2010 M8 electrical issues

ry · Mar 21, 2013

hi all,
my brother has a 2010 m8 ho 153 that i took to the bighorns 2 weeks ago. while out there riding on the first full day i lost the tach, headlights, tail lights, handwarmers, and the snowmobile began to run pretty rough and i believe it went into "limp mode"

anyways my first initial thoughts were that the voltage regulator was bad because it ran fine for awhile with no problems what so ever then it acted up. let it sit for an hour and it ran fine back to the lodge.

next morning got up to go try it again and it ran fine for about an hour til i shut the motor off, next thing ya know its running like garbage again and no headlights etc. the tach did turn on enough to flash a code for the powervalves being out of adjustment but that was all it did. it didnt show any rpms/mph etc.

i swapped the voltage regulator with a buddys sled and his ran fine with the suspected bad regulator...ok so now im stumped and am starting to wonder if it could be the lighting coil on the stator or something else?

id really appreciate it if i could get some feedback on this as i've tried over on hardcoresledder with no response whatsoever and havent had much help from a local dealer.

thanks in advance,
ryan

diggerdown · Mar 21, 2013

Sounds like the stator since it started to act up after running a while and then seemed better when it was cold again. He needs to get the ohm figures and check it out. It is way too common of a problem with the factory stators. Haven't figured out if they used too light of wire or a poor sealer over the wires. Stator corp used to do a very good job rebuilding them. someone on here said they are no longer in business but I see their web site is still up. Kev's in Canada does a good job too. There are probably a couple more I don't know about. good luck with it.

RDrangstveit · Mar 21, 2013

I had a similar problem with my M8 turbo. I'm running a headlight delete but I would lose power to my boost controller, a/f gage, and egt's which are running off my headlight circuit. I checked stator and it was ok. Traced every wire and ended up finding a cut wire underneath the gas tank. I removed all the wires under the tank and relocated them to the engine compartment. No issues since.

Our M1000 had the same issues, I found a loose ground wire located on the alum steering post behind the gas tank, right side of sled. Have to slide gas tank back to check it.

I would check the resistance on the stator first, if I remember the resistance should be 0.8 to .12ohms. Remove the stator connector, test between the 2 yellow wires. If its not the stator I'd clean all the connections and apply di-electric grease. If that doesn't work I'd start tracing wires. If you have a cut wire often times it will heat up(expand) then ground out against frame.

Hope this helps some, let us know what you find.

fasta76 · Mar 21, 2013

Check your Wires!! Under the tank and the tail-light are common problems for this!

RobertTrivanovic · Mar 21, 2013

fasta76 said:
Check your Wires!! Under the tank and the tail-light are common problems for this!

X2 on that one, I have my taillight wire short out and through me into limp mode, (it only did this once but its did kill the headlights and tach when I was in reverse and I was stuck in reverse) heres a video of how my sled acted http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3Nes1IpdLE

ry · Mar 21, 2013

i tested the stator a couple times today with different multimeters each time and found that all of the "windings" were extremely close to the specs i got from country cat (they emailed me the service manual) except for the lighting coil. the lighting coil is supposed to be .11Ω +/- 20% i got a reading from .3 - .5 this leads me to believe the stator is bad but i'm awfully unsure of myself on the deal when i read about the horrors of pinched/nicked wires.

i'll keep you all posted when i find out what it is.
more insight would be appreciated also!
thanks a bunch its nice when you post in a forum for help and advice and people actually reply!

m8magicandmystery · Mar 21, 2013

often you can simulate the problem of a suspect stator having issues when warm by generating heat via a halogen lamp etc in your recoil area to do a quick run test cold then warm...
as well a static test on the values of a stator with it cold then warm is a good idea as well..

and yep as mentioned above the tail light wire..which you can isolate by unplugging above brake rotor near tank..and the wires going from rotor side to clutch side can really get in a pinch if they were not just right in the wire track molded into the fuel tank..

last but not least...unplug all the wire plugs you can an put dielectric grease on them and replug them together...this will be one of the best preventative measure from other moisture related issues..

ry · Mar 23, 2013

Tried unplugging the tail light with no prevail. Does this rule out the pinched wire for the tail light? Also how do I get the tank off to see underneath it? Waiting for a stator in the mail so I'm checking a few other things first I guess to pass time and reassure myself

m8magicandmystery · Mar 23, 2013

ry said:
Tried unplugging the tail light with no prevail. Does this rule out the pinched wire for the tail light? Also how do I get the tank off to see underneath it? Waiting for a stator in the mail so I'm checking a few other things first I guess to pass time and reassure myself

yep...if you unplugged it up by the mag side bulkhead/fueltank/cooler area plug.

