MarkinAR

If the Mojave is like the Bayou, and I suspect it's pretty close, there are spare wires at the front for accessories.  a 97 Bayou has a few extra brown and blue wires.  Brown is 12V electric ground (not frame ground) post ignition switch I think and blue is 12V lighting maybe?  Been a minute and can't remember for sure but they are usually listed in the wiring diagram as accessory or Canada version maybe?

Na. One of the front axles is popping so we'll order some axles before doing the other side. Went ahead and broke the motor open and regrooved the centrifugal clutch. On the plus side though, the thing runs like a top. Hit the starter button and it fires right off. 

Getting there...slowly...

Meh. Your choice. I wouldn't bother since its not that cold in the south but its a neat feature that supposedly makes it start and idle a bit easier in cold weather. Probably a necessity in the far north. 

Ha. Adding to the fun, we took it for a stroll down the driveway to find the centrifugal clutch is shot. Thankfully, been there done that. 

Odd that restricting air flow would make any difference in the bottom of the motor. Not to be obtuse, but are you certain it's in the lower half? Normally the rods are pressed on the crank so not average DIY stuff. 

Got one side of wheel bearings done in 4 hours and left the other side for another day. What non ATV folks don't realize is that if you keep on riding dry and worn out wheel bearings it welds the outer race to the hub. Good times. 4 friggin hours for one hub. Die grinder, multiple chisels, blood sacrifice. But one side is done....so that's good. 

Purrs like a kitten. When we got it rings had been replaced so it's fairly fresh from a combustion standpoint. Wiring though is a dumpster fire. It's all together now, just have to wrap and secure some wires. Putting front wheel bearings in tonight and the oldest is headed to the woods with it in the morning. It's getting a trial by fire so to speak. 

So it was a combination of things. Bad regulator was driving the electronics crazy and "on" side of the ignition switch was bad...no continuity. Replaced the regulator with a 2nd hand OEM and borrowed the ignition switch out of my big bear project and all is well. 

I have a feeling the ignition switch was shot because the solenoid lead for the winch was just twisted in. So the solenoid stayed on all the time. Adding a rocker switch for that later tonight so the solenoid is only closed when I ask it to. 

Looks like this one is on hold a bit while we finish the Kodiak. My oldest wants to ride it since it's his and it's been sitting a month. 2nd hand reg/rect should be in tomorrow and hopefully that resolves the power issue. Should be ready to run some gas through then. 

Ha. Mud was keeping the rear driveshaft boot from leaking fluid. Gross. Its leaked a puddle this morning. You just cant get a good $200 ATV anymore.

Indeed. It was pretty nasty from rain splashing up mud sitting behind the guys house. 

Picked this gem up today for two Benjamin's. Bike is complete, just worn out all over. Should be able to get the plastics back green, need to fix the shifting as it doesnt go into neutral, carb has been off 6 months but the intake was plugged off and he had an OEM carb that just needs rebuilt. Rear brake drum is completely seized in the open position. Normal relay, solenoid, wires are trashed. Think itll take about $100 to get it rideable which isnt bad for a $900ish bike. 

I would agree Jacob, if there were electricity to the ignition. On this bike it kinda works for a bit and then doesn't at all. Ohm testing showed the reg/rect to be bad. If it were the relay there would be 12V to the switch all the time. 

The Kodiak is a 93, reg/rect fits 93-95.  Found one on feebay for $10, second hand OEM.

Chinese new. Is about $50, decent aftermarket is $150ish. Time to scour the interwebs for one 2nd hand OEM. 

Ah, reread the ad I bought it from, 1998. 

Carb is missing and it wont shift to neutral/reverse but that's probably not a deal breaker. $200 is cheap enough to put some man hours in. 

Thanks, thought I had it figured out. One diode is not OL, but it's far below the resistance of the other 2. Tells me it's basically shot. 

I love bringing them back from the dead too...Just bought a 93 Big Bear that's mostly intact, think it's all there in boxes and parts.  Bought it for nothing so this one should be fun.

I don't have a ton of electrical experience, but I think the basic workings of a regulator/rectifier are pretty straight forward.  3 diodes, so 2 power wires and 3 diode wires.  Symptom is relays click on/off, more or less no power, sometimes will work, mostly no electric to switch, can jump solenoid and it runs. 

If i understand a reg/rect correctly, i should have constant resistance one way on each power wire.  So in a total of 12 ohm tests (3 per power wire, one way positive, one neg so 6 for one wire, 6 for the other), i should have 3 resistances one way on each power wire, am I correct? And they should all be reasonably close in resistance?

If i understand the way the reg/rect works correctly, then I have one bad diode as it doesn't read the same as the other 2 and this would be the cause of my issue?

All testing performed on the reg/rect unplugged on workbench, with a Fluke.

Thoughts?

Looks like a chunk of paper gasket left on the right side in the 2nd picture.  If you don't get that cleaned off and the mounting surface flat all the way across you'll break an ear off the new part tightening it up.

What do you mean specifically by locked up?  If the motor truly locked up it would be pretty unlikely to run again.

Thankfully not mine. This POS went back home today. Bowl drain still leaks after it sits 10 minutes but whatever. Probably overtightened at some point and ruined the seat. 

Whew, finally got it sorted. Multiple soaks, lots of compressed air, change needle setting a few times. still needs to be run good and pilot screw set correctly but its 99% perfect. This one was ragged so much in the past that none of the standard carb settings work. Had to work through it one change at a time. 

I'll check that one out, thanks.  I like that it says "Vapor harmful, skin and eye irritant.  Combustible".  I think the Berryman Chem dip says "safe for use on birthday cakes"

I'd add that based on personal experience, the O'Reilly brand carb cleaner seems to be about the strongest on the market i've seen.  Not sure who makes their store brand but it's wicked strong.  It'll peel paint.  It's real close to carb cleaner from 20 years ago.

BTW, anyone know of a true chem dip anymore?  even the Berryman "professional" chem dip is about as strong as dish soap.