Wiring a new cdi for 340 artic cat and wire colors don't Match

[Derek4518511]

Mid 80's 340 artic cat is going into a go cart just for fun i bought a new cdi unit the original plug was cut off when I got it. there is 5 wires 2 yellow, a red a white and a brown my new cdi has 5 also a  lt/green a blk/wht abrwn, a black a blu/grn is there a wiring diagram I can use for reference or which wires go where a y help would be greatly appreciated jated.  BTY I'm  Derek and new to this forum I am actually trying to help a friend with project and learn a little in the process

[Gwbarm]

If the new CDI is aftermarket and the old one has no plug and the wire colors dont match, i dont have a good solution for that. I would say trial and error but thats never a good thing. 

[Mech]

Yes it will be complete guesswork. There should be a colour scheme with the new cdi though.

You should use an ohm meter and check what all the different wires coming off the engine read as. The two yellow will be for battery charging I think and their resistance should be low, less than one ohm. The other wires, first check if any have a connection to earth, then test/measure all three between every two possible combinations. It's easiest to put all the measurements into a chart made up of wire colours across the top, and the same colours down the side, then put the ohms into the box where the two colours coincide. If some wires connect to earth then put earth into the charts labels.

If you get those readings then we can make some educated guesses about what each winding is for, and some suggestions about how to test the windings to test them and to confirm the guesses. Then you need a wiring diagram for the new cdi, or we start making guesses about that and trying trial and error..

[Gwbarm]

These are all good points Mech, if the aftermarket one has a wiring diagram that would be great then you can figure it out. If not the manufactuer may supply you one. Just from looking at the wire colors, blk/white usually goes to stop/run switch, brown generally for accessories, but you dont have a red so it might be the power in wire, blue/green pickup coil , black for ground, and that leaves green for the coil, but they are generally orange, but these are all just guesses. I am not that familiar with wire colors on Arctic Cat, and aftermarket CDI wire colors are all over the place, they very rarely match the original harness.Even with a plug you sometimes have to change the pins to a different location to get it to work.