More electrical issues im having trouble putting together.... 1982 gs550

[fieldmatt2]

So to rule out spark plugs and boots, i pulled the high tension lead out of each spark plug boot to check for spark. At first i had nice clean spark on each high tension lead when held close to the engine block, then all of a sudden, after about 10 seconds of cranking, cly 2 and 3 lost spark... just gone

Now when i first started cranking and had spark on all 4 cylinders, my battery had been sitting on the charger a couple hours and i had 13.8 volts at the terminals.... when i lost spark on 2 and 3 my battery voltage was 11 volts at the terminals

So am i losing spark due to a crappy undersized battery or a faulty ignitor?

The ign coils both had 4 ohms im the primary and 14.8k ohms on the secondary

I dont beleive that little black box ignitor is a cdi like alot of people say it is, unless it has a capacitor inside that could be tested?


..... still getting used to older Dc circuits, im used to working on very large scale Ac electronics for work

 

[Blue Falcon]

since you bought a crap wrong battery as indicated in a previous post... buy the right battery, then check your R/R.... look up posplayr in one of you previous posts and click on the links in his signature on how to test the R/R.... put everything back together and get the right battery then test the R/R

If I were a betting man... Shyte battery and bad R/R. spend the money on the right battery...please...oh yeah... make sure it is FULLY charged before trying to start the bike.

 

[Brendan W]

Unfortunately most peoples reaction will be if you don't have minimum voltage the electronics will start to sit down and all bets are off.
Ignitors are generally fairly reliable, much more so than old connectors.
While you may have 'x' Volts at the battery terminals you could be losing some at bad connections.
In particular the supply plugs to the coils. This would be my prime suspect in the case of sudