Overheating causing hard start?

[drwgblanks]

I have a 2000 warrior. Engine was rebuilt about a year and a half ago. It has run outstanding until last weekend. We were riding in really wet conditions but it was doing fine. However we were hauling ass on the way back and I hit alot of water hidden in a field. We stopped to take a break right afterwards and then it wouldn't crank back up. I finally got it cranked about 10 mins later and ran it about 30 yards and it died again. Same thing happened a few times and then it just wouldn't crank again. We tried pulling the filter off to crank it to no avail. I even tried wringing it out. It didn't seem as if it had gotten wet in there. We had limited tools with us. I haven't had another chance to work on it since then but was wanting some suggestions. It's almost like it was running too hot and then cooled off too fast. Is it possible I've hurt anything? Another thing, I changed oil to synthetic a couple months ago. I noticed white or possibly bluish white smoke. I immediately changed back the next day to a regular oil. It still smokes a little. I run mid grade fuel, always have. Possible it was running rich and a little hot or could it have been the oil? It always starts bogging out after doing lots of donuts or tight turns when it's under alot of low speed higher rpm loads.

 

[flyinacez]

It could be anything from electrical to engine. Make sure all electrical components are dried out! The white smoke does mean water and burning oil is blue smoke. You can definately tell the difference by the smell. Oil is awful!! Does it try and turn over, is their any electricity? Is their any compression? Find out these basic things and we will be able to help more. Buy a manual for $20 and it will pay for itself in no time. They are great, the have troubleshooting which just about covers most things you may ever run into!

 

[limited660]

You can download manual for free in my Service Manual post, but check the ignition coil and the connections to it, can you fire it the first time push starting it?

 

[drwgblanks]

Thanks for the replies. Yes it turns over. I'm pretty sure the compression is good. It very well could be an electrical component. I can usually crank it without giving it gas, but not this time. When I would turn it over and hold the throttle down, you could almost hear it sound as if it was choking out. Then when I would turn it over and hit the throttle as i was letting go of the start button, eventually it would finally start. Of course it only started 3 times and all of them lasted for short runs. It ran wide open just fine, but when I would let off the throttle it would die.

I haven't tried push starting it.

 

[flyinacez]

If it is starting, then you may need to check the carb. Also check the intake manifold aswell, sometimes they crack!

 

[drwgblanks]

Flyinacez, that's a scary thought. That could happen when it got cool too quickly too right? Is it repairable? Or would I have to order new?

 

[dswwarrior350]

They are 30 bucks new.. and i have one here if it is your problem and mine is fine.

 

[limited660]

Check your sparkplug and clean it no matter what it looks like, I had the same problem on my 660, run wide open, as soon as you pull clutch in it would stall out, I took plug out and wire brushed it, blowed it off with air hose, and put it back in and no problems now

 

[drwgblanks]

ok, so I got all of my fuel system pretty much cleaned. I think we've narrowed it down to ignition. I got it cranked today but it was not accelerating very well. It was popping and it backfired a couple times. Then it died. We finally checked the spark and we aren't getting anything. Yet every now and then we do. Any suggestions? What would cause it to get worse and worse? Could my coil be breaking down? Or would or be more like the cdi box? Please helpppp, I don't wanna miss next weekend's ride too.

 

[wie1086]

1st check your harness where it goes around the frame to the CDI. Need to pull rear plastic and unplug it from the CDI. The harness rubs the frame and grounds the system. If that checks out, odds are it is a stator problem.

 

[drwgblanks]

Well we started testing the ignition system today. Thought we isolated it to the spark plug cap. Man, that's a different way of making a spark plug wire. We tested it, took it apart, made a jerry-rig, tried everything....but still couldn't get a good reading. Finally got the damn thing running only to have it shut off again 5 min's later. (we got the correct readings(ohms)on everything but that cap) Well, the other day I remembered grabbing the cdi box and unhooking it, then rehooking it up later. It started briefly. I passed it off for nothing. After all else failed while testing it today....we messed with it some more. Found out the plugs going into the cdi weren't staying tight. After much trial and error, we zipped tied the connections to the cdi itself......and it ran all night like nothing was wrong. They simply weren't holding tight. SOB, I missed almost 3 wks of riding because of this simple crap. Wie, you were closest with your diagnosis......I thank you much. I looked for chafed wires to no avail before we looked elsewhere. But that led us back to the problem.