I'm thinking I may have a bad clutch or some type of clutching problem. What I've got happening is that I can get my sled up to about 7000 rpms and it's running at about 55-60 mph and that's it. If I push the throttle any harder it's actually going backwards and starts to slow down or bog out. I've checked the throttle by disconnecting and using the bypass but still does the same. If it's not the clutch could it be something internal? It seems to be fine under 7000rpms except for punching the throttle at a dead stop. I put a different clutch in it last winter and added a new red cat spring this season. Everything is still stock in the motor. As far as suspension goes I added a firecat 128 suspension with custom cut TSL and a 02 ZR 800 front suspension.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

It could be many things, dirty carbs, bad stator, Wrong clutch weights, helix. I had a sled once that acted the same way. I found out with the belt off just reving the motor it would only reach 7,000 rpm's. That was ported by someone without a clue what they were doing. Where in NY are you from? Dan

Dan thanks for the feedback, Thousand Islands above Watertown. It ran great last season and part of this season. One day went for a ride and during that ride I went to get on it and it just started bogging out on me. Both clutchs are stock and I was looking at pulling the carbs and cleaning them up as a next step.

Before I did that I was looking for some help from fellow riders here who may have experienced the same thing.

Before doing anything Id take all the conections apart where they plug in for the CDI and the Stator. Clean these with some electrical cleaner. It is very common for antifreeze to get on these connections and cause some strange things to happen. You could have a bad stator. You can call me if you would like. 607-343-4046 Dan

[quote name='DansBlown73Nordic' date='Jan 26 2008, 05:19 AM' post='3555102']
Before doing anything Id take all the conections apart where they plug in for the CDI and the Stator. Clean these with some electrical cleaner. It is very common for antifreeze to get on these connections and cause some strange things to happen. You could have a bad stator. You can call me if you would like. 607-343-4046 Dan
[/quote
Thanks! I'll do that, How would you know it's the stator? is there a way to test it or do you just buy the new one put in and cross your fingers that it's the problem? if it were the stator how hard are they to change? I know there not to cheap. I'll give that a shot the morning and see if helps it. Bill

hi Bill, just had same problem you described on 93 900 tcat, it was a broken reed on mine, maybe should check yours also. Hope this helps.

Dennis

Dennis Thanks, I did what Dan had mentioned and pulled the stator wires apart and cleaned those up a little bit and it didn't work. So I went ahead and pulled the carbs and cleaned those up and it still did it. I never thought while having the carbs off to check the reeds.

Every so often when I first start it up when it's cold I'll get it going and it will back fire on me a couple times. Once it's warm it seems to be okay outside of getting over 7000 rpms. Did you have any back firing?

Again thanks for the info, I'll check it out! Bill

listen to this> i was up in tug hill, ny, with my 96zrt 600. i just put a used motor in it with about 2300miles. i re-rung the motor and new top end gaskets. the very first time this year i went to ride it, it would run to 8500 on the cat tach. then after that one 20 min ride, it would only pull 7800-8000max rpm on the tach. i figured since i put new weights in last year that i need to grind them down in my primary clutch. i ground from 54g to 52g, then to 50g and it didnt make a diff. it felt like something was holding it back on top end. the mid range and most of low range was great. well, up in tug hill i had it pinned at 8000 rpm for a few seconds up a hill, then she started to bog down. i tried to feather her back up but she kept losing rpm so i hit the kill switch. i pulled the plugs and pronounced her dead in constableville. the mag side crank bearing had given up on her and thats what was holding the engine back from getting its true rpm potential. i used a magnet to retrieve the pieces on top of my piston , so i know it was not piston chunks cuz they are aluminum in my sled.i hope this is not your problem my friend. good luck

NO WAY MAN!!! fingers are crossed on that one! I plan to pull the carbs and reeds tomorrow evening. I hate to say it then but I've been riding it for a couple days now. I went for ride on it yesterday I just couldn't peg it at all. It seems to take off pretty good.

