2002 or 2003 Suzuki Ozark 250.

I was pulling my little trailer with it the other day and it started running rough, got to where I was going and it died. It hasn't started since.

I acted like something got sucked up into the carb. It would 1/2 way fire with starting fluid.

I pulled the carb, it was dirty, cleaned it all and put it back together

Still not starting.

So I start troubleshooting and find no spark at all

I order a new coil, figuring that the old one is bad.

New plug, new coil, no spark still

I check the resistance, I'm not 100% sure how the numbers should read, but the new coil shows the same as the old coil at all points

I check the negative wire connected to the coil for ground continuity and it's good

The primary/positive wire going into the coil is at around 40 volts with the booster box hooked up and trying to crank.

I checked the kill switch, with it off, the starter button won't engage anything.


I'm not sure what else to check?

Coming out of the coil, there is no voltage on the multi meter

I was thinking it might be the CDI box, but the wire going to the coil shows voltage. Not sure what it's supposed to show though.


Any insight? Or a good shop that won't charge a fortune to figure it out and fix it

Have you checked the compression?

How are you testing spark?

Has it been sitting a long time? How is the gas in the tank, old?

I could be wrong, I don't know your experience level with carbs, but a lot of times the average joe does more harm than good when taking one apart.

Make sure its not in gear?

I don't have a compression tester, but I think it would still attempt to fire, or at least have spark

Tested spark with a genuine spark tester(inline light thing), multi meter, and good old fashioned screwdriver. Tried it with and without the plug. The odd thing is, I can get a weak spark every now and again, but it's intermittent.

Had been sitting about 2 weeks before I used it to move the little trailer. It died as soon as I got it moved after it started running rough and weak.

Experience level with atv & small engine carbs is above average, rebuilt/repaired several dozen

Has a safety for the trans. It won't turn over if it's in gear unless the brake is on.

How do do the plugs and plug wires look?

In any case those two things are cheap to buy.

New plug, new coil

The plug wire is built into the coil

Quick update

Pulled the pull-start and stator cover off. I was not aware that the stator rode in oil so there was a nice mess on the driveway

The 'magneto plates', I don't know the proper term for the contacts, had some rust on them so I cleaned all the rust off that I could and got them shiny again. There were several of the contacts that have a plastic/glue like covering on them. I left those alone.

Cleaned the contacts on the plug ends, put it all back together and still not firing.

The drained oil was thinned out and had a strong gas smell

I disconnected all the fuel lines to the carb and put my hand over the intake port and it was covered in gas.

I turned the motor over until the carb ran dry, pulled the plug and squirted it with carb cleaner and attempted to start it again. Still no spark



So what does the CDI do? I think that's the only part in the ignition system I haven't touched.

I had no idea this was on there, but there is a capacitor in the CDI. If you have something to test michropharets (SP) and know the specs you could test it. Capacitor stores a charge to power the coil, I would assume similar to how they work on other electric systems like compressor/fan motors in A/C units.

No clue how to test the CDI

I did do some reading about the CDI's on atv's and learned that the black wire is supposed to be for the safety/shut-off.

On an atv forum, someone else had a similar issue and was advised to disconnect the black wire and try it.

So I did that, cut the wire and tried to start it. On about the third try(after I remembered to hook the coil back up) it had a 1/2 arsed try to start, a little bump, but that was it.


I'm thinking it may be a bad CDI, or stator, or rectifier, or wiring harness....I've been tracking down parts on ebay and found everything, all off of running machines. Should be about $100-150 in parts to throw at it before I call it quits.

Calling it a day now. Going to push it under the carport and cover it up until some parts get here.

I did check the + wire to the coil again and it has no voltage now, not while just sitting nor while trying to crank.

Nothing coming from the stator either, but I'm not 100% sure I had the meter in the right sockets.

Try it in the complete dark, you may spot where the arc is going. Had a t bird do something similar one time and my neighbor mechanic found it this way, in my case the distributer was cracked iirc. Different engine type, but you never know, just throwing that out there.

I had a very similar problem with my 82 Honda but it was very intermittent. After replacing the coil and plug wire, as well as the handlebar switch assembly, replacing the CDI made the problem go away.

The worst part, even though it wasn't too bad a job, was removing the front rack and fenders to reach the CDI and replace it.

What would cause gas to get in the oil?

Put the cdi box in the oven at 350* for 10 minutes and then reinstall it and see if it starts. No, I'm not joking.

Sometimes moisture will get trapped inside the sealed box and putting it in the oven at 300-350 for 10 minutes will dry the moisture out of it. I know it sounds crazy but it works.

The circuit board and components are encapsulated in hard epoxy to prevent exposure to moisture. I could see where the expoxy can crack and allow moisture in over time.

You could also put the CDI in a sealed zip lock bag along with some dry packets and achieve the same result.

Definitely worth trying before forking out money on a new CDI.

Have you tried following the leads to the regulator/ rectifier? Unplug it and spin the starter with it hooked up to a multi-meter. See if it's within spec and pushing voltage.

have you tried trimming the plug wire? I had a off-road dirt bike that had intermittent spark ... unscrew the plug cap, use a razor to trim the wire back 1/4 to 1/2 inch, replace plug cap using a twisting motion like screwing it back on with about a quarter to half turn twist.

I'll try that this week

No spark is the biggest pain. I buy and rebuild a lot of these things, a no spark problem is something I stay away from. Good luck to you

So did you try putting it in the oven yet?

Same type problem with my Polaris Ranger. New stator fixed it. Bought mine off Ebay there are plenty to choose from for your Suzuki. The other thing you mentioned is the oil on lower part of stator doesn't sound right might look into that sounds like seal problem somewhere. GL