help: 06 M7 randomly died (fuel, ignition, wiring ?'s)

[kartorium]

Problem: Riding down a trail, sled suddenly dies. I figure I accidently hit the kill switch which is exactly what it felt like. Nope, kill switch is up, key is on. Over the next 30 minutes I fiddle with connections pop the switch and key a bunch and manage to get it to randomly fire up just to have it almost immediately turn off again. Had to tow it home. Once home and playing with things I couldn't even get the random fire up anymore.

At this point I haven't had the chance to go through spark and fuel testing, but will soon.

I read up and find there are many electrical problems with the M7's. Tail light wiring, kill switch, tors, main harness. Are there any others? My friend rides an M7 as well so I can probably swap some parts over and determine which items are toast, but I can probably also do that with a tester.

At this point I've disconnected all the handlebar accessories and switches to negate them as the problem. I don't have a service manual though, so it's hard to figure out all the details. Is the kill switch circuit normally open when the sled is running, or closed? I figured open and therefore disconnecting the kill switch harness should allow the sled to run if the switch has a short. How about the key?

Which connector on the sled goes to the stator? Is it the yellow one coming up near the oil reservoir? Which connector disconnects the throttle override switch? Is it the one on the end of the throttle body near the oil reservoir? Is this also normally open?

Today or tomorrow I'll start actually diagnosing it for spark and fuel, but this info will help going forward.

What is the failure rate on fuel pumps, computer, and ignition components on these sleds? Any other ideas on what could be causing the problem? The sled was running fine and then this just seemed to randomly happen. At first I thought it was related to my chest bumping the handlebars.... but it doesn't look that way. The sled has ran great all season, I had a couple instances of some breakup and bogging earlier in the year but haven't experienced it lately.

As you can see I'm new to this sled, gonna order a service manual unless someone knows of a pdf download somewhere?

Thanks for any help!

 

[everytime5.9]

Hmm... sounds like you have awareness about the basics. Check the main chassis ground near the coolant bottle. And unplugging everything will still allow it to start you just have to kill it with the key. Could hot wire and test the fuel pump but just start with whether or not its getting spark and let us know. Also if you test with another m7 put your parts on his sled so you don't fry anything of his if you have a short.

 

[kartorium]

Thanks 5.9, any idea where the tors connector or switch is? In the handlebar unit or on the tb assembly?

Good thinking on the parts swapping. I'm not at the sled right now, but if I remember correctly I don't remember any lights (instrument or headlight) lighting up while pulling the cord....

 

[everytime5.9]

The throttle safety switch connection was behind the heat shield by the steering. Same for all the connections. I can't remember what was what. Some models have different coloring but i think mine was Tan,Purple with white stripe,and light red or something. Its tied into the kill switch so when the kill switch doesn't work you will know you have it.

 

[509kid]

hey bud, i have the same problem, it just died on me too, i have put two (good) working ecu's on my sled, brand new coil, unplugged all the wires to the handle bars, and put dielectric grease on all the connections, nothing has worked.... stator and wiring harness are next. been working on it for awhile now.

 

[everytime5.9]

hey bud, i have the same problem, it just died on me too, i have put two (good) working ecu's on my sled, brand new coil, unplugged all the wires to the handle bars, and put dielectric grease on all the connections, nothing has worked.... stator and wiring harness are next. been working on it for awhile now.

Spark + Fuel = Combustion

Your replacing everything electrical have you verified that you have no spark? First test to do.

 

[ippielb]

Throttle safety switch will allow the sled to run, but not engage the clutch so once you give it gas it cuts out. Check out your ECU, take it off and take a peek under it, see if it's bubbling or cracked. My sled also burnt 2 ECU's, it stinks. Bad. Even goes through ziploc bags.

 

[kartorium]

Thanks for the answers guys. I found a manual and will be hitting it tomorrow afternoon/eveing to do some more diagnostic work.

I haven't looked in this manual yet, but anyone got a quick answer on which connector is for the stator?

Our season is finally here, I don't have time to be dilly dallying with a broken sled.

 

[everytime5.9]

The stator is the biggest one. Its Grey.

 

[509kid]

yes i have good spark its just not consistant, it goes good, good, weak, weaker, nothing everytime you pull the rope.... good fuel pressure too.

 

[snowrunner]

I know this sounds kinda dumb but try changing the spark plugs. I had mine randomly die about a week ago. Pulled it off the trailer just fine from a trip with friends. Let it sit in the garage for a few days. Go to load it up and it wouldn't start. Checked everything that everyone mentioned and nothing. Don't know why but I swapped in some new spark plugs while I had the pipe off doing some other checks. Put it back together and it fired on the first pull. I put the old plugs back in to double check and nothing, wouldn't fire. Put the new ones back in and it was good. I have know idea why they would randomly go bad even though they showed good spark. Worth a try if nothing else.

Tracy

 

[_AJ_]

Wiring Rub

I remember this sleds having issues with a wire rub in the area of the tail light.

It shorts intemittently and acts like a kill switch.

Pull the seat and tail light to inspect all the wiring to the back.

Hope that helps.

AJ

 

[doornenbal]

going through the same thing on my m1000 lets stay in touch... my thread is just below yours might be some good advice for you in there a well

 

[kartorium]

Thanks Door.

Got to the sled today. Spark is weak, sometimes non-existant. Cylinders have fuel. Check engine light breifly flashes when you pull the cord, but no dash lights and no headlights.

I'm downloading the manual right now to check reistance and voltage ranges.

Right now I'm guessing the stator is toast.... kinda of a wild guess at this point though.

 

[kartorium]

New development. We press the throttle down a little bit and get spark, she even tries to run for a second. Throttle control switch and kill switch seem to be testing out fine.

The manual simply states to adjust the throttle cable.... we are going to try that, but it tells you to adjust the cable based on the gap between the housing and thumb lever which is sloppy as all hell.

Is there something else that reads throttle position and is related to spark?

We noticed an obvious increase in spark visually when we depressed the throttle a bit. However, unlplugging the kill switch/throttle switch connector by the handlebars didn't seem to make it start or change spark output.

Thoughts?

 

[kartorium]

After adjustment of throttle cable it seems the spark has diminished again. Doesn't want to fire again.

Now I'm questioning if it is even throttle related. I don't see how depressing the throttle a tiny bit could magically give it spark, especially when the switch tests out good.

Can the TPS cause a no spark or weak spark situation?

 

[B C]

Check your grounds.

 

[kartorium]

main ground cleaned and good to go. We have spark, and fuel, it just seems the spark is kind of weak.

The only thing that tested out of range is the ignition timing sensor. I'm trying to figure out if that will cause the no run situation.

How many volts is the stator, coil 1 and coil 2 suppose to put out when you pull the cord?

Thanks.

 

[kartorium]

So, I've ruled out the ECU. Pulled one off my friends sled and it's not the problem. Put his coil on my sled and spark seems to be somewhat weak but better than what mine puts out. Spark is noticably weaker overall on my sled compared to his.

We've noticed that my sled is dumping huge amounts of fuel into the cylinders. You can visually see significant amounts of fuel pump out when you pull the cord. The other M7 doesn't have any fuel coming out of the cylinders when you pull it. So we disconnected the injectors and pulled it, same thing for many pulls, tons of fuel spurting out. I'm guessing this isn't normal, and is probably causing some of my problem.

Looks like no one really wants to help anymore, so I guess I'm talking to myself, maybe this documentation will be useful to someone else.

 

[509kid]

i have the same problem, its not the coil,or the ecu, it will be the stator or the wiring harness, possibly the timing sensor.... i will be going home soon to work on it. i will let ya know what i come up with.