[barski]

I have a 2014 mxzx 800 etec with a stator eating problem all a sudden this season. Currently sitting at 7200 miles on it with ski-doo putting a new motor (under warranty) in it at 3600 miles due to a coolant ingestion problem.

Stator 1: I put about 400 miles on it this season then all a sudden the stator went but still ran fine at idle and up to about 3500rpm. After getting it apart and everything testing out fine, per ski-doos service manual, i built a "bridge" between where the stator connects to the sleds wiring harness and did my testing. Found the voltages were all over the board above 3500rpm. Took the stator out and it was fried. Checked and replaced thinking it was just another stators time to go. Fly wheel is the newer flywheel and is free of any marks. Roughly 3200 miles on this ski-doo stator.

Stator 2: SPI aftermarket stator. Made it about 300 miles then it throws check engine lights just like before and shuts down only this time not to restart. Took the stator out and sure enough it was fried. SPI claimed it was a faulty stator, sent me a new stator.

Stator 3: SPI aftermarker stator. Made it ~90 miles on it and once again the check engine lights show up but it still runs fine with no check engine lights under 3500rpm. Took it apart and once again we have a fried stator.

Here's some of the troubleshooting I've done. Gone through all the wires that I'm able to see looking for cuts or melted wires. Cleaned up all the grounds. Checked the voltage regulator and capacitor and they are in spec per the service manual.

I know a couple other people running SPI stators without issues so I'm fairly confident it's not just a poor aftermarket stator. My thoughts are I'll pony up the big $$$ to throw a ski-doo stator on it and haul it straight to the dealership to see the BUDS system can find anything as I'm seeing, per the service manua,l they do have some electrical system monitoring built in. To me there's certainly something else causing this but about all I can point back to is the voltage regulator that's built into the ECM...

Has anyone seen an issue like this or able to point me in a direction of things to check? Thanks

 

[Icanfixit]

Preform a Parasitic draw test, or resistance test, something is shorting out to positive.
Did your battery fail, or it's a pull start.

Thxs

 

[barski]

I'll perform a draw test tomorrow as well as the resistance tests again. A new battery was installed earlier this season as it didn't want to turn over fast enough when cold, -20. Even with a new battery it won't start in -20 but as soon as it's going it'll start every time. Now I got a pull rope installed.

It also just sat a week and started right up today.

 

[mbret2004]

Any other electrical issues with the sled? IE: lights, handwarmers?

 

[barski]

Any other electrical issues with the sled? IE: lights, handwarmers?

Lights and handwarmers work great. No other electrical issues other than the stator eating condition.

 

[Daag44]

"I built a "bridge" between where the stator connects to the sleds wiring harness and did my testing."

I am impressed!!! That alone gives me hope and gives us an interest to put our thinking cap on and feed off of each other's ideas (aka brain storm). We could use the 4-stroke guys on this too.

 

[Daag44]

"Will be bringing it in and they are pulling the recoil and checking stator for obvious flaws first, might try the aftermarket route if it is the stator. Crazy that big of a price difference, only issue is no real reviews good or bad."

The quote above is from shadbehnke in his thread for a 2014 800RE (click here). He found no real reviews good or bad, but a deeper search would show certain aftermarket stators and Voltage Regulators are known to be problematic.

 

[barski]

Thanks for the information Daag44.

Quick update: Draw test and resistance tests came back fine. Took another 2015 mxzx 800 etec and compared results between the two and everything was spot on. I honestly have about 8 hours into testing and looking through wires on this sled and have come up with nothing yet other than some very very poorly placed zip ties on wires.

Another ski-doo stator was put in and I hauled it straight to the dealership for to get tested on the buds system as the service manual shows some information can be had. Dealership called back and said everything checks out. $25 for that check so I find it very worthwhile.

Now it's down to a wire rubbed through someplace that shorts out every now and again but currently isn't shorted out. Guess I'll be pulling the wiring harness

 

[barski]

I'll send you a PM with some additional information as well. But as far as building the bridge goes the easiest thing to do is cut the wire off an old stator plug it into wiring harness then tie is back into the stator. This gives you some extra slack to be testing with.

 

[barski]

230 miles yesterday and all is well!

Picked the brains of another ski-doo dealership mechanic who pointed me to trying a new capacitor before pulling the harness as he's seen them cause problems in the past. So I replaced the capacitor but while replacing the capacitor I found a wear spot straight through the protective coating and into the wires within that go to the capacitor. It was rubbing straight on the ECM which is plastic.

So in all 3 changes were made this time around

- OEM stator

- Capacitor

- Fixed bare wires

I'll be sure to update if the stator goes out again

 

[04BMX800]

My 2015 had similar symptoms. Just replaced a fried stator but my capacitor also fried and leaked out it's oil. Put new doo stator and capacitor in and the sled popped the capacitor after maybe 1 minute idling and that's where I'm at. Sled seemed to be running normal except check engine light was on. It currently will start but I'm hoping stator is still ok. I don't know what to at this point

 

[mbret2004]

Here are a few thoughts: you put in a Doo capacitor, I will assume it was the correct one per the OEM parts manual, did the old capacitor and new one share the same specs? Capacitor's are very sensitive to voltage input. Over voltage will damage the insulator in the capacitor and it will blow. Excessive heat, they are designed to handle some but too much and they will blow. Finally, hooking them up properly. The longer lead is positive, shorter is negative, polarity must be observed.

Maybe this will help. Good luck!

 

[13etec800]

Any updates on this? My 2013 had the stator fail(codes from the dealer), causing the capacitor to fail. I replaced both the stator and capacitor with factory parts and within 1 min of the first run cycle the capacitor started smoking and leaking the oil out.