dead sled 99vmax500, Ive checked a lot of things but still no results

FF-Tony

FF-Tony

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Sep 8, 2010
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Minne-SNOW-ta
The back story: 99vmax500sx, rebuilt motor with about 30 miles on it, and the fuel has been stabilized last winter and the carbs are clean and rebuilt with only 1 ride on them.

So with the first snowfall of the year brought me my first ride and my sled ran AMAZING! Well was gonna start it here a few days ago and pull after pull brought no signs of life, even a dusting of cold start in the air box (which is usually my last resort and it works) brought nothing.

First thing I found after searching is possibly a fuel problem, but being the carbs are freshly cleaned and rebuilt for my altitude, and the fuel was stabilized to the best of my ability I moved to possibly a spark problem. I threw in 2 new plugs and tested the ignition coil by pulling the plugs out and setting them on the block. At first they weren't sparking but I jiggled the wires and tapped on the ignition coil and now I have even blue sparks on both plugs.

So next was stator but when I pull on er the dash lights and headlight flicker with each pull so... :dunno:

As far as my research I'm lost on more things as this sled is my first and my teaching tool in the sled world.

I also saw you can do a little mix and gas and pull the plugs put the mix in and replace plugs and see if it'll fire... is this true?

I also saw that possibly disconnecting the kill switch and then pulling on it might yield results???

Thank you all for your input, I thoroughly love TY and the support all of the members offer!

Tony :dunno:
 
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Going to give you one answer then ask a few questions myself. Yes you can put premix down plug hole to test fire, ALOT of us do this as part of the routine for seasons first fire up on our hard starting SRX's. Now for my questions. You say "carbs clean with 1 ride" and later say "freshly clean carbs" When were carbs cleaned? Fuel in tank fresh?
 
Fuel in the tank is not fresh but stabilized from last year (which yes I know BAD BAD BAD) I rebuilt the carbs last year in the absence of the white stuff, with the help of a member on here I rebuilt them to fit the altitude of my new residence. In this process I also cleaned the bejeezus out of every surface I was dealing with. Like I stated it ran amazing about 2 weeks ago and even this summer I would start it periodically and never an issue until now.

As for your answer regarding the premix, how much, is safe, obviously not fill them up but how much is good?
 
^X2^. If engine was ran after carbs were cleaned that means fuel has sat in carbs all summer. Doesnt take much to get carbs off track now a days.
 
Like I stated it ran amazing about 2 weeks ago and even this summer I would start it periodically and never an issue until now.


You left out the 2 weeks ago part, now re-reading it it makes sense snow came 2 weeks ago and it ran great. To address the "summer and periodically starting it" to use your description this is BAD BAD BAD as well. Carbs may or may not need to be cleaned, I suugest checking them anyways. If theres very much of that old gas drain it. If it didnt fire on the "cold start" may be dealing with a bigger issue.
 
I will drain the gas and put it new, sorry for not clearing up that it HAS ran already this season, When I pull the best I can describe it is like to when you try to start a sled without a key it will trun over while your pulling but there is just no life, would it narrow my issues if I disconnected the kill switch or key port and then tried does this even work?
 
if you have spark I dont think you have a problem with the killswitch or keyswitch. I just noticed the having to wiggle wires and tap coil though to get spark. thats not right.
 
Yes. At first no spark then I jiggled the wires and 'love tapped' the ignition coil with the business end of a wrench and then had spark. But since then I've had spark each time I have checked but still no action. I will try some premix down the plug holes tomoro and see if it wont go but the only other thing Ive seen is possibly CDI?
 
Just going to throw random thoughts out for you to check off the list. Sled needs continuois spark to run, follow up on that jiggling/tapping and make sure spark is steady. If not look for loose conections/rubs/mouse chews. Fuel is part of the equation. To little or too much sled wont run, If sled was severely flooded even cold start (this is either right) wont get em going some times. Lastly engine needs to be able to breath so to speak. We recently had a thread where a rag was left in air box and choked carb off. If a rodent has built a home in the airbox or exhaust in the last two weeks this would also explain your symptoms.
 
FF-Tony said:
Yes. At first no spark then I jiggled the wires and 'love tapped' the ignition coil with the business end of a wrench and then had spark. But since then I've had spark each time I have checked but still no action. I will try some premix down the plug holes tomoro and see if it wont go but the only other thing Ive seen is possibly CDI?
Click to expand...

If at first you had no spark this would point towards sled may have flooded out...adding fuel down plug holes will only make worse.
 
Your love tapping of the ignition coils likely helped the bullet type connectors on the coils make a better connection. These are the small connectos on the individual coil wires. You'll want to periodically check with a spark plug out of the cylinder to make sure you continue to get a good spark throughout the trouble shooting process. I have worked on sleds that have had both carb and ignition problems with teh spark coming and going throughout the process. This makes for a very confusing and frustrating time.

Before you put some premix in each cylinder, do the spark test with the all teh plugs out of the cylinders. If you have a good spark at all 3 cylinders, pour a small amount of premix into the cylinders, install teh plugs and crank it over. It should start briefly. You could try this a few times and if it consistently starts, then you know you have a fuel delivery problem.

Also, go easy on tightening the spark plugs, don't tighten the heck out of them, just snug.

Did you check inside the airbox to make sure it is clear of mouse nests?

Kepp us posted........

Jim
 
JIm, I have been getting consistent blue spark out of both plugs since the love tap, before vie love tap I did not. The air box is clean and open as far as I can tell, so should I dothe premix down the holes or somehow check for flooding
 
you can pull the plugs and pull the engine over a bunch of times to help dry out any possible flooding. I'd try the premix down the cyls first. If it has spark and compression and doesnt fire with premix in the cyls then it is likely flooded.
 
FF-Tony said:
IF I run with the flooded line of thought what's the way to correct it?
Click to expand...

When you had plugs out testing for spark was there any sort of mist coming out as you pulled ot over? If yes this supports flooding. Most of the time you can pull the plugs and pull it over 10-15 times to clear the cylinders. If you can run out and pull the plugs and let it sit overnight it should evaporate out, as long as its in some sort of shelter.
 
Ok thank you all so much for the great info!!! I will try mix tomoro and see if itll fire and report back, if it doesn't I will try drying them out and I could wheel it back in the garage overnight tomoro night if need be!!! I will report back tomoro!
 
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