CDI AND Ignition Coil

[ballerchaos]

I was looking into doing a CDI and i found a company that makes a stage 3 CDI for around 60 shipped, they recomend that a new ignition coil should be purchased. I mean it says up to 40% hotter spark improved performance and so on, is ther any real benefit though to purchasing a ignition coil, and is there a hige difference between a stage 2 cdi and stage 3cdi besides the new rev limiter.

[honda400ex2003]

I would not waste my money on the monster cdi but the coil is alright. The cdi doesnt make any difference except to raise the max rpm limit. The 400 does not make enough power at 9000 rpms to make a noticable difference. The 400 stops making decent power around 6-7 thousand depending on how it is set up. I have the coil and i guess it may have helped out a bit with throttle reponse. I am not even sure if i would waste the 60 on that at this point. one day i will do some testing with it to find out if it is noticable with a properly tuned machine. steve

[ballerchaos]

yea, i figured that much, it seems like the ressistor they sell on ebay to confuse ur air box to make u burn more gas lol. my buddy has a stage 2 cdi on his quad, and a ghetto farter can off of a honda civic with a open lid and uni, and he installed the cdi last and now the bije starts easier, besides that it didnt do anything else

[honda400ex2003]

Originally posted by ballerchaos
my buddy has a stage 2 cdi on his quad, and a ghetto farter can off of a honda civic with a open lid and uni, and he installed the cdi last and now the bije starts easier, besides that it didnt do anything else

oh boy! sounds like a runner to me. lol. some people will do anything for some power. why not just get the right stuff and put it on. dont waste your money on anything that is not actually made for a 400ex. cdis are a waste, get a good exhaust if you want to increase some power. get a good filter, make sure it is jetted correctly, and you will be good for a while. get a sparks timing advance key and you will be set unlike your buddy lol. you will be whooping up on whatever he has with a civic exhaust on it. lol that is good, actually the best thing i have ever heard done to any atv. welcome to the site dude! there is a lot you can learn from this site and many fun things to do to your 400 to make it your own and a great running machine. steve

[ballerchaos]

lol thanks for the info, and thank you for welcoming me to the forum. For ****s and giggles ill take a pic of the farter can on the bike and post it here, im sure it will get a good laugh, to bad there isnt a ghetto *** quad section to the forum lol. this site is a great resource and i hope ot use it as much as possible to get my atv up to par and then some, thank you for the information

[honda400ex2003]

sounds good dude! ill look forward to it. lol steve

[ballerchaos]

also i just looked into the sparks advance key, hoe do you install that the kit says it comes with a fly wheel puller, is it a huge project?

[honda400ex2003]

Originally posted by ballerchaos
also i just looked into the sparks advance key, hoe do you install that the kit says it comes with a fly wheel puller, is it a huge project?

it is easy. http://www.atvriders.com/articles/timingkey400ex.html

just get the kit from sparks and you will need a flywheel side, which is the left side when looking forward, gasket and possibly a starter gear gasket. those can be saved most of the time though. steve

[honda400ex2003]

i would say that in a couple of hours you can do that. before you put the key in adjust your valves too since your marks will change once you turn the flywheel to advance it. it makes it easier to find tdc with the flywheel in the stock position. steve

[honda400ex2003]

heres that one.
http://www.atvriders.com/articles/valveadjustment400ex.html

valve adjustment.

steve

[honda400ex2003]

heres some more good reading to keep you busy for a while

http://www.atvriders.com/articles/askmickey1.html

http://www.atvriders.com/articles/askmickey2.html

http://www.atvriders.com/articles/jetting.html

have fun lol

steve

[ballerchaos]

lol thanks, i have to save these links, my buddy has a shop so i have access to every tool i can think of but no dyno, i was just looking around and found a place close by that does tuning and dyno, i may just do the bolt on myself, and leave the internal stuff to the professionals. i gotta see what my buddy knows, im mechanically inclined, but i have no experiance with engine internals, mainly bolt ons brakes and suspension. thanks for the info

[honda400ex2003]

no prob dude. I was just at the dyno yesterday with mine and got it tuned with the 450 carb on it and stuff. steve

[ballerchaos]

thats awsome, my bill of sale says 34 hp on my 08 400, i wanna dyno it and see how tru it is, all i did was pull the silencer off my end cap and re \-welded my spark screen back on so far just to make some noise lol, ghetto yes, but i was looking online and they sell end caps, and i did essentially the same thing for free lol. thanks for all your help, im already reading and saving all these links

[honda400ex2003]

unfortunately you are less than 26 with the core out, it actually hurts performance. stock is right around 26-27 hp at the wheels. I just dynoed at 34 yesterday with my 10:1 in my sig. steve

[ballerchaos]

lmao, just my luck, im gunna put on a full exhaust i think anyway, so no biggy, i only go out and play around, im not into racing just playing in the clay and trail riding, so ill probably stop at the timing key for hp mods and then put a nice set of rims and tires. suspesion upgrades are costly and have no real benefit for what i do. damn though, i read on the trx400ex.org forums that it adds hp and so i listened lmao, ooooops lol. ehh **** happens lol

[honda400ex2003]

lol nice, i suppose maybe it would do a very little bit. you will see a decent gain with a full exhaust and a filter along with the sparks key. steve

[ballerchaos]

good stuff, how do you feel about the power kits on ebay that sell the filter, exhuast and jet kit as a hole, most of the time they come with a cdi that i would use as a paper wheight

[honda400ex2003]

for the right exhaust they are decent as long as they are actually a deal. ebay is getting worse and worse it seems where the price is cheap bu the shipping makes up for any savings that can be had. I would check out each part first and see if you would be better off without the kit. what did you have in mind? either a k&n or a uni are great filters, there are people that love and hate both. lol. if taken care of properly, both are great filters. i would guess that the kits are big gun fulls with their cdi and a uni style foam filter. for the right price it is a decent exhaust and will yield decent gains. I am not sure if i would just go with thet jets that they give but i would assume you would be close with it. when the time comes ask here and one of us will help you out. most filter and slip on combos run right around a 150 or 152. so the full would go to a 152 or 155 at the most. some of the kits come with a 160 or 165 and that will be too rich for sure. lets see the kit you were looking at. Dont waste your time with a jet kit either. lol. we should be able to get you close or at least within a couple of jet sizes of what you should be at. steve

[ballerchaos]

Ebay Item Number 380226968016 I saw this and it doesnt come with the jet kit, all i would need to get is a outer wear filter cover, and probably run it with a Outerwear top. and then the matching jes from the local atv shop that i just found while searching around online lol. I also found this kit that comes with everything but the jet kit, fare price i think ebay item number 300423253836, and then there is this.....ebay item number 140403894665. those are the 3 i was looking into.


SORRY THE LINKS WONT WORK FORM EBAY FOR SOME REASON

[honda400ex2003]

unfortunately none of them work for me. lol. steve

[ballerchaos]

fixed i had to put item numbers what a pain in the ***

[honda400ex2003]

no prob on the links. i dont usually get them to work either. lol. I would take either ther 1st or 3rd. the phoenix is not a real high quality exhaust. the hmfs would be good depending on if you want a full or a slip on. steve