2006 Arctic Cat 400 4x4 - No Spark At Times and Runs Bad

[Heywire77]

I just purchased a 2006 Artic cat 400 4x4 auto trans ,and first thing it had sat a while so I cleaned the tank and boiled the carb out put back together and got it cranked but it will not take but half throttle before it Boggs , so I pulled the carb put inline filter and cleaned the carb again I boiled it overnight in carb cleaner in the gallon jug took out washed off and blew out ran small wire thru everything and put the jets back in and all back together,still Boggs at half throttle going down the road I know carbs is clean.put a new plug and coil in it and still did the same thing ,then all at once no spark so would not crank checked all wires for shorts none found then I turned my key switch to we're the lights were on and it sparked but with the key switch in position with light off it want spark so it runs with the key switch turned to lights on .but it still boggs what the hell ! I have been a auto master tech for 22 years and worked on just about everything just seeing if anyone would have any clues on these dam Artic cats ! Thanks

[oxidized_black]

message swampcat07, our resident A/C go to guy. he may be on later too and see this ....

[Heywire77]

Ok thanks.got a lot of yard work so will give it ago later.thanks

[swampcat07]

Check under the plastics for areas where the wiring harness may be rubbing and shorting out. Very common where the harness goes from the fuse block around the frame in the rear of the quad.

[mikeexplorer]

For that issue I would check the front harness where it crosses over the support. I had to do a major repair of 12 fried wires in that section and that was one of my issues is it would do nothing unless I had the key in headlight position.

Mike

[Heywire77]

Thanks I got a chance the other day to look at it and that was one thing I did pulled some of the top covers off and I moved the wires around and I also put a new battery in the atv ,and it cranked and ran great down the road like it should.it had sat for awhile and there is lot of leaves and just dirty all under the covers so I am going to strip all the covers off and pressure wash it and check all the wiring and get it all straightened out . Can believe they have this many wiring problems but after google them I found they have lots.thanks everyone for the help.

[mikeexplorer]

Hopefully your harness won't look like mine did ! Yes, Cats are known for wiring problems.

This was the third wiring problem with this machine.

Mike

[Heywire77]

I am still fooling with this dam arctic cat , it has drove me nuttz ! Does anybody know the ohms the trigger is suppose to have mine is a 2006 Artic cat 400 fis 4x4 and the trigger is only reading around 180 ohms and when I spin the engine over it will go down and sometimes goes up to 500 ohms with spinning over but just sitting it only has 180 ohms I can't get the dang coil to spark I can get it to spark if I take the black/white wire off the coil and touch it back everytime I do that the spark plug will spark and I am showing around 80 volts to the coil that is pulling the pull rope because now my dam starter is just clicking it has brand new battery and fully charged ! I just had my stator rewound so I hope that is not the problem it has the right ohms.any help would be great I messages swampcat07 but no anwser

[Heywire77]

Hey I also pulled all the plastics off pulled the whole wiring harness apart and only found one little corrosion areas fixed it but still no spark .have had the side cover off twice and I rewound the stator the magnets are great, also I can take the blk/white wire off the coil and touch it to it and it will fire the spark plug everytime I do it .also when checking the ohms on the coil do you put the ohm meter on 2000 ohms because if so I can't get a reading checking from the two terminals I can put it on 20k and get readings to show up . I put a used coil on it I got from eBay .

[swampcat07]

I would download the service manual it should have all of the specs in there.'

I wanted to get a responce here so you did not think I was ignoring you but this seems to be a complicated problem.

I know on the 650H1s there was a problem with the magnetic pickups on the flywheel and the firing sequence would either be off or no existent. That is a big project to check that so I would start with some of the simple stuff first. Try cleaning the ground wire from the engine. You can also bypass that ground with a pair of jumper cables to see if that helps. Sometimes a coroded or bad ground will keep it from starting.

Also make sure you check all of the ignition wiring with a meter not just visual.

Hope this helps.

[oxidized_black]

manual ... https://www.yousendit./download/WUJiYkJrNXY5NVYzZU1UQw

[Heywire77]

I was finally able to get the manual to download last night I found one for my atv .

