SRX Intermitent starting problems?

F

flying_fin

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Joined
Jul 26, 2003
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Location
Howell, MI
Info only guys. I was up in the Keweenaw with a buddy of mine who had a 2002 SRX and all of a sudden it wouldn't start in Copper Harbour. It ran great with no problems until we got out of the Mariner after about 1.5 hours. He gave it the first pull and the head linght blinked then nothing. We pulled for a little while and just could not get the head light to blink. Checked the plugs and had no spark. Changed them anyway and still nothing which ment electrical. At this point, late at night, we did the old pick it up and drop it method because we figured it was a loose wire. Lowe and behold it started and ran long enough to get us home with no issues. Took it to the dealer the next morning in Houghton (great dealer and got it right in). They found that the wiring harness as it goes underneth the engine gets rubbed a little and causes a short. They fixed it and hooked us back up in about 3 hours. Cost him only $100 bucks. I would have thought it would be 5 times that down state, since they had to pull the engine and everything to get to the problem. They said this is quite common for these sleds and knew right away what to look for. Anyway, they are a great Yami dealer and if you have a similar problem, I hope this helps. :yam:

Da Fin
 
yes that is a very common problem on srx's and vipers, and they WILL short at some point.
 
You can unhook it in the front and slide it back enough to get to the rub spot. It rubs just below the carbs.
 
I checked that wire, the tape was messed up, but all the wires are fine.

My sled is having intermittent cold starting problems. It started for about 30 seconds on friday then died... a few pulls later, it started for 15 seconds. Then, nothing. I went out today and it wouldn't turn over. I had my father-in-law-to-be try to start it so i could check for spark... nothing. The plugs are brand new, with no carbon on them.

The lights were lighting up (taillight, guages, and headlight) everytime i'd pull the cord.

Any ideas on what could be wrong? A lot of times, if i stick a heater in the engine bay, it'll help it turn over and start.
 
maybe this.......??????

one problem I have run into before is the relays, the load and light, (white and blue in color)located on the pto footrest side will get moisure in them and act all funny like what your describing, and the sled may run fine, then after the 4th stop at night, it would act up, not start, or run with no lights for about 5 mins, then poof, everything was fine again. but anyways, I took off the relays and placed them on a woodburner register overnight, they got good and warm, dried out the moisture and never had another problem with it. I wash my sleds all the time and I think the hose may have gotten some water in there and when it froze, it would act up. just a idea to try.

When you said if you heat it up in the garage it helps, this is what made me think of my problem, was the same way.
 
Sounds like that could be the problem.

Against my will... the sled was stored under a blue tarp on the trailer all winter, so moisture DEFINITELY could've gotten in there and frozen up.

I can only get to the sled on the weekends, but that will be the first thing i try on Friday night when i get back.

The heater is one of those little electric oscillating heaters, i prop it up on the pipes and aim it towards the air box (well, downward a bit, more towards the carb rack)... does this sound like it'd thaw out the relays you're talking about?

Thanks a ton by the way... i was so frustrated yesterday i wanted to sell it... or push it off a cliff, either way.
 
From another thread:

mrviper700 said:
ok, the yellow wire comes from the magneto plug, then to the voltage regulator,headlight hi-low dimmer sw., from there to the hi-low beam indicator light, and to the headlight. So the next thing I would ask is, does the sled have a 80-100watt bulb in it?, Does it have a heated shield wire spliced in anywhere? trace down the wire and see if its damaged anywhere under the handlebar pad and various locations listed above. Check the bulb in the headlight as well, I have seen some aftermarket bulbs simply overdraw what the system can handle and the ol 98-99 sleds were only 175 watt systems. This melts the wires. check the ground on the voltage regulator, and the main ground wire on the harness on left side of sled behind clutch guard. I have one other thing in my mind that could be wrong with it, but will wait to hear from you on this stuff first.
Click to expand...


The sled has an aftermarket bulb in it... i'm sure it's overpowered... could this cause the hard start / no spark condition if one of the connections are corroded?
 
try relays first

on a 2000 and newer, usually the headlight bulbs are not a problem, they have 300watts and supply the power needed.

I would take off the screws for the vented dash panel (above the footrest on clutch side), and youll see the 2 relays there, a blue one(lighting) and a white one(load control), take them off and go place them somewhere where they will get baked but not melted, leave them there at least overnight, this may just cure the problems for you, it worked on mine.

if you get frustrated, just dispose of the sled here in Ohio at my driveway......LOL :WayCool:


just kidding
 
The sled is a 99... so i guess the electrical supply could be a problem, no?

I'm definitely goign to dry the relays out, i just want to find out all the probable issues, so i can check 'em all this weekend...
 
ok, lets shift gears here...

well if a 99 then check out the headlight wiring, I thought this was the guy below describing his 2002

Anyways, on a 99 its a good idea to check the wiring harness, have you ever checked the harness under the motor? I mean unhook it from the hood harness and pull it out by the back of the recoil to really look it over good, it only takes 1 strand of wire to cause you all kinds of headaches.

another thing I have seen happen is the flywheel gets rusty on the pick up magnets and you can clean the flywheel with a sos pad and wipe it off with wd40, if they get corroded or rusty, they are hard to start, not a temp related problem but none the less something to check on a sled stored outside.

have you had the plugs out and pulled it over to confirm you have no spark?
 
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Sorry for the confusion, i decided to revive this thread rather than start my own, since it seemed like it was along the same lines.

I checked the harness under the motor yesterday, didn't see any glaring issues, the electrical tape was missing for some of it, but other than that, it seemed fine.

I'll have to check the flywheel as well.

I did pull the plugs yesterday and wasn't getting any spark from any of them.

I really appreciate the help, this thing is a great sled when it's running and the TORS isn't kicking my a$$, but as of lately i've spent more time trying to fix it rather than riding it.
 
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if tape was gone it was rubbing!!

pull the harness back out and retape each wire seprately, if the tape was gone you have issues there, I could almost bet on it. You need to pull it out to work on it, you cant do it in the sled, when your done there, put it in black convolute tubing and reinstall, youll never have another problem with it again.

Everytime the harness is rubbed thru it shorts out the electrical system, all it takes is 1 fine strand out of 1 power wire to touch the frame, this will cause you all kinds of problems
 
Good deal, i'll definitely do that.

What's the easiest way to get that thing back through, wire snake?
 
The best way is attach a string to it before you pull it out. If you have it out already it is easiest to get the pipes out of the way and you can also use a wire to hook it when you push it under from the other side.
 
Ok, i'll try that route, seemed to be a pretty tight fit down there, hopefully the harness doesn't give me any trouble coming out.

I don't have the sled with me right now, is there a connection on the back end of this harness? I know there's the one right by the hood hinge, what about near the coolant reservior?
 
ok boys, i found out why it wasn't getting spark:

There was a red and white (or maybe red and black, not sure) wire that looked like it had been cut in half and then ghetto rigged back together up by the headlight, well it came apart and once i reconnected it, i was getting spark.

It still won't start though. I've got spark, and i've poured premix down the cylinders, and still nothing. Any ideas on what it could be? Dirty carbs? I need to get this thing fixed ASAP, since i'm bringing it up to Maine on Saturday morning and only really have Friday night to work on it. I really appreciate anybody's help on this one.

Thanks again,
Jigg.
 
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