Please help. No spark problem. Ive done so much, and am ready to give up.

[Jay123452 0]

So about a month ago I bought a 02 foreman 400. trx400fw (if relevant) didn’t have much experience with wheelers before all this, and am kinda stuck now. Previous owner 100% sunk it and he said it sat for about a year. Wheel bearings where shot. Back breaks were locked up. Solved those issues. Wasn’t getting spark. Battery is shot but electric start worked from a jump and so did lights. I’ve replaced the cdi box, the starter solenoid, rectifier, kill switch panel, ignition coil, and spark plug. Previous owner also said it smoked when it ran, I pulled the motor out, replaced the stator, and bought a 450 top end kit, cleaned the valves, new valve seals, etc etc. top end seems tip top, compression is great, current problem is when I try the electric start all I get is a click. Even on a jump. I thought maybe bad ground, all grounds were cleaned, still just click. I checked all the wiring since I remounted the motor and everything seems fine, really don’t know what to try next. I took the starter off and put the negative of the jumpers on the metal and positive to the positive of the starter and it spun like it works…. Please help I don’t know what to do lol
So in a recap the electric start worked before I pulled the motor off but didn’t get spark. Now for some reason the starter works when jumped off the bike but won’t do anything except click when on the bike….

side note, when on jumpers the battery was getting 13v, and the starter was getting 3v on the crank

update: new starter is in, I ran tests with the multimeter and at this point, I have a scary feeling that I might not have set the starter gears correctly when reinstalling the stator. But I’m honestly not sure…. Battery is still being jumped everytime, was getting 12 ish volts to the battery, same current to the solenoid on the battery side, and I got 3.4v off the starter side of the solenoid on the crank. Switched back to original, 12 off the battery side, but this time 4ish volts off the starter side on the crank. What could be happening? I’ve done so much and am running out of ideas

Update: Ended up being the idler/starter gears. resolved that problem, now back to the initial no spark. almost everything has been replaced now, starter, battery, stator, cdi box, rectifier, starter solenoid, ignition coil, spark plug, and kill switch/light panel. The only other thing I can think of is the wiring harness, everyone keeps telling me to bite the bullet at this point and take it to a shop, but I believe I can figure it out, I'm just not that good at diagnosing, nor do I have any experience with fourwheelers. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

[Fishfiles 20,147]

Welcome to ATVHonda ----- you mentioned  changing parts >>. Did you buy OEM Honda parts , or , did you buy amazon prime / ebay aftermarket chinese parts ----- the majority of aftermarket electrical parts are junk ----- if you did not use OEM parts , put all OEM parts back on the ATV  and then start with changing the CDI 

[Jay123452 0]

13 hours ago, Fishfiles said:

Welcome to ATVHonda ----- you mentioned  changing parts >>. Did you buy OEM Honda parts , or , did you buy amazon prime / ebay aftermarket chinese parts ----- the majority of aftermarket electrical parts are junk ----- if you did not use OEM parts , put all OEM parts back on the ATV  and then start with changing the CDI 

Okay, I have heard this from a few people. I did take the cheap route with parts and ordered through amazon. I'm thinking that before I spend even more money, I should try everything that the troubleshooting says in the owners manual first maybe? I would hate to spend another 100 bucks on the cdi box and that not be the problem. There is a way to test the cdi box correct?

[shadetree 5,973]

1 hour ago, Jay123452 said:

Okay, I have heard this from a few people. I did take the cheap route with parts and ordered through amazon. I'm thinking that before I spend even more money, I should try everything that the troubleshooting says in the owners manual first maybe? I would hate to spend another 100 bucks on the cdi box and that not be the problem. There is a way to test the cdi box correct?

your worst, and biggest mistake was buying china parts from amazon !!!, china parts...equals china results !!..BUY OEM PARTS FROM HONDA !!. i get it..you wanted to save a few bucks with cheaper parts ?..BUT YOU CAN NOT CHEAP OUT ON HONDA  ATV PARTS...EVER !!. buy only oem parts, and most of your problems will be solved.

[Fishfiles 20,147]

1 hour ago, Jay123452 said:

Okay, I have heard this from a few people. I did take the cheap route with parts and ordered through amazon. I'm thinking that before I spend even more money, I should try everything that the troubleshooting says in the owners manual first maybe? I would hate to spend another 100 bucks on the cdi box and that not be the problem. There is a way to test the cdi box correct?

 

The only way  I know  to test a CDI is swop the one in question with a known good one

 

the only substitute for a oem cdi is a Rick's Motorsport 

 

 TRX400FW  CDI by Rick's >>>.   only buy a Rick's CDI direct from Rick's Motorsports , there are a lot of fakes out there  , they are about $85 which will save you about $40 over OEM , 

https://ricksmotorsportelectrics.com/Hot-Shot-Series-Honda-CDI-Box-15_610

 

Some say stick the CDI in the oven at 450 degrees for 8 minutes and it can bring it back to life  by resoldering the connections 

[Jay123452 0]

On 5/27/2022 at 7:12 PM, Fishfiles said:

 

The only way  I know  to test a CDI is swop the one in question with a known good one

 

the only substitute for a oem cdi is a Rick's Motorsport 

 

 TRX400FW  CDI by Rick's >>>.   only buy a Rick's CDI direct from Rick's Motorsports , there are a lot of fakes out there  , they are about $85 which will save you about $40 over OEM , 

https://ricksmotorsportelectrics.com/Hot-Shot-Series-Honda-CDI-Box-15_610

 

Some say stick the CDI in the oven at 450 degrees for 8 minutes and it can bring it back to life  by resoldering the connections 

appreciate the help guys. About to order a ricks motorsport cdi box right now, and put all the stock parts back on. I'll let you guys know what happens.

[shadetree 5,973]

1 hour ago, Jay123452 said:

appreciate the help guys. About to order a ricks motorsport cdi box right now, and put all the stock parts back on. I'll let you guys know what happens.

i sure hope you get a REAL rick's c.d.i. ?..most out there are fakes.

[Jay123452 0]

19 hours ago, shadetree said:

i sure hope you get a REAL rick's c.d.i. ?..most out there are fakes.

Ordered from the link that @Fishfiles dropped up there ^ so I hope so 

[Fishfiles 20,147]

34 minutes ago, Jay123452 said:

Ordered from the link that @Fishfiles dropped up there ^ so I hope so 

That link I posted is their website and you will be good from that , I just checked it again ----  personally ,  I always order from them on the phone cause I hate ordering on the internet 

[Jay123452 0]

On 5/31/2022 at 2:04 PM, Fishfiles said:

That link I posted is their website and you will be good from that , I just checked it again ----  personally ,  I always order from them on the phone cause I hate ordering on the internet 

Alright... So, CDI box came in, installed, still no spark. I put the oem coil, rectifier, and solenoid back on one by one testing spark in between each one and still no spark. I dont know what to do next... im going to do some testing with the multimeter...but im still stuck...

[shadetree 5,973]

9 minutes ago, Jay123452 said:

Alright... So, CDI box came in, installed, still no spark. I put the oem coil, rectifier, and solenoid back on one by one testing spark in between each one and still no spark. I dont know what to do next... im going to do some testing with the multimeter...but im still stuck...

ohm the stator out, see if you have an open circuit ?. a tad of info, spark ( or in this case, voltage ) starts at the stator, this voltage is AC voltage !!!, this ac voltage then goes to the reg/rec to convert this voltage to DC current. keep in mind !!. stators ( most honda stators ) have 2 charging circuits to them, one operates/recharges the battery, the other side sends current to the c.d.i. after it goes through the reg/rec.