I bought the sled early last winter and noticed that the same side jug had been replaced and asked him about it and he said the piston blew and it was replaced. The sled ran great all last winter with no problems and this winter started out pretty good also. What's the signs of the crank bearing being bad?? I checked the ends of the pipes and it feels as though it has good compression.

Just a shot in the dark. How about a broken clutch spring? May have a binding bushing in one of the clutches too.

I just bought one of these sleds and mine is doing the very same thing,mine is in the secondary clutch........the sheave with shaft on it is wore some, put brand new bushing and it is still doing it.Is yours making a weird noise in around the clutches when this happens?Can you get your hands on another clutch just to try?

Nope not the primary spring, just replaced it with a new one. That was one of my first thoughts... rpms not climbing to where they are supposed to be gotta be the clucth. As for any noise it pretty much sounds the same when I bought it. I don't see any cracks or damage any where on it.

As for the driven clutch it's the original one and I was looking at replacing the whole thing with a roller driven. What did just start happening to me saturday when I tested it was my darn drive chain is starting to slip. Pulled the cover and changed the spring tensor with an extra one I had and worked fine. After I was done cleaning the carbs yesterday went tested again and it was slipping again. I believe the chain is stretched and needs to also be replaced.

This season has not been a good one! time to buy a new sled.

a sign for bad crank bearings for me was not getting my top rpm, it was holding it back at top. low end and mid were good. if that one cylinder was replaced, i hope they took the motor apart and got the little pieces out from the bottom end and bearings when it blew.

Hi Bill, mine didnt back fire but the spark plug on the cylinder with the broken reed would be wet. The other 2 looked perfect. My buddy also experienced the same conditions with a ZR 600 when he broke a reed. He was running across a lake w/o and it just bogged out, he took off again and it ran fine to 7000 and that was it. Worth a look I think.
Dennis

Well it's not the reeds, nothing wrong with them. I guess I'm back to square one again. I believe it's time to get it to the local dealer for a look.

Well guys I don't know??

Couple of other simple things to try; take off plug boots and cut about 1/4 to 3/8 in. off wire and screw back on, be sure plug caps snap on tightly to plugs and use solid top plugs, screw on tops can come loose and make it run like crap. Check the small jumper wires on the coils, cats are bad for these coming loose. Lastly, a buddy of mine had a zrt6 that would not wind up and backfired, it was a ground wire for the stator or cdi (cant remember for sure) but the wire was broken inside the coating right by the connector, just a couple of strands holding it together so it would start and run but like crap.


Dennis

Take the four wire connection apart at the motor. Jumper between the black and brown ( on the motor side) and try the machine. Doing this eliminates the entire wiring harnes from the ignition system. None of the ignition control switches will shut the machine off. You will have to turn the engine off once started by pulling the jumper out. If it runs good, check in the same two connectors on the machime side with an ohmmeter. You should have very close to 0 on the lowest scale. There are several connections in series that can have high resistance in the ignition on /off circuit. I had a very similar conditon with mine and it ended up being a poor connection at the three wire connector at the steering neck. At 22 ohms of resistance it would idle fine and rev a bit but then backfire and accelerate very poorly.

Guys thanks for the feedback, I appreciate more then you think! Unfortunatly the temps here have risen to the low 40's and the snow is melting off pretty quick! We didn't have alot to begin with so I'll be waiting again on testing. Once I have that chance I'll let ya's all know how it turns out!! Again Thanks! be safe, ride smart

Okay guys time to bring this one back to the top for some more help. I went through and cleaned the connectors up, checked all of the visible wiring and made sure everything was connected. I got it back out a day or two after the warm up on some fresh snow for ride and it still was the same. However on the way back home this time she started to bog down on me at lower rpms. I nursed it home (barley) and put it in the garage and left it from being totally frustrated with it. I went out later on and fired it back up. Well needless to say she can't even get a rev out with out bogging out and shutting down. Now I had forgotten to do what 10.90 hot rod mentioned so I gave that a shot and it still had the same symptoms as before. If I try to feather the throttle it just bogs on me. I pulled the plugs and there saturated with oil over what used to be a nice looking colored plug. With out going any further and thinking about getting it to a mechanic, anyone have anything else to add?