[Heywire77]

Everything checked good I have a manual now , only thing is the coil peak voltage was suppose to be 250 to 375 volts and it only had 80 volts to the coil, so is that the stator doing that or is it the cdi now giving it enough volts because I read in manual that the cdi ampflys the voltage to the coil ? Because I have ohms right at the stator three black wires and the source the white and yellow wire have right ohms .any thing you can think of would be great I had before pulled the whole wiring harness down and apart all the plastic are still off atv I pulled all tape and the heat shrink off wires and redone them and connectors cleaned still same problem .Now I just rewound the stator and before I did it the spark plug would fire but it just had no power like the coil was breaking down but now since I have put stator back in and rewound it spark plug want fire .

[Heywire77]

Just came in because to dark now to see I rechecked everything once again I checked the ignition switch wiring , all the grounds , and checked the voltage to coil it is now showing - 145 volts that is to the white wire with blue stripe and then to good ground, and I can check it from the black wire to the white/blue wire at coil and it is the same negative volts and I have my meter hooked up right that is crazy , I pulled the side cover back off and stator out and checking it

[Heywire77]

I tell you what this will be the last arctic cat I buy and soon as it is fixed it will be sold ! From all that I have read and came up with these are pieces of crap and you know what they say you can't fix crap!

[swampcat07]

Hey I will take it off your hands no problem. I had kawasaki, can-am, and arctic cat and all had problems with them. I agree though and wiring is some of the most frustrating problems out there.

The solution would be to find a friend with the same machine and swap over the cdi and/or coil and see if that makes a diffrence. The voltage regulator and cdi are hard to check and easier to swap out.

[Heywire77]

I don't have any friends who have the same machine to test parts and I don't like buying parts and it not being the problem , I found the problem this morning it was the trigger I to it and the stator back out for the 4th time and tried heating the trigger with my heat gun and watched the ohms go up to 216 then I out it back in the atv and it started having spark , tried it a few times and then went in and ordered a new stator with the trigger because I couldn't find just the trigger anyway that is electrical parts for you because it tested good every time I tested it but after reading up on cdi ignition and all and I have seen that happen on cars before the crank sensor would work one minute then not the next . Anyway I am still saling it once I have it all back together I just put a realtree camo kit on it and all .

[mechanicshop]

Did the new trigger get rid of the negative volts to the coil?

[Heywire77]

I am waiting for the new trigger to come in it is suppose to be here Friday so all I had checked is to see if it fired the spark plug.on a cdi ignition system the stator has a source coil that is wrapped and has the yellow and white wire in mine that power travels to the cdi and it changes it in to dc volts hundreds of volts and holds it till the trigger picks up and sends its signal to the cdi then it fires the coil , mine had volts to the coil but they were negative volts and I could take the terminal off the coil and touch it back and it would fire the plug.i would bet a lot of times the trigger has gone bad and people have just replaced the stator and all because they come with the stator, I did find on Ricky's stators they sale just the trigger for 75.00 I would have just ordered it but I found me a stator and trigger on eBay for 75.00 so I just ordered it that way I would not have to wire the trigger in . But I would bet money if your stator ohms out good then it is good , one thing I seen was I could touch the trigger with something metal and have the ohm meter hooked up to it and every once and a while the ohms would good negative .i was also having a problem with one minute it would run rough the next it would run good , and I had cleaned the tank, and rebuilt the carb and replaced the coil.i have been a mechanic for over 20 years and have worked on everything from forestry equipment to outboards and I tell you this atv drove me nuttz !

[mechanicshop]

I asked because I am having the exact same problem

I have a 2005 Arctic Cat 400 4x4 Auto FIS with NO SPARK

________________________________________

I was out riding my 2005 Arctic Cat 400 4x4 Auto FIS and parked it for 5 minutes and then I had no spark.

battery fully charged

Kill switch check and is perfect

New spark plug, new coil

I pulled the side cover and flywheel and magnets are perfect

Stator tested poorly, not bad, but I replaced it and the trigger anyway.

Here is the really big problem

From the day it broke down I have been getting high voltage 370 volts to the coil positive wire with just the key on and 390 volts with the engine turning.

According to the manual it should be 31v with key on and 130 volts turning.

I get the same reading and no spark with the regulator/rectifier connected or disconnected.

With the key on, if I go to attach the positive wire to the coil, it makes one high voltage spark and in a second or two when you touch the wire to the coil again it will have that same spank again.

Even with the new trigger I still get the negative voltage to the coil

What do I need to replace?

