I recently bought a 1993 T-cat. It's in beautiful shape. The guy said he had it running in Sept his job called him away for the winter when he returned the sled wouldn't start he then found out his job permanently was moving him to Florida so he had no use for the sled and didn't even look at why it didn't now start. I got it to my friends house and found it has not spark. We have already did the bypass of all the switches. I have read the post of a guy that gives you step by step trouble shooting but I haven't had time to do it yet. My main question is to test a different cdi box just to see if that's the problem what cdi boxes will work to just test to see if I need a new one. Does it have to be a triple? I know pre 1997 are closed loop etc. If anyone has any pointers I would greatly appreciate it. It seems like no spark is common with these. I have read that the 1993 is the cdi box to have but to be honest I just want it to run. I feel I got a great deal on the sled it was $400. I figure I can put money into it.
Looks great for $400.00!! Likely it is the stator. Test it with an ohm meter and see what readings you get.
CDI boxes rarely go bad. It may also be the trigger coil or some call it the mag pick up on the casing by the recoil rope starter. That should test at about 175 ohms.
TCat446 is correct, problem is likely the stator or possibly the trigger. One other thing to check is the connections at the coils. On that old of a sled, the connections can get corroded. Unplug each wire, clean connections, apply dielectric grease, and plug back in.
I got the spark kind of fixed. I took some plugs apart and cleaned up things then I tapped on the trigger and then I had spark. I'm not really sure if it's it.is good spark though. It will start on starting fluid for just a few seconds then it's like it's not pulling gas. Any other input would be great.
If you tapped the trigger pulse sensor it may very well be a bad ground or the sensor itself. Sand the grounds and check for BLUE spark. Not orange. Did it ohm out to about 175? That may be the problem.
If you have a cheaper multimeter (like most), the resistance of the leads can make that much difference. Check the resistance by touching the leads together and then subtract that amount from your readings.
Mind you this is a cheap meter I used. I'll check tomorrow with my fluke. Green to black video says 25 I get 31. White to green video says 450 I get .473. White to black video says 475 I get .504. I don't know if that means anything or not. The trigger I get .193 ohms.
I used my fluke and the numbers are the same. Idk if it matters that they are all high or not. I know if they were low then it would be an issue but not sure about high. From what I can see there are about 3 grounds to check, is that correct?
Stators generally either show high resistance or opens when they fail. In order for the resistance to increase, you either have to gain wire length in the windings or the windings are breaking down. Sounds like you need a stator rewind. Don't buy an aftermarket stator, get yours rewound.
Get a hold of Kev on here. Send him a PM. He get you fixed up fast. Very trustworthy and reliable. He has done a few of them on here. Never a bad thing heard. I had him do a few as well. Very pleased.
I have been emailing back and fourth with Kevin. He is a great guy. I am still trying to figure out the spark issue. I am going to take the stator out and send him a few pictures. He is not 100% it is the stator I have redone every ground I can find and still no luck, I think I just need to take the guts out and see what's going on in there.
Keep in mind you (may) have a bad cdi. If you can get your hands on one from a buddy or buy one cheap, try it. My cdi would spark then not spark. I cleaned the connections in the gang plug and it would work. Did this like 3 times. I first thought it was the connection and then I thought it was a bad or broken wire in the harness to the cdi, ended up no spark at all now matter what I did. Good thing that happened in the garage!!! So, luckily I had another and changed just the cdi and left everything else the same (because I ohmed everything else out too) and sure enough, it sparked and was a better spark than it ever had. Can't wait for snow now!!
I've been looking for a cdi. My question is can I use any cdi from 1993-1997? I know they say the 93 one is tuned a little better but honestly I just want it to run. Unfortunately I can not find anyone that I know that has one I can try unless you can let me know on what years I can use to test.
You can use it to test yes. But to keep it on and run it the advance timing will not be the same. I don't think it will hurt anything, just won't run as good as it could.
You can use a zrt 600 to get buy with. They are way cheaper than the big blocks too. Try 96-97 if you don't have any luck finding the other one. Here's a couple:
If it turns out to be a cdi box where would I even go about finding one and about what do the 93's go for? I'm probably going to buy the 1st one for testing etc. But I've searched and can never seem to find the 93
LOL, your not alone. Keep looking on eBay or join other forums. Maybe post over on American Snowmobiler's wanted and for sale forums. I suspect they will go for 300 or more. If it was me I would check Craigslist and look for a 94-96 and call it good. I think for a trail sled you will never now the difference and it will work great. You will probably have better luck on Craigslist and score one from a parted out sled.
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