I've just picked up a driven roller, new 8 1/2" primary clutch, springs and weights for it and would love to hit the trail.

Thanks for the help!
Bill

My 800 did that. No top end at all. Plugs soaked. Finally no spark at all. Do the Stator bypass as 10.90 Hot Rod said. If it runs good, problem is elsewhere. I replaced my Stator. Here are the testing procedures out of my 95' ZRT 800 service manual. Will help with trouble shooting.

Sounds like stator to me also...run through check list and report back. Also this slop in your chain is prolly a bearing out on your drive shaft take a look at these bearing.

I did the stator by pass as 10.90 hot rod mentioned and it still ran like crap. I still have what I believe is good bright spark. Since it's good spark that should eliminate CDI and coils?

I guess I should have mentioned that I'm stupid when it comes to electrical. I can turn wrench, replace a clutch but just don't understand the term OHM and how electrical works.

I went ahead and pulled my pipes off to check the cylinders just to make sure nothing was gone there and I had a puttle of fuel in the portion that hooks to the pipe> Would the stator do that also? Attached a picture that was taken with my cell phone it's kind of poor. All three cylinders were this way.

It sure sounds like a bad ground to me. What you need is a wiring dia. for the engine. Does anyone have a wiring dia. for a 1995 ZRT 800 that they could post ?? I had the same problem and the spark always looked good but under cyl. pressure would brake down. This elect. system is normaly closed so the engine needs perfect grounds to put out max spark.

Auggie

Auggie I went back through today and pulled the air box, carbs, pipes, and even lifted the seat to go through and checked and followed all the wiring just to make sure nothing was pulled , cut or broke and everything looked okay. I went back and reset the carbs while I was at it. The only problem I have is getting the choke just right. Put everything back together, fired it up (started first pull) let it idle for bit and still could'nt give gas without bogging out. It's got a lot of gas being pushed through though and I don't understand. I'm looking at pulling the stator and getting it tested.
Thanks for the post!

I got a 95 manual with a wiring diagram, and multimeter for testing. On the wire diagram at the stator/flywheel assy area of it I checked the ohms. Okay for the ground portion it says 0.2 and I got 0.3; where it says charge 1 supposed to be 26 ohms I got 22 ohms; where it says charge 2 says 480 ohms and I got 432 ohms. Now I double checked these twice. On the coils they were reading 0.3? So from these readings is it the stator?

Thanks!

Does your CDI unit have (6) wires or does it have (9) wires ? If it has (6) wires find the BLK wire coming from the CDI unit, unplug it and run a jumper from that single wire (CDI) to the ground on the engine. Also make sure that the contacts in the three wire connector coming from the CDI unit are clean and use dialetric grease. There is also a BLK/WHT wire in that three wire connector that needs to be grounded to the engine ground. Use a quick lock and a jumper wire and fire it up. I think the .3 ohms reading is for the lighting coil which is tested from yel to yel. Spec is .168 to .252 ohms. The charge #1 spec is 20.5 to 30.8 ohms. The charge #2 spec is 383 to 574 ohms. The problem with this system is the charge and trigger coils are grounded on the stator plate. All your ohm readings are within spec's.

Auggie

Auggie thanks, so we're saying it's not the stator but possibly the cdi box then?

I tried to pull readings from the spark plug coils also but they were real funny (0.02) on each one when they are supposed to be .34 ohms. Since the number was so drastically differnet I wasn't sure if I was reading it right.

This evening I'll run the test you mention and see what we get! again THANKS for the help!

Here's the wire diagram, it's nine wires coming out.

