1988 trx300 fourtrax NO SPARK

[mike13ortega]

hey i recently bought a 1988 honda fourtrax trx300 2wd that dosnt run, it has no spark when i tryied kickstarting it the neutral light comes right up so i thought it may have some spark but checked it with the sparkplug against the frame and electric starting it and NO SPARK!!! so i dont know what might be wrong, i checked all the wiring and it all looks good, i put my honda recon coil it it and still no spark so im left with maybe a bad cdi??? or what else could it be??? any help please

[Ajmboy]

I think it may be a bad cdi, but doublecheck all you connections and make sure all your fuses are in tact.

If you do need a CDI, take a look on ebay: 1988 trx300 cdi items - Get great deals on eBay Motors items on eBay.com!

[Eiger400]

I think it may be a bad cdi, but doublecheck all you connections and make sure all your fuses are in tact.

If you do need a CDI, take a look on ebay: 1988 trx300 cdi items - Get great deals on eBay Motors items on eBay.com!

X2

[mike13ortega]

yea my buddy is gunna let me borrow his cdi off a trx300ex i think it would fit, since is almost same bike but in a sport body. but my wires by the silenoid have 2 wire connections appart from the rear brakes that i dnt know were they go, could the bike still have spark even if these wires were not connected, since they are just part of the electric start shouldnt it still have spark kickstarting it?? thanks alot

[DirtDemon]

The solenoid has absolutely nothing to do with the spark. You could be looking at a bad coil ( the one of your recon may not work on the this quad), bad coil wire/plug boot, bad plug, bad stator, sheared flywheel key. If the 300ex CDI works, then you will know that you need a new CDI, otherwise, I would check the list of manuals that Rocky Mtn Honda has posted in the Honda forum and see if your model is listed in there. There are some tests that you can do on the electrical components so you can find the faulty part or at least rule some things out. BTW, I am moving this thread to the Honda forum, for some reason it is in the Yamaha forum now.

[Steve-2018]

Don't forget the simplest things first.  1997 Fourtrax300FW was running fine, stopped it to split some firewood, wouldn't start back up, plenty of fuel.  I pulled the sparkplug, zero spark.  I read a couple forums which made it sound like the most common problem for no spark was the CDI.    From a YouTube video, I followed the instructions and used the multi meter Ohm meter to check the resistance on the two coil leads and the reading was about 0.8 as expected for a good coil.  Ordered a CDI, replaced it, still no spark, but when I was checking it I noticed I was getting a shock holding onto the plug wire.  Used a multi meter to check the spark plug (from instructions on YouTube videos) and there was no continuity on the spark plug.  Replaced the spark plug, turned the engine over with the plug grounded to the cylinder head, visible spark.  Then reinserted the plug, and it started right up.

The moral of the story, if you don't have a spark, you may want to check the plug, or replace it first.  That was the cheapest option, and it would have saved me the time of pulling the front cargo carrier and plastic off to get to the CDI, and order and pay for the CDI.  I hope this helps someone else down the line.

[Arnold Schimberg]

I'm having same issue with 88 4 trax , watch out for the after market cdi . The vendors claim they work on 88 -94 ,wrong .

The 88 is adifferent animal . still waiting on right parts . Compare diagrams in service manuals and you will see what I mean

[Brad Powell]

Take starter switch off handle bar remove two screws holding kill switch in the housing and clean with electrical contact cleaner and electrical grease 

[Finnforest]

i broke my cdi on my honda last year and got one from ricks electronics , and i know they listed atleast two types of cdis so i had to remove it first and double check.

[Autismdad956]

Have u tried a different cdi