Tell me what you guys think... 2001 Polaris Sportsman 400 Was idling, stalled, and now it won't start again. Brand New spark plug. Battery is good. When testing the spark plug, it sparks only sometimes, not consistent. So we started looking at the ignition coil. Ignition coil primary resistance is supposed to be 0.3 ohms, it was at 1.5 to 3.0. Secondary resistance is supposed to be 6.3K ohms, it was at 6.0K ohms. I should also add that the coil is receiving 12 volts as measured with the multimeter when the engine is turned over, so I at least know that the power is getting that far. So the coil resistances are off and it's receiving power from the battery through the CDI, but are the resistances out-of-spec "enough" to cause inconsistent spark like this? What else could be the problem if the coil isn't it?
Both of those resistances are probably fine, although the primary is a bit out of whack. I would definitely not worry about the 6.0 vs 6.3 kohms on the secondary. FYI, it looks like 0.5-2.0 ohm is a pretty normal range for primaries: http://www.ngk.de/en/technology-in-detail/ignition-coils/maintenance/diagnosis/ When you say that the spark is "not consistent," how inconsistent is it?
It'll spark the 1st time (sometimes) when you try to start it (either using e-start or pulling the cord). But it never continually sparks while the engine is cranking. I'm reading up on common problems with this quad - what I'm finding is that the kill system sometimes causes problems because it shorts out or something. A common troubleshooting technique apparently is to disconnect a black wire coming from the CDI, which basically disengages all kill switch functions. I might have him try that next.
