Had my sled running great back in September and it's sat since. Just go to start it up today and there is no spark. Had a ton of snow last night and when I cracked the hood the engine bay was full of snow. Putting this sled inside a heated building isn't an option.
Where should I start first? Part of me thinks that if I get the engine warm it'll run good, maybe the points are stuck and not functioning?
Check the key or kill switch if it has one. Unhook the wires and see if you get spark. The old kill switch on my 76 panther went bad and I had no spark. Why would you think warming it is going to do anything? It's made for the cold. Check all your connections real good under the hood and also the ground wires.
The kill switch appears to be aftermarket or from another machine. That was one of my first suspects and it was frozen in position, got it to move no but no luck.
I don't know much about how those old Panthers are wired, but do you have a way to completely bypass the kill switch? It still sounds like that could definitely be the culprit.
You can just disconnect the wiring harness from the engine (5 prong plug) and this will bypass all the switches. If there is still no spark than it is something like points or coils.
Removed the plug from the motor and no luck. It appears that I am getting a spark but I think it may be a weak spark only because when I got zapped it didn't hurt as bad as getting zapped from a car.
WIth the plug removed and the engine being pulled I can see the spark on the plug but for some reason the engine will not hit on gas or ether.I dunno
If it's getting spark, it sounds like you could have a fuel problem. Are the plugs getting too wet or fouled from trying to start it? I had a problem on my El Tigre where it had been running great, but then it just refused to start. I ended up rebuilding both carbs. I never found what exactly was wrong, but I think a needle may have been stuck open, and was flooding the engine.
That's the weird part because the plug is dry every time I pull it out. Has a faint hint of old musty gas but the tank is full of fresh gas and the carb was just rebuilt.
Not really sure. Is there a good way of checking? Removed the carb from the motor and it was clean with no obstructions in the way. Everything inside the motor looked good, too.
You can try a new spark plug if you have one sometimes that makes a big diffrence. What is the make of the motor and carb? Have you replaced any electrical or fuel components lately? Did you check your fuel filter for dirt or the fuel lines for ice?
I guess I was assuming that you had fuel getting to your carburetor. If you pull the fuel line of the carburetor and try to start it, fuel will spit out of the fuel line if gas is actually getting to the carb. If that is not happening, you have either a fuel line or fuel pump problem.
Fuel is definitely getting to the carb. Carb is an HR109A, engine is the kawi 292. Just did a rebuild on the carb in September and the sled was running beautiful at that time. Tried the new plug and no luck. I'm guessing now that there is spark the problem is fuel but it just doesn't make sense why it ain't hitting on ether. Only thing I can think of is that maybe I'm not pulling the engine over fast enough to get it going.
Ok give this a try, first take your spark plug out and connect it to the wire and put the tip against something metal on the head. Now pull the engine over and watch for a spark. Try your ignition switch in different positions when you do this. If you get a spark spray starting fluid down the spark plug hole put the plug back in and try to start it. If you get no spark the kawasaki 292 only had 1 black wire coming out of the engine that went to the m terminal on the ignition switch. Look for that wire outside the engine and you could try to unplug it from the switch. If you still get no spark you will have to take off the flywheel and look for shorted wiring or a bad ignition coil.
It shouldn't matter how fast you're pulling the engine over if you used to have no trouble. I've never used ether to start an engine, and I wouldn't see why that wouldn't work, but have you tried putting a little fuel/oil mix in the cylinder to see if it will hit? Your problem definitely seems unusual, so I bet there will be one tiny little thing that will fix it up right away once you find it.
Plug is not wet after trying to start it. Spark was non-existent or very weak when I first tried to start it but it's VERY healthy now so I can cross that off the list.
Noticed that the secondary clutch seems to be catching slightly when I try to start it up, the track spins as I'm pulling it over. Could that be part of the problem? This is probably why I can't get the engine to turn quickly and why it's so hard to pull over almost as if there's too much compression.
Exhaust is free and clear with no obstructions as is the carb.
Overall it's acting as if it's flooded but I'm gonna disconnect the fuel and impulse lines to see if that helps any. In the past no matter how badly flooded it's been it's always hit on ether or gas/oil mix...tried both and no luck.
rkade-
It's probably something mind-numbingly simple, always is LOL.
If the track is catching when it starts, could you have it set to idle too fast? I'm just typing stream of consciousness here, but that definitely seems unusual. When it was running good, what rpms did it idle at and about what rpm did the track engage? But fuel should still be getting to the engine. It really has to be something wrong with the carburetor.
Got it figured out somewhat. Took the belt off and ran the engine with no belt, fired right up.
To make a long story short the primary clutch is sticking. Ran the sled for a few minutes and the primary clutch is stuck as if the engine was at WOT. Tried lightly banging on it and lightly prying but no luck. I know I've got to apply some sort of lube to it, any ideas as to what and how can I get the clutch unstuck?