Towed out my partner's M1000 - Troubleshooting Help Please!

[rbblrsn]

Saturday my buddy's lightly modded M1000 died about 25 miles back in. We struck out on troubleshooting so my M8 got to pull him all the way out. We sure passed by lots of good powder on the way home. Got back to the trucks with only a few bad stucks and by then it was definitely beer:30 and he was buying.

The sled was running strong like usual, then without warning it sputtered and died. No codes, no flashing lights, no nothing. It started briefly on the next pull but then nothing. To me it behaved like a fueling problem, but then we checked for spark and couldn't see even a weak spark using the screwdriver-in-the-plug-boot method.

Checked all connectors, nothing loose. The kill switch had been disconnected by the PO many hundred miles ago so that seemed ~OK. Used the usual amount of oil during the ride in meaning oil pump was probably OK, and it pulled over smoothly even when still hot - so I didnt think it squeaked a piston. Coolant level normal, no overheating.

He let it sit for a while while we took turns on the other sleds in the group, and then tried it again - it started on about the second pull but ran like crap and died for good. Still no codes, no dashboard lights, no nothing. So he pulled the belt and we started the extraction process.

I'm still thinking its a fuel issue, but what do you experts think? What other troubleshooting should have been done in the field?

 

[pernikm]

A friends 1K was running like crap and it was water in the pressure tube attached to the ECU...but his started, but ran like crap.

 

[mudslinger]

my m10 died on me this season with similar symptons. what we found was the wire that gives spark to the plugs broke off in the stater. I was just riding along and it died, no codes or anything but we had no spark. we re-sautered the wire and it fired right back up. thats happened twice on my sled, this second time we lengthend the wire so it shouldn't be a problem. not sure if thats your problem but somthing to check.

 

[rbblrsn]

Thanks, thats some good stuff.

Whats throwing me is that there was no detectable spark but then later it started...???

With the 2 plugs per cylinder do they both fire every stroke? Should I have checked all the plug wires (instead of just one per cyl?)

I think he's gonna take it to the dealer tomorrow unless something works tonight... we'll see what they know.

 

[9071000]

several of our group are having to change the wiring harness.3 in the last month.same symtoms as yours.

 

[black swan]

mmm

do you have risers? I've found 3" plus will cause problems down the road.
I hit a couple nasty 4' whoops at 60mph. the sled & i cleared the 2nd one, hit the 3rd landed past the 5th........long story the impact pulled my key-switch leads apart and they grounded on the steering post. Lots of thing to check but remove the heat-shield in front of the steeringpost and inspect the harnesss.
if its the stator, a resistance test might tell ya something but try to test it while hot if poss..
good luck,

 

[markoo]

My guess is a bad stator. Sometimes they will work again when it cools down.

 

[UPandOVER]

You might want to check the stator. I know of another M1000 that exhibited similar symptoms to this. It would run and then all of a sudden it would die. If left for a while it would start up and go again for several rides. Finally the stator died and would not give any spark at all.

 

[rbblrsn]

Thanks everyone. Sounds like Stator is the common theme here. I know he's got a 4 inch riser 'cause I sold him mine (after I got a fastlane 4" rise cromo post) so I'll tell him to check any wires or connectors that got stretched with that addition.

 

[PoWdErCuRlGiRl]

If it makes you feel any better I went through the same deal last Thursday.. The couple of rides before if the sled warmed up, and I shut it off I would have to let it sit a bit before it would fire up... Then on Thursday I was riding along as usual and it died. Checked the plugs wires ect, let it cool down fired up started running great... Thank gawd it ran long enough to get back to the trail, about 100ft down the trail headed for home dead again. Towed out and strait to the shop.. Haven't heard on the diagnosis yet. My biggest problem is the dang guages haven't worked since day one, replaced the guage a couple weeks ago and it still didn't work, so I'm worried I have a wire problem somewhere.

 

[mtaylor]

Had similar symptoms with my 07 m10, Found Bad wire to PTO side injector. Had wore thru and was grounding out?

 

[gopher-it!]

m1000

My guess is a bad stator. Sometimes they will work again when it cools down.

x2 ,09 m1000 stator gone at 600miles same symtoms

 

[chevota84]

had the same symptoms with my sled check the ground wire under the coolant bottle its hard to find mine had just comeoff and was making contact only once in a while and had no engine codes

 

[KMMAC]

Boy,,, sounds like the first thing that needs to be done when buying one of these is to take it apart when you get it home and reassemble it checking every wire bolt and bracket. Used to do this with dirt bikes, for the money these cost quality control should be better.

 

[MarcS]

I had a fairly similar problem...Sled just died suddenly, then would start up and die down the trail then run and die, and run and die..And sometimes the gauges would shut down and the sled would keep running..ended up being a kill switch wire shorting out with another set of wires..put some tape on it and havent had a problem since.

 

[bigbull]

Most problems that initially seem fuel related end up being electrical. This sounds like a stator consistently grounding a main line somewhere. Make sure and check the tailight wire as well as the suggestions above including the harness assembly. Dont install a new stator until you have checked every electrical run. If the stator is gone, then usually that is why on a newer sled. Is there a fuel controller of any type on the sled?
BB

 

[sledhed88]

Send your stator away to get rebuilt. Rm stator if ur in canada or theres one in the states too. 280$ vs 1000

Had the same prob too..

 

[rbblrsn]

He should hear back from the dealer soon with the diagnosis for what thats worth - Better be soon since its puking snow in SW Montana. Looks like Cooke picked up another ~15 inches WOOHOO!

 

[rbblrsn]

So my riding partner got his M1000 back from the shop.

The shop noted the same issues we did in the boonies, specifically that there was no apparent spark but then after a sit the thing would start and run weakly but sputter and die again. After checking every connector and doing some wire tracing with no success they decided to check the ecu. (For some reason they didn't just swap it out, maybe 'cause of a re-flash?) Anyway they pulled the ecu and warmed it up for a while. That seemed to solve it...started right away and ran great. Their verdict was moisture in the ecu that evaporated with the warmth.

Sounds a bit haphazard to me, but we'll just have to test it and see if I end up pulling him out again! Does this sound familiar to anyone? Is it a time bomb?

 

[high_psi]

My 08 M10 had many of these start and die symptoms. Let it sit for 10 min then you could pull and go about 5 miles and then it would die again. tunrned out to be water getting in the CDI wire harness plug. Took the connnector apart for 3 days to dry bought a new gasket, dialectric grease, siliconed it and bought the frog skin front nose cone filters to keep snow out of the front ran smooth ever since. Could be something this simple......just a thought.