Looking for a CDI box for 2000 Big Bear 400

[QuadMan49]

Hello,

Long story short, I accidentally fried my quad's CDI box.

I found several OEM ones for $300 which are out of my price range. Does any one know where to find one for less? Or any way to modify a $20 Chinese CDI to make it work? Thanks.

Edited March 10, 2023 by QuadMan49

[Mech]

I think your yamaha cdi  will have a lot more wires than most cheap aftermarket cdi..  Yamaha are pretty particular about having their special cdi, and we've been puzzling over them in here for quite a while..  It's really hard to identify models and which wiring they have..

If you start looking in manuals and comparing your wiring to what's shown you might have trouble finding a match..

[QuadMan49]

Does that mean I'm stuck buying a $300 one? 

[Mech]

Don't know mate, but I know Yamaha cdi, wiring, wiring colours, and switchgear come in about a zillion different flavors.. They are not as easy as most jap makes to figure or adapt parts to.

It would be a good idea I think to research what exact model and year and market you have before spending $300 or trying to buy a vauge as aftermarket.. The aftermarket guys will sell you anything..

Download all the 400 manuals you find in this site and compare their wiring diagram colours to your bike, then compare the plug shape and  pin positions they show compared to what you have.. 

[Gwbarm]

Im kind of in the same boat, pay more for CDI than I paid for the whole bike when I don't know how good the engine is, but, im certainly not going to pay 300 used taking someones words that it is good, there's not even a test for that, how does he know its good, and even if it is good , for how long. I have been dragging my feet on this one, but I think im going to have to buy a new one for 400. If you come up with another option, please let me know.

[Mech]

Haha..  You'll have to buy up some more wrecks Gw..  You just need a blown motor with good wiring and running gear..  Go on... Dare ya..

[QuadMan49]

1 hour ago, Mech said:

Don't know mate, but I know Yamaha cdi, wiring, wiring colours, and switchgear come in about a zillion different flavors.. They are not as easy as most jap makes to figure or adapt parts to.

It would be a good idea I think to research what exact model and year and market you have before spending $300 or trying to buy a vauge as aftermarket.. The aftermarket guys will sell you anything..

Download all the 400 manuals you find in this site and compare their wiring diagram colours to your bike, then compare the plug shape and  pin positions they show compared to what you have.. 

To clarify, I bought my quad a year ago in excellent running condition. About a month ago the 4-wheeler bogged down while riding, I quickly discovered the positive battery terminal snapped off while riding. As soon as I put it back on temporarily, there was a spark and the quad would not run anymore. I looked at the CDI and several capacitors were popped out.

I tried a $25 aftermarket CDI, and not surprisingly it wouldn't even turn over. With the original CDI it would turn the motor .

Edited March 10, 2023 by QuadMan49

[Gwbarm]

I did see on one of my searches a company tests CDI and repairs if needed, I didn't pay it much attention because it was 250 to repair and 50 to test to see if it needed repair, at that point I was still toying with the idea of building one from Chinese parts, but the 2000 Big Bear is a DC CDI and a little more complicated, and most Chinese stuff that I thought might work was AC. They do make a CDI for Kodiak 400 same year, aftermarket for about 30.00 but the plugs are different from the big bear, but the Kodiak and Bears seem to be wired about the same so I don't know what the difference is, and nobody has been able to tell me. Not much help, but that is what I have found out in my limited research.

[Gwbarm]

Just reading your post, must have come in while I was writing my last one. I never even found an aftermarket version that claimed it would would work with the 2000 Big Bear. I think 2000 and 2001 were different somehow.

[Mech]

All those cdi need to know when the electric start is being used, and they do it in two different ways. Some they feed in a 12v  signal by banching off the wire from the start button, and in others they run the power for the start button through the cdi and it gets earthed by the start button..

You Quadman, need the second type.. That also narrows down the number of wiring diagrams that are going to be on your bike...  There are other differences in cdi and wiring too..  even withing that second type..

If you can see the circuit board Quad, you might fix it by soldering in a few new capacitors.. You'd want to check for anything overheated looking, dry solder joints, cracks in the board.. But those capacitors that leak are enough to be the whole and only fault.  They used to be common years ago and were always being replaced. Capacitors are a few cents each.

[QuadMan49]

Thanks everyone!

I'm in the process of chipping away at the silicone rubber stuff from the CDI, and it does smell like burnt electronics.

[Mech]

Oh I think you'll be lucky fixing that one..  I thought it must have been an exposed board..  Those are real hard to get clean enough to identify the components, and it's real easy to do damage. The professionals might have some solvent for cleaning them ?

 

[QuadMan49]

Should I try some rubbing alcohol, or nail polish remover? Not sure if they will damage the circuit board.

[Mech]

Well..  Google says there are lots of things to soften and/or remove hardened silicon..  Which that stuff may or may not be..

[Mech]

They seem to say WD40 is good..  that won't hurt things.

[Mech]

The board will be sprayed with a varnish which is basically nail polish....  If you do happen to use something that damages/removes that layer you can get clear nail polish from the chemist..  That's what I've always used to seal repaired boards..

After the repair you need to seal the board, it prevents parasitic leaks, and it stops the copper corroding..

[QuadMan49]

44 minutes ago, Mech said:

 

After the repair you need to seal the board, it prevents parasitic leaks, and it stops the copper corroding..

That is, if I can ever get the CDI fixed.

[Gwbarm]

That one is really fried , im assuming when your pos battery terminal snapped of it touched ground and fried your CDI, that's bad luck.

[QuadMan49]

The photo makes it look like melted plastic but it's not. I removed some silicone/plastic material with a tool.

[mga]

i found a few people on facebook selling parts from yamaha big bears. I'm in kentucky, and i've bought a few parts from a person who will ship and accepts paypal. They're parting out a 400 kodiak and very reasonable too.

[QuadMan49]

Would a Kodiak 400 CDI work on a Big Bear 400? The connectors seem to be the same.

[Gwbarm]

Iv wondered that too, the generic ones I have seen say it fits the Kodiak and Warrior but not the big bear, and if you read the ratings , many complaints about it not even working with the Kodiak. 

[Mech]

Yamaha electrics are diabolical..haha..  Their manuals are just as bad.. I've got a heap of them and in a single year and model they say the same manual does big bear and kodiak, and others says they don't, they wiring diagrams disagree with one other, and in forums with people comparing the bikes to the diagrams it seems there are a heap of differences and everyone seem to have trouble being sure what they have..  I've been trying to sort this problem out and get to the bottom of it for literally years..  The best I can advise is.. buy genuine !!

[Gwbarm]

I have come to the same conclusion, I haven't even got to the CDI box yet, I am on my 3 rd aftermarket coil, and not one of them has the correct resistance rating that the manual says the coil should have, so if im having this much trouble with generic coils I can't imagine a CDI being correct either, they are specific to the bike, and there is something different about the 2000 and 2001  models I haven't figured it out yet but im working on it. As much as it hurts, im buying OEM parts from now on. The coil may work fine once I figure out why im not getting spark, but they don't has the specs the manual says they should have.

[QuadMan49]

Thanks for the help guys. I'll try repairing my OEM burnt CDI, if that does not work, I will halve buy a new OEM one.

[mga]

On 3/11/2023 at 9:39 AM, QuadMan49 said:

Would a Kodiak 400 CDI work on a Big Bear 400? The connectors seem to be the same.

what i do is look at the parts diagrams for the model i have, write down the part number on the item i'm looking for, then compare that to a parts diagram for another model. Often they are the same part numbers. If not, i do a google search.

[Gwbarm]

Intersted to see what you find out, iv been trying to find out myself, there are generic ones for the 2000 Kodiak but not the big bear and there are generic ones for the 95-99 big bear and there are generic ones for the 2002- 20012 big bear, I have contacted the company and they sent me the ad telling what it fits, I have come to the conclusion I have to go OEM, 409.00 at motorsports.com cheapest iv found. I haven't bought one yet I would like to be more certain mine is bad. Plus iv read reviews that says the generic ones don't work on the bikes they are supposed to work on , and other reviews say they are great. So who knows, if they had a 30 dollar one for the big bear I would get it and try it , and like you I have almost bought the one for the Kodiak , except it looks different from mine, shaped different, so not sure, yet.

[Gwbarm]

Don’t feel like I’ve been much help, keep us informed as to how the repair goes

[QuadMan49]

Ok.

[Gwbarm]

I just found this, it claims it is for a bear tracker, but one of the rating said it worked perfectly for his 2000 big bear, I don't have much faith, but I think im going to try it. Its cheap enough. Plus its amazon prime I can send it back if it doesn't work.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L82JT1K/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A1GSUR6QOCZ9BO&psc=1

If the link doesn't work let me know and I will type in my search criteria