catphe10 18 Posted November 9, 2021 Hello all, I just picked up an 83 big red. And I'm having a spark issue. I can only get it to spark intermently. I can go out and push the start button till the battery dies and not get one spark. Then go back to it after the battery is charged and it will fire the second I press the button. When it does start and run, sometimes it will run for 30 seconds sometimes it will run for an hour or more. My question is what is moet lilly the problem? And how do I test to verify? Thanks, 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wheeler 2,276 Posted November 9, 2021 I would check the coil & plug.. have u pulled the plug & grounded to verify spark? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catphe10 18 Posted November 9, 2021 I have use a new plug and grounded it to the block, same results only intermittent spark. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goober 1,547 Posted November 9, 2021 (edited) Does the battery pass a load test? I suspect CDI, maybe pulse generator and or stator take CDI and heat to try and revive it—temporarily—sometimes heating with hair dryer for a few minutes is enough. i heated mine in an oven for at least threes hours, no more than 200F. Let cool completely before you reinstall. Temp fix to isolate CDI use the oem parts finder at Rocky Mountain atv they have new CDI for $90 Edited November 9, 2021 by Goober 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,448 Posted November 9, 2021 my money say's either the stator is going bad ?, or the c.d.i. is going bad ?. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ATC4ever 881 Posted November 10, 2021 The pull starter will crank it faster than electric start, have you tried that with the plug out? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catphe10 18 Posted November 11, 2021 Well I think it was a combination of two items. The cdi and spark plug. I replaced the cdi and it picked up the amount of times it would spark on the new plug, grounded to the block. But still wouldn't run with the current plug in the block. I replaced plug and now seems to run great. I tried the old plug grounded to the block again but still would not spark. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishfiles 17,097 Posted November 11, 2021 On 11/9/2021 at 11:19 AM, catphe10 said: I can go out and push the start button till the battery dies and not get one spark. Then go back to it after the battery is charged and it will fire the second I press the button. When it does start and run, sometimes it will run for 30 seconds sometimes it will run for an hour or more. Sounds like a bad battery , that doesn't hold a load Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
