leopard with no spark / key start 07 digital "k"

[jack lachut]

i was at the track today and my motor started up just fine and i warmed it up to 105 on the water temp, then it shut off and wouldn't start again.
i checked for loose connections and the grounds but still no spark. this motor package was bought new and only has about 3 hours on it.

is there some way to check if the coil maybe bad without having to buy a new one?

i don't want to start buying a bunch of parts trying to fix the problem.



thanks for any help.
cartracer64@yahoo.com

[Colin Edwards]

Hello Jack,

Unplug each electircal multi-pin connector on the wiring loom one at a time. Have a very close look at the male and female pins / sockets in the connector shells. Fair chance one of these is missaligned and not making contact. Worse still, a missaligned female socket has closed up due to a poorly aligned male pin. The suspect pin / socket is usually fairly obvious.

We also had ignition issues with a new X30 package. We found two damaged pins in two seperate connectors causing intermittent open circuits. Not good for new equipment. From an electrical perspective, the X30 leaves a bit to be desired. We never have any electrical issues with our Rotax.

The female connector sockets can be repaired. You need a very fine bladed screwdriver, good eysight and lots of patience! GENTLY close up the female socket so that they ALL look the same.

Before re-connecting the plugs, spray both male and female contacts with a good quality (Electrolube) contact cleaner / lubricant. When you re-connect, make sure the two shells are perfectly aligned. Any slight misalingment and you will be back to where you started!
_________________
Real Racing Cars don't have doors!

[Steve O'Hara]

Jack,

Had a similar experience with my Leopard last year and started throwing parts at it after a thorough inspection did not reveal any problems.
When I installed a different stator from a friends kart it fired right up so I put the original back on and it was dead again. Took it off and inspected it closely and could not find any problems so I bought a new one and bolted it on and it has run fine ever since. Hard to see how something can fail in that part but mine did.
Steve O'Hara

[Mark Goss]

Steve,
Had the identical problem this weekend at the track. Started up for first heat, entered track and could barely make it around. Pulled off and first pulled the plug. Turned the motor over and it had a very weak intermittent spark. Replaced the coil, same problem. Finally pulled the motor, replaced the stator and everything is perfect agian. Go figure, good one minute, crap the next.

[jack lachut]

steve,

the last time i had taken the kart out i had absolutely no problems and didn't touch the kart/motor before yesterday's day at the track.
i was told it may be an intermittent problem. i know these are racing engines with no guarantee but after only 3 hours on motor.

question- as far as changing out the stator/ wire harness assy, do you just remove the 4 allen capscrews and disconnect at wire harness junction?

it's a simple remove and replace?

do you have to remove the center crank nut and remove the round magnetic pickup?

do you have to reset the timing on the motor?

i was at calspeed yesterday and pitted next to a guy named chris and he said you had helped him with his prd motor.

thanks for any info.

[Steve O'Hara]

Jack,

Mine failed midway through a practice day. Ran a few sessions and came off the track running great but would not fire at all the next time I went to go on the track.... really surprising!
The swap out is just as simple as you described... unplug and remove the four screws and install a replacement... no adjustments needed.
Hope you can find a friend or a shop that will help you out by loaning you a working stator to conduct a quick test so you don't have to just spend money randomly.
Steve O'Hara

[Gary M Smith]

Will a stator from a push button interchange with a key-start stator?
Gary
_________________
#55 Honda CR-80

[jack lachut]

gary, the coils and the stator ignition are different for the push button box type and the new key start type. the coils are about the same price at $54, but the older style pushbutton stator ignition is quite a bit more expensive at $347 vs. the key start stator ignition at $177. the good thing is you can do it yourself with no special tools. i will give my setup a good look over before buying any parts.

thanks

[Oscar Biondi]