JR in MS

[3N1R0PY]

Hello people. I'm a 40 year old man in north MS. I haven't done any riding in years, because I never had anything to ride. My first four wheeler was I think a 50cc suzuki in the 1980s. I rode it a while until I broke the frame. we had it welded and I broke it again. So then I got a yamaha moped and rode it a few years until about 10 or 12.

At 15 I had a best friend who had some four wheelers which I rode any chance I got (honda fourtrax 300) for about 2 years.

Last year I traded a john deere mower that I wasn't using, for a 2001 yamaha kodiak 400 4x4. It needs work, But I like tinkering and fixing things. It has been on hold though because shortly after, I found out that I had an aortic aneurysm and a bicuspid aortic valve. About 4 weeks ago I had open-heart surgery to fix it (bentall procedure). The surgery went perfect and I've been surprising everyone with my recovery. I am already feeling better than before the surgery. I feel lucky because I went to the ER with chest pain about 4 times in a week until they finally scanned and found the aneurysm. It was always pretty much "you're not having a heart attack, go home." Then I find out that a lot of times you don't find out you have one until it dissects or ruptures. In the case of a rupture, it's likely that its your family that finds out because you're gone. So now instead of a silent ticking bomb in my chest I have a ticking mechanical valve that everyone around me can hear. I feel blessed to have found and had it repaired and people have been so good to us and helped us when we needed it most because of the work I've had to miss.

So I've been feeling good enough that I rolled the kodiak out to work on. Hopefully soon I'll have enough posts to download the service manual.

I have been a machinist for the last 11 years. My favorite hobby has always been playing guitar. I also tinker/bash/race RC cars and trucks. I like to play video games when I can with my wife and kids.

[Gwbarm]

Welcome, Glad to hear you are doing well after the surgery, your a young man to have such a problem. The Yamaha Kodiak and Big Bear were Yamahas flagship bikes for a while, i like them both, i have a Big Bear 400 very similar except the Kodiak is automatic, belt driven and water cooled. There are many of us on here that are expierienced with these bikes and will be glad to help.

What kind of problems does it have: Engine stuck, no spark, no compression, no drive.

[3N1R0PY]

I think my age worked in my favor for surgery and recovery. I was born with the bicuspid valve and never knew it until the high blood pressure I also didn't know about created the aneurysm and grew it big enough to start causing pain.

I got my kodiak running just a few days ago after getting the wiring sorted I thought. It smoked quite a bit and will need rings but I plan to do a whole top end kit. It wouldn't take throttle so I was adjusting the carb. Finally I was able to rev it a little and it died and popped the cdi, so I had to roll it back behind the house and throw a tarp back over it.

I have seen the cdi boxes for $25-40 but they have bad reviews. The good ones seem to be $400-450. I did find a Peak rpm one for $200 though. Money is hard right now while out of work but I'm also afraid of frying the next cdi until I can figure out what happened.

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[Gwbarm]

It certainly never hurts to freshen up the top end, i might do a compression check then add a little oil in the cylinder and see if it goes up, those engines are very resiliant but the rings can get worn. Thats bad about the CDI i would recheck my wiring with a diagraam to make sure everything is correct, if it just quit working i might look for a loose connection or bad ground, if it smoked its probably fried, check the voltage regulator and also check the stator to make sure its not shorted.

[3N1R0PY]

The CDI didn't smoke but I heard an electrical pop right after it shut off and then smelled the burnt smell from the CDI box. I do know that the battery is bad and the killswitch wasn't working. It is very likely wiring issues because there are a couple that aren't hooked to anything and a few splices. Once I'm able to download the manuals I plan to trace every wire and replace all the ones that need it. I'll be checking the regulator and stator too. At least those parts are pretty cheap.

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[Gwbarm]

I may have one let me look.

[Gwbarm]

I think this one also covers the Kodiak:

 

yfm400fwa{M}-2000 copy.pdf

[3N1R0PY]

Yes, thank you so much. There's so much priceless information in there. I was just going at it blind. It will be so helpful to have something to go by. Thanks.

[Gwbarm]

👍 You are welcome, glad i could help.