900 Switchback Hard or no start sometimes

[jfoht78]

I have a 2006 Polaris Switchback 900 that I have been riding for 4 plus years. When I first bought it, it would always start within 3 or so pulls. It pulls hard but would always start. Starting last year or maybe the end of year before, every so often when trying to start it the motor will act like it is going to start(starts just enough to light dash/lights) and then it will die. Then you can pull and pull and pull and it will not start.
I have found that when it will not start there is no fuel pressure when pushing the pressure release valve. If I pull the plugs out and dump a little fuel down the cylinder and put them back and then try to start again it will fire right up. It will then run with no issues at all. I can then stop and start the motor with no issues until it randomly happens again. I have not been able to find anything specific that seems to cause it but it is usually after it has been warmed up and then sits for 30 min to 1 hour. The issue has been happening more and more often as time goes on but the sled has never left me stranded due to not being able to start it.

At the end of last season I started having charging problems and upon inspection I found that one of the wires from the stator had worn though and broke the connection. This has been fixed and I was hoping that maybe the wire grounding out had possibly been affecting the power to the fuel pump causing it not to pressurize.
Now that this has been fixed and tested again the problem still seems to be there but not quite as bad.
So far it has not had to have gas dumped down the cylinders but sometimes it will take 7-15 pulls to start it - but it has started every time.

Anyone have any ideas what may be causing this or ways to troubleshoot?

 

[94fordguy]

If you do have it happen again, try hitting the kill switch and pulling it once or twice, then attempt to start it again. When you do this, it helps to prime the system and build fuel pressure. Occasionally my 900 will do the sputter and die routine after it's been sitting for a long period of time and this always does the trick and it fires right up as normal after.

As to the cause of the problem, I'm not sure... weak fuel pump maybe?

 

[jfoht78]

Thanks for info. I have tried kill switch on off multiple times as well as key on off multiple times. Sometime each by themselves and sometimes together and doesn't seem to have an affect.
For the fuel pump, I have had it out and when hooking up to 12 volts it moves a ton of fuel but not sure that really tells me if it is getting week or not.
Is there a way to test what powers it when starting to make sure it is getting enough power? I have checked with a test light and it is getting some power at least. What sends power to fuel pump when first starting sled? Could it be capacitor or something like that sending week power to fuel pump and when it is started it then has enough power?

Never had a fuel issue when sled is running.