We have a 2000 Arctic Cat ZL500 EFI sitting in our garage. We want to sell it but want it to run first. Last year it acted up and we garaged it. Symptoms are it will start up and idle but it boggs down and dies when any sort of throttle is given to it. It also boggs so bad that it backfires. I havn't done much to try and diagnose it but need help on what I should look at. Spark plugs were changed and that is about it before I garaged it.

What should I look at? I have been told Injectors but at $250 a peice I would like to know how to test them.

Looking to sell it for about $1200 so putting a lot of money into it would not be benificial.

I don't really want to take it to the dealership and get raped if there is easy things to look at first.

Thanks

do the basics.

Check plugs or install new ones, Check the plug wires and cap boots they do go bad over time. make sure that you have fresh fuel in the tank. Give it a compression check both cyls should be close to each other.

check the throttle safty circut, or disconnect it for diagnossis.

9 times out of 10 on those ZR/ZL's the throttle safety switch/circuit is the culprit...unplug and see if it runs properly....just in case keep the parking brake engaged when running without the switch plugged in...better safe than sorry

my guess was the stator.

How many miles are on it?

It has around 3200 miles. I really can't remember to tell you the truth. Wife rode it awhile and I never touch it really. Load, unload, start, oil, and fuel. I am going to have to look at it this weekend and try to get it sold.

might be a broken reed.

Throttle safety switch. Cheap fix

compression check? efi does wierd shit to keep things running

its your safty switch on your throttle block pull the handle bar pad off and you will find a triple prong plug on the one going away from the handle bars (down into the sled) jump the male and female plugs beside each other if it runs fine buy a new throttle block. Remember while you do this the kill switch will not work

chris

I don't believe you have to jump it on a 2000. just unplug the three prong. I'm guessing stator or reeds though. But do the basics first. Bad gas does weird things.

Well now I am completely confused. Last winter, early in the season this sled left a friend stranded in the mountains and would not run. Got it home did some quick checking and would not run either.

So now fast forward about 10 months or so with not even a pull on the rope. yesterday decided to see if there was anything I could do quickly with it. Pulled the rope one time and nothing. Second pull started then died. Third pull fired right up. It did bog for a second but feathered the throttle and the damn thing ran. Got it all warmed up shut it down multiple times and it fired right up and ran somewhat fine. Still a few backfires but nothing close to what it was 10 month ago.

I don't get it. Today i will check the exhaust for anything clogged and I don't know what else to do. Sell it or see if it will continue to run first.

I'm guessing the stator too. I had a 99ZR600 that was behaving exactly like yours is. It ended up being the stator. Its any easy diagnosis. If I remember correctly all we had to do was ohm it out and one of the "loops" was open.

can you or anyone give me a better idea on diagnosing the stator. Ohm what? Need a little more details. Where exactly is the stator on the sled?
I have been blessed with good running sleds until this so I am kind of new on tearing one apart. If it isn't normal maintenance then I don't know a lot.

Today I took the exhaust totally apart and looked at the airbox. No obstructions there. I read under a search post that there is an LED under the ECU. When I pull it over I get one flash on the LED. Does this tell me anything? Started it up again in two pulls. Ran fine for awhile, then it acted up for about 5 minutes and then ran fine again.

So what does one flash on the LED tell me?

My guess is that one of the smart valves sucked some air inside the tank and the fuel pump was sucking air. Fill it wil fresh fuel and see what happens. When the sled sits, the pump can drop the fuel over time. That is why when you started it and it ran slow, it was just starting to pick up fuel.

~Fast

A couple of things to check before you go tearing into the stator.

First- check the coil and wires especially the caps. If the coil is cracked it would run for a minute fine and then bog and backfire as you described. Spray WD 40 on the coil and see if the sled runs better. ( WD 40 will prevent arcing in the coil for a short period of time) The wires and caps have been known to fail after time.

Second and most likely- Pull the Primary clutch and replace it with a Comet. If you haven't serviced an Arctic Cat clutch for 3200 miles, it's toast. My 93 Prowler suffered the same symptoms and the replacement clutch made all the difference. The clutch will not return the sheaves fully when they are worn and the motor will bog under the load at low RPM. If you can move the weights ( the cam arms ) side to side at all, the problem is the clutch.

PM me if you need any info.