600trip, before you do anymore trouble shooting you will have to determine what system you have. Is it a (6) wire or a (9) wire CDI unit because the tests I gave you are for a (6) wire CDI unit. If your engine has a timing sensor mounted on the flywheel housing it is a (9) wire and we will have to start over. Let me know.

Auggie

Oops, I see its a nine wire. I will get back to you.

Auggie

OK, lets start over. First of all you will have to retest your ign. coils primary windings (.3 to .5), secondary windings (caps removed 6320 to 9480) and plug caps (4000 to 6000). Then cut 1/2" off of the plug wires and reinstall the caps (WD40). Test the timing sensor (unplugged) 150 to 230 ohms. There is a BRN ground wire coming from the CDI unit that bolts to the engine (comes loose sometimes) that must be removed and cleaned (paint) and reinstalled. With everything plugged back together except the (4) wire main harness con. (2 yel 1 brn 1 blk) take a jumper wire from the BLK wire and jump to the engine ground bolt. Get back to me.

Auggie

Auggie need some help here, a while back one thing I mentioned is when it comes to electrical I'm clueless!

Okay from what I read and with the attachment I'm taking readings at the following locations I wrote on it to identify that I should have readings at point A to B on both coils; point A to A on left coil; point C to C on the other coil? Also which is the primary winding and secondary winding? I located what I thought you might be talking about and wrote it on also.

If this is the case on the spark plug caps I did a reading with them still attached to the wires at the locations I indicated and did not get any readings at all. However at point A to B on each I got .2

I want to be sure on the plug caps and this is in OHMs correct? I see where it identifys 7900.

I see you have a wiring disgram. Do you also have the manual ??

Auggie

I got the manual sunday evening and a multimeter Monday

Ok good. Go to the Electrical Section of the Manual and you will see a section called "Electrical Specifications". Look under ZRT 800. You will see three columes, Description, Resistance Test Test values and +Test Connections-. You will see the ohm values and where to connect your ohm meter test leads. Just do the resistance tests (there are 7 tests) and get back to me with the results.

Auggir

Auggie first off some of the color codings and ohms do not match one another between the wire diagram and spec chart specificlly with the charge coils and lighting coils.

we'll give it it a shot; ignition coil primarys both .2, single lead coil and the dual lead coil I'm not getting any readings, charge coil 1 read 22, charge coil 2 read 450, lighting coil .3, ignition timing sensor read 169, spark plug caps had no reading.

Charge coil #1 spec is 20.5 to 30.8 so OK. Charge coil #2 spec is 383 to 574 so OK. Ign. timing spec is 152 to 228 so OK. Coil primary rest. is low but that could be the meter so OK. The coil sec. wire should read 6320 to 9480. On the duel coil jump between the plug wires with the caps off. On the single coil jump between the plug wire and the spade next to it. Your plug caps may not be rest. caps so do a contenuity test.

Auggie

This might be a long shot but have you checked your fuel pumps to see if there leaking and flooding one cylinder and causing the others to load up. or if your choke plungers are hanging up I have 3 T-cats and a ZRT 800 that every year I have to unstick the chokes

EL thunder took your long shot!

I haven't had to much time to work on the sled but went back and for the hex of it yesterday pulled the air box and removed the fuel pumps and blew those out. While doing that I had a spare choke cable that I switched out. After doing that, put it back together and fired it up it seemed to have the same symptoms as before of not wanting to idle correctly. I let it run for a while (10 minutes or so) and then I hit the throttle a few times while it was hanging off the ground. The old girl came around and was running pretty good! then it went went back to running like crap??? I pulled the plugs, they were black but dry now (not drenched in fuel as before). It was smoking heavy and even at some points it was brown smoke as I took it around the yard. I had adjusted the choke on it since was pretty loose and it caused it to back considerably, so I took it back some and it partilly went away. What else I do know is that I didn't have to use my choke at all as I had in the past. Am I looking at something in the carbs being screwed up and not being a wiring issue?

i would think your choke is partially on or your needles and seats are messed up. cousing your engine to flood. i would check your float shut off also