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'85 GS550 Ignition Problems

  • Thread starter Thread starter Castle550
  • Start date Start date
C

Castle550

Guest
I purchased my first bike, a '85 GS550L, about 4 months ago and up until this last month it ran well enough to ride. It first started after I had been riding for about an hour, the engine killed in the middle of a turn. Luckily I was able to coast out of traffic, but this is when it gets strange. I tried to restart the engine, it turned over but didn't seem to ignite at all. I sat on the side of the road for 15 minutes trying anything I could think of and then... boom, starts running again. So I start heading for home... halfway there dies again, 10 minutes later, starts right up, this happens one more time before I finally make it back. I've also driven it a couple times after with the same problem and with the restart wait time getting longer.
So I've been slowly eliminating the possible problems. When the bike is cold all the plugs fire, but once it dies after letting it run for a while none of them fire. I believe the plugs and the coils are fine. What I've read so far is that the igniter may be to blame, but since they are a little expensive I wanted to make sure first. I've tried the igniter test (Remove spark plugs 1 & 2 and ground them to the motor so they will fire when they get power. With the ignitor facing you, the plug on the right side of the ignitor is where the signal generator plug fits. The two terminals on the right side of that portion of the ignitor will be pin 1 at the front and pin 2 at the back. The two left pins will be pin 3 in front and pin 4 at the back. Turn the ignition switch on. With a multitester set a the X1 ohm range put the + probe on pin 2 and the - probe on pin 1. Plug number 1 should fire. Next put the + probe on pin 4 and the - probe on pin 3. Plug number 2 should fire. If this happens the ignitor is good and the signal generators are suspect.), but even when the bike is cold and starts normally the test doesn't seem to work. I'm wondering if anyone has ever done the test and had it work, and if there are any other things I could try. Also, is there any way to refurbish an igniter if it is bad? Thanks!
 
the signal generators are on the engine, your problem sounds temperature related i would think that the signal generators would be to blame
 
it could be unless he is sure they are not firing when hot
 
I don't believe it's a fuel problem since i don't get spark when it's hot.

I've checked the resistance on the signal generator when it was cold and everything checked out but I haven't done it after it dies...

I've also read elsewhere that an igniter can be bad but the bike still runs. When I get some money I may get one off ebay.
 
I always pull the headlight fuse in this situation first to see if it makes a difference. This sort of thing was happening to me & I had to replace the ignition switch on my 550. A hot coil always needs more voltage to make a spark. Also check that the plug gaps aren't too big.

I had 2 GS550 ignitors that failed the test and worked fine. I think the test is wrong or maybe you have to have an analog multimeter.
 
+1 on the signal generator. I had EXACTLY this problem and a new signal generator solved it. Was an expensive part, though, if memory serves...
 
rather than guessing i would test that sig generator when it dies
 
So I replaced all the plugs (cause they were a bit gummed up and beat up) and started her again. After about 30 min of idling she shuts off. I do the test on the sig generator and one of them didn't register any ohms. I pull the sig gen out and find the sensor that isn't registering. It looks a little more beat up then the other and it appears as if the solder had dripped down and maybe shorted it out. If i'm not able to figure out how to self-fix it, I guess I'll get a new sig gen and hope that was the only problem. Thanks for the help guys!
 
if it looks as if the solder is shorting the two wires go to radioshack and(depending on your preference) get a soldering iron for cheap or a soldering gun for a little more. once the tip is nice and hot heat up the solder in the middle and blow on it like your trying to put out one of those birthday candles you cant put out it should separate them. If you blow it off or a wire falls off resolder it on there. You can try that at least while your waiting for your signal gen to come
 
Everything is back to working order! I purchased another signal generator (strangely enough it came off a 2002 gs500, but the sensors matched!) and replaced the old sensors and took it for a long ride yesterday with no problems. Thanks again for the diagnostic help!
 
Signal Generator

Signal Generator

Castle550,

Nice work! I was just going to add that my 84 GS550ES did the same thing a couple of years ago and it was one of the signal generators. I ebayed an entire plate with two good generators, but am keeping to other good signal generator for possible use in the future!!

Good luck and have fun with your bike. I had some worn needle jet and jet needle problems with my bike after about 32k miles, but it seems to be running good now. It need fork seals, tires all around, rear brakes, and a set of chain and sprockets now.... It never ends!! :-)

Later,

Ryan
 
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