all tape, clean it and walk through each component and the role it plays as I hunt down this weak spark, no spark scenario.
If you're reading this I'm going to give you the spoiler. At the end of the day of troubleshooting I had two OEM stators pass ohm tests that were ultimately bad. How that happens is beyond me. Just my luck. I'll get into how I finally determined that was the issue in an upcoming video. Stick around, learn with me, and enjoy the journey.
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![HOW TO TEST A STATOR / WHAT IS A STATOR [step by step] GY6](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VoXYzQ61tRM/mqdefault.jpg)
Fantastic video my man.
Excellent post, just lost the spark on my Kodiak so my hunt just begins. your post gives me some good places to start.
Good Luck, post back when you find the culprit.
Doublecheck ALL your grounds. The coil, engine to frame harness to engine, etc. Corrosion or paint will be your enemy. Sandpaper, SS wire brush (I use small welding brushes i.e. SS toothbrush style) Even bullet connectors can have corrosion inside them. If nothing else, make the connection and then probe the connector from the back side to the other, again probe behind the tubing to get at the connector. Check the grounds this way and any other connectors you can probe. I have found that running through water and not thoroughly rinsing the machines down afterward will lead to all kinds of electrical corrosion in the wiring harnesses. after cleaning, spray all contacts down with WD-40 before re-connecting them. It was designed to prevent water contamination of metal surfaces.
I have a 93 that lost spark last week. Your video has some great points. Wish people would post the year of their atv.
This one is a 1987. That said, I chased spark for a while on here and swapped in a 1990 harness to get it rocking. I’ll keep your comment in mind for years for my video inventory. Thanks for the note.
Dude! This video was killer. I am having the EXACT one spark issue with my 87 Big Bear 4x4. I've been through 3 stators, 3 coils and 2 CDI's. When I saw you find those pick up coil wires rubbed through I thought for sure you found the issue, but then you still had 1 spark. I think I would have thrown in the towel at that point. I'm still screwing with mine and need to find your next vid since I see in the comments you finally did get your spark back. Gotta hand it to you on everything you documented. Imagine what that would have cost if a brick & mortar shop did it....Hopefully I can find the "fix" video. Thanks
I’ll tell you the fix. I ended up replacing four parts. (Wish I could have pinned it to one.) I ended up buying a used 1990 harness on marketplace. For the 1990 harness to work I had to get a different stator and cdi. The harness came with a different handlebar switch as well. Plugged them in and boom been running ever since. I think… I still had a stator issue even though two knock off stators were passing resistance checks. The test I didn’t do was an ax voltage test to see how much voltage was actually getting to the coil. The test procedure isn’t in these old manuals. I had to google it. It might have helped. Good luck.
@@VermontLife Thanks for the reply. I did see in episode 10 I believe where you talked about replacing all those parts from a '90 model. You have way more time than us mere mortals out here (even though I work on these things pretty much full time at my place in AZ) I just am not going to go that route replacing everything. I think it is destined to be a parts quad in my eBay store very soon.
@@VermontLife Just to update you....I found a NOS OEM stator for mine which was still in the box. Since you still had suspected you had a bad stator I quickly installed it today and BAM!!....still had one damn spark. I tried the old original CDI and still one spark. I put on another coil and still one spark. I have NO mice damage or broken wires on my harness. This is freakin unreal.
@@SwormCycles I am having the same issue with 1 spark but on a 2008 Big Bear 400. One potentially important detail is that if I install a new CDI I get continuous spark for about 1 second and then it’s gone and I can never get it back. I plan to measure the stator peak input voltage to the CDI next. I hope the CDI isn’t smoked but since it begins with normal spark and then looses it and will not come back that isn’t a good sign. All stator resistance checks are in spec.
@@filiptrojanek5083 See my long disertaqtion below regarding how this problem was fixed. It is your ignition switch and/or the engine stop switch. Most likely nothing to do with the stator, coil or CDI.
Having the Exact same problem was running fine then next day no spark! Can't wait to see what you find is wrong frustrating.
I’ll get it, stay tuned.
Have you figured it out? I got the moto 4 350 1987 having the same issue... new coil, spark plug, key switch and cdi and only get one spark here and there
@@VermontLife anything new... I got the same issue
Well, yes but hard to say which component. I swapped out the electrical for a 1990. That gave me a new harness, stator and cdi. Now it works. Considering I had the issue with two harnesses and tested the cdi’s in another unit I’m left believing that my stator was bad even though it passed tests… best guess.
@@VermontLife thanks
My man out here tearing down an engine in a white T and hat. Brave.
Well your not going to believe this one but I went on a FB page regarding these quads and some of the moderators immediately said to check the ignition switch as soon as I posted the symptoms of the 1 spark. Even though my switch was allowing power to the starter button, it was not allowing power to the CDI. I unplugged the switch entirely, put a jumper wire between the red and brown wires on the harness side plug and a jumper wire between the black and blk/whi wire on the harness side and Whammo!! the thing fired up in less than half a second. They also said that if that did not fix it, then it was most likely the kill switch on the bars. It had nothing to do with the CDI, stator or coil. God did I ever waste my time on that stuff......but she is running now.
It’s the simple things right? Awesome that you found it. I really should do a video just on bypassing the ignition switch for folks as this one spark challenge seems to keep cropping up. Congrats!
@SwormCycles Can you describe more this test? You mean the key switch or the kill switch with the starter button? The red and brown are the ones coming from the kill switch/key switch and the black and white and black of the main harness? Thanks in advance
In my experience since making this video I start with the key switch bypass as it is easier. If I’m still having trouble I bypass the kill switch on the handlebars in addition to the key switch.(It could have two bad switches.) If it works I then undo the key switch and test again. If it then works it’s just my key switch that has failed. If it goes back to one spark then both switches have failed. Good luck.
@VermontLife Hi, sorry to bother you again. Can you guide me a little bit on how to do those bypasses? The thing is, my Moto 4 350 was fine. Let it sit over winter and before starting it up again I switched the key ignition switch and the starter/kill switch for aftermarket ones since they were kinda beat up. And I got no spark. Since then I got a new stator, vol regulator, cdi, ignition coil and nothing. Checked all my connections and grounds. It does turn over but no spark at all. I also got another ignition/starter switches and nothing, same thing.
Unfortunately I threw away the old and couldn't try them back again. So this is my final attempt before I set it on fire and push it off a cliff to the atv Valhalla lol.
I read ahead to get the spoiler but still want to watch the video on how you found the problem. I'm definitely staying with you as I am learning TONS of useful things! Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I do have a question for you. Do you have, or will you film for us, a video on how you clean a wiring harness? I just could not tell enough of the details from the small amount of footage in this video of your harness cleaning. I don't want to use any cleaning procedures that would be inappropriate.
I am thinking of removing and unwrapping my harness, cleaning it completely, rewiring where needed, checking and replacing any damaged connectors, and testing it thoroughly before reinstalling it. Yes, I know that is a lot of work but I am willing to do it just to bring my 38 year old wiring harness back up to like new condition. Any tips or hints for doing that work would be greatly appreciated.
I used my parts washer with EcoGen cleaner amzn.to/3YgcSDN to clean the harness after pulling off all the tape. Interestingly, I ended up repairing the harness and still having the issue.I wanted to stay away from something more corrosive like gas or diesel. After the washing in the parts washer I rinsed it off in a 5 gallon buck of water from the hose and hung it to dry. Other than that it was just some patience with a tooth brush etc to get the grime out as best I could. I'll definitely clean more harnesses in the future as I like working on clean parts. :) Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it.
I belive it's the key switch!!! Try the pull start with the key on the off position and if I'm right you should have full spark.
I had the same issue with an aftermarket key switch and found out that many of them are wired incorrectly even when it says iys for the correct year of the atv. It's an easy fix but i can't recall what two wires you need to cut and jump together
I tested the key switch via the manual pin out and all was good for resistance and open lines in the right places. Tried what you said with the pull start but no dice. Thanks for the insight. You never know sometimes.
Bro my Yamaha Kodiak was doing the same thing I finally figured it out in my case my starter was getting hung I replaced the stator cdi coil ignition kill switch too
Glad to hear you found it. The one spark scenario seems to plague folks.
Hi - Did you ever find a definitive answer for what was wrong? I have a 2008 Big Bear and it also will only produce 1 spark. With a new CDI gives me 1/2-1 sec of spark then permanently looses normal spark and back to 1 spark only.
I ended up replacing swapping the harness with one from a 90 big bear. That required a different stator, cdi and handlebar controls. Been running like a champ since. I still think I had a stator that was passing tests but still bad. Unfortunately I was able to to pin it to one component but those four (from marketplace) did the trick.
I suspect it's a pick up coil off the stator that's the issue. The pick up Senses revolutions of the flywheel and tells the cdi when to fire. How you checked either the pick up is in tact, or also checked the outside of your flywheel that it's not damaged? You should see a raised metal tab, that's what the pickup senses and then tells the cdi to fire.
I did, I inspected the flywheel and tab(s). Interestingly this unit has two metal tabs that go along with each of the two pickups. Pickups physically look fine on both stators.
The prongs inside of the plug on the stator they don't make a good connection
Hello , I've watched a few videos and I thought I heard you say on one video the stator specs for a 1987 moto 4 350? I can't seem to find anything on line about all the ohm readings. Can you help me out please and thank you? I'm only getting a random spark and replaced everything but my stator and wiring harness
Sure, white wires (charging coil) should be .7-.86ohm at 68degrees F. Should be three wires. Go across each pair to see if it is in spec. Pickup coil / Source coil / ignition coil, however you want to call it test yellow to green for 180-220ohm and gray to blue for 180 to 220 ohm. It is possible you only have three wires. To my knowledge, this can work. The 87 had two pickups, later models did not. I've struggled to get a good understanding of why that year had two pickups. Those specs are from the manual. There is another test that is not in the manual called a AC output test or dynamic stator test. I'd recommend Googling it. Essentially you're looking to test how much voltage the stator is actually putting out which would be a definitive test as well. Best of luck.
@Vermont Life I seriously appreciate the help... where did you find these specs? I spent a couple of hours looking and never could find the year and correct cc. I have the original owners manual but it doesn't tell you specs like this
@@VermontLife my stator is bad from the specs you have me... I'm only reading .4 ohms between my white wires
I bought a digital copy off eBay that covers a number of big bear generations. Ultimately in section 7 are all the electrical diagrams. The specs were in the electrical starting and ignition troubleshooting steps sections.
@@jt3469 Note that the white wires are the charging circuit and shouldn't affect starting and riding (your battery would just not charge and die.) Sounds like it is at least part of your problem though.
Hay bud I got a 92 big bear lost spark so I bought new stator with pickup coil attached. New cdi new coil and now I get one spark then gose away and only way I'm getting spark is if I move the kill switch back and forth from on to off real fast. It's weird. Any suggestions would be great
Can you bypass the switch to rule it out? I assume the stator tests fine via Ohm'ing out. You might try researching how to do an A/C voltage test at the ignition coil to see if enough voltage is even getting to the spark plug. (Another sign of a bad stator. It could ohm out fine but not be passing enough voltage.) In the end on mine I swapped to a harness from an 89 that included a stator, cdi, main coil and switch. Been running like a champ since then. I wish I had pinpointed it to which specific piece it was.) Good luck.
Yeah new stator test good. I'll have to try that because I've heard to were the starter gets worn out and robs all the power. Thanks for the tip bud
@@justbraaapit2311 Post back when you get it.
Did you post a new video of the fix? What fixed it?
Ultimately a harness swap to one from a 1990. I still have not found what the problem with the original system was. Note that when I had to swap to the 1990 harness I also had to swap the cdi, stator and handlebar controls. All of which tested fine or I substituted with a know good so??? It still runs like a champ today. So one of those four items bested me.
@@VermontLife thanks, I was looking for a fix. I have no spark at all, not even the 1st spark as you were getting. I’ll figure mine out.
@@shelbydogg No spark at all... I have a video on the wiring harness of a 350 in which I went step by step through the manual that might help. Best of luck.
Ignition switch or overspray on body grounds?
Great thought on both. Ignition switches I was able to ohm test successfully (and with the appropriate pin out. I've seen them come wired incorrectly.) Overspray I've cleaned up and having it happen across all the grounds seemed unlikely.
I have a 99 big bear 350. And out the blue this issue came up. I could pull start it and it would hit and got it to crank. Pull start broke now but I could get it to eventually crank with the button so I order new stator in new coil crank up ram like a top. A week later crank up whike it was eating still open the gate went dead and no spark nothing dead in the water as they say.
I changed out the coil and plug tried old cdi and the new cdi nothing I’m getting nothing at all did you ever figure out the trick
Ultimately I still believe I had a bad stator that was passing the ohm tests. (I didn't do an AC voltage test.) After banging my head for a bit I swapped in a harness, cdi and stator from a 1990 big bear and it has been running great ever since. Considering I had two harnesses that I went through off the quad with a fine tooth comb and was able to test the cdi's on another quad to know they were good I believe my root issue was sporadic/faulty stators (I had two that tested good and gave the same result.) I'd retest your stator or, hate to do the throw parts at it game, swap it out with another.
@@VermontLife this has been a restore rebuild kind of thing lol when I got it it was missing the front drive shaft and none of the u joints was there exhaust was rusted out and so on. It funny thing how after a lil lift instal I set the bike down and been chasing this issue. I’ll chk my stator again. For sure. I bought my new one from Ricky stators suppose to have a yr warranty but he hasn’t touched base back with me yet lol. Thanks for your reply
Any update on no spark issue.
I should have the next video out tonight and yes, I did get spark back. Bit of a journey.
If you look at the size of the spacing on the stator connector it's not making a good connection in other words it's all fagg doubt it might be plugged in doesn't mean the connector is making contact inside of the plug had that issue many of times and it causes intermittent Spark or one spark conditions
It's a good call out. Wouldn't be the first time a connector was to blame. I tend to try to ohm test across connectors as a sanity check. This one really tested me.
Grey and blue what?
Gray and Blue wires coming off the stator. I needed to test for resistance between the two wires by probing the two wire ends in the connector coming off the stator. Was that what you were asking?