I just took out my rear tank bolts and loosened the shroud and the post support so i could jimmy the tank up and pull the wires foreward..

the following is what the manual says...but like i said i just loosened everything abit and didn't remove any of it..

(Crossfire/M-Series)
REMOVING
1. Trip the seat latches inside the storage compartment
and remove the seat.
2. Remove the console (see the appropriate Console
in this section).
3. Drain the gasoline from the gas tank.
4. Remove the two lock nuts securing the steering
post mounting blocks to the gas tank; then remove
the two lock nuts securing the gas tank to the chassis.
Disconnect the fuel hose and the fuel pump
two-wire connector; then remove the gas tank.
CM003A
INSTALLING
1. Install the gas tank onto the steering post mounting
blocks and the steering support; then secure the
gas tank to the chassis and to the steering support
with the four lock nuts. Connect the fuel hose and
the fuel pump two-wire connector.
2. Install the console (see the appropriate Console in
this section).
3. Place the seat into position and secure with the
latches inside the storage compartment

Console
(Crossfire/M-Series)
REMOVING
1. Pull the recoil starter rope outward; then tie a slipknot
in the recoil rope near the case. Slowly allow
the rope to retract to the knot.
2. Untie the knot in the end of the recoil starter rope;
then remove the handle from the rope. Account for
the cap.
3. Disconnect the wiring harness from the ignition
switch.
4. Remove the torx-head screws securing the console;
then remove the console.

ry · Mar 23, 2013

thanks m8magical...this whole deal really has me baffled and to top it off my brother just said he had a couple guys who wanted to come look at it this weekend to purchase....nothin like puttin a guy in a pinch

m8magicandmystery · Mar 23, 2013

well a stator from rm stator is reasonable...i think 175 bucks for reman...and you probably end up with a superor stator..

just saying,ya don;t have to give the sled away with the little problem...even ecu's,ccu's..are around 350 ish in swapmeets compared to A/C retail of 1400 bucks..

ry · Mar 24, 2013

yeah i know exactly what your saying but i guess he is selling for other reasons than stated above. i'm not sure he really enjoys snowmobiling all that much anymore. we live in the flats of eastern nd and he usually goes to the mtns 2 times a year. i'm not sure he thinks it justifies owning one for 2 trips a year plus a few miles around the flats here in the valley.

ry · Mar 25, 2013

well....replaced stator with a different one purchased from ebay only to find that nothing changed...F@#%! started looking at wires i had already checked and seemed to be ok. took a break. came back. started thinking that maybe the broken dimmer switch had something screwed up. pulled apart the switch "block" and found a melted wire connector for the left side hand warmer. thank goodness.

funny thing is it hadnt worked before so i pulled the grip to check to see that a solder handnt let loose and allowed a wire to ground out on the handlebar - guess i should've looked further into it...

thanks a million for the help and input from you guys, i really look forward to posting more stuff on here and reading through more threads!

MT Backcountry · Mar 27, 2013

CCU

The Chassis Control Unit is where I would go first ,but now second, since you did the stator. It controls all of the items you are having problems with. My M1000 started to flicker the headlights, gauges and taillights, No warmers either. Replaced the CCU and hundreds of miles later all is Good still. Did also find a pinched wire under the tank to the taillights before i replaced the CCU and didnt fix the problem till the replaced part was installed. My 2 cents worth.:face-icon-small-hap

ry · Mar 30, 2013

in 2010 when cat switched to the HO motor they quit putting a CCU on the snowmobile. must all be done through the ECU now? anyways its fixed and good to go just wish i would've found it earlier!

diggerdown · Mar 30, 2013

So why didn't you ever mention the bad dimmer switch when you were asking about possible problems? Glad you got it under control but you made a lot of work end expense for yourself by not giving this info out from the start.

PowderCrew · Mar 31, 2013

Good posts fellas! THIS is what SnoWest USED to be! At least the M section is back it looks like, glad im riding an M Cat! Good info right here!

ry · Mar 31, 2013

the dimmer switch isnt "bad" as in not working i guess i should've been more specific. the blue button for the dimmer pulled out and i was trying to figure out how to make it stay together - thats why i pulled the switch apart. live and learn i guess

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