[Heywire77]

First check the orange and white wire at the cdi module with a volt meter does it have 12 volts that is with the key on , also try it with the key turned on all the way to the lights on position if it doesn't have 12 volts then let me know . Another thing to try is try to see if you have spark with using the pull rope to try and start it try in both key positions with lights on and off , and make sure you have the plug grounded good against the head or something . Buddy's this things have lots of wiring problems I cut all the tape off the wires and even the heat shrink were they would have 3 or 4 wires tied together and checked them and cleaned them , also the regulator/rectifier has nothing to do with the firing , I had pulled all the plastics off the atv and some off the wires are hard to get to . I would also take and clean all the connectors and put some dielectric grease on them , make sure none of the wires have backed out of the connectors.Let us now what you find . Also did you buy a brand new stator and from we're because I have heard of some being bad from some of the after market suppliers.that is another thing I would check the reading again on the new stator and trigger , hope some of this helps you

[Heywire77]

Also I looked again and in the manual I have it says it has 250 to 375 volts to the coil

[Heywire77]

I asked because I am having the exact same problem

I have a 2005 Arctic Cat 400 4x4 Auto FIS with NO SPARK

________________________________________

I was out riding my 2005 Arctic Cat 400 4x4 Auto FIS and parked it for 5 minutes and then I had no spark.

Battery fully charged

Kill switch check and is perfect

New spark plug, new coil

I pulled the side cover and flywheel and magnets are perfect

Stator tested poorly, not bad, but I replaced it and the trigger anyway.

Here is the really big problem

From the day it broke down I have been getting high voltage 370 volts to the coil positive wire with just the key on and 390 volts with the engine turning.

According to the manual it should be 31v with key on and 130 volts turning.

I get the same reading and no spark with the regulator/rectifier connected or disconnected.

With the key on, if I go to attach the positive wire to the coil, it makes one high voltage spark and in a second or two when you touch the wire to the coil again it will have that same spank again.

Even with the new trigger I still get the negative voltage to the coil

What do I need to replace?

Ok wait and the end of your comment you say you have negative volts but further up you said you have 370 volts to the coil . Is that positive or negative volts you have to the coil?

[mechanicshop]

it is negative volts i have 5o the coil... yes, NEGATIVE!

Orange and white wire have good battery voltage, 12.75 volts

no spark on pull start.

I am pulling the wiring harness today to see what i can find

[Heywire77]

Here is some test from the manual I have it is for the ignition switch and the kill switch and diode , I would try these test before pulling the wiring harness .

1. Turn the ignition switch to the ON position.

2. Set the meter selector to the OHMS position.

3. Connect the red tester lead to the red wire; then connect the black tester lead to the orange wire .

4. The meter must show less than 1 ohm.

5. Turn the ignition switch to the LIGHTS posi- tion.

6. Connect the red tester lead to the red wire; then connect the black tester lead to the orange wire

7. The meter must show less than 1 ohm.

8. Connect the red tester lead to the red wire; then connect the black tester lead to the gray wire.

9. The meter must show less than 1 ohm.

10. With the switch in the OFF position, connect the red tester lead to the red wire and the black tester lead to each of the remaining wires. The meter must show an open circuit on all wires.

****************DIODE (Starter Button).NOTE: If voltage is not as specified, check the condition of the battery in the meter prior to replacing the switch. A low battery will result in a low voltage reading during a diode test.

1. Set the meter selector to the Diode position.

2. Connect the red tester lead to the orange/white wire; then connect the black tester lead to the yellow/green wire. With the starter button depressed, the meter must show 0.5 - 0.7 DC volts.

4. With the starter button released, the meter must show 0 DC volts.

5. Connect the red tester lead to the yellow/green wire; then connect the black tester lead to the orange/white wire.

6. With the starter button depressed, the meter must show 0 DC volts

[mechanicshop]

Heywire77

No, nothing figured out yet. I had to walk away from it for a few days because it was driving me crazy.

I really don’t trust my old fluke volt meter, so I have ordered a new one because I needed one anyway. A new fluke… that will be here Saturday hopefully. Then I will do all the tests again and let you know.

[Heywire77]

When you get your meter I would first do the test on the ignition switch, and the kill switch that I posted on here.with yours running and then you cut it off and it would not start back it could be the ignition switch or to do will the kill switch because it has a diode in there with the kill switch.

[Heywire77]

Finally running good I got my part in today and it is fixed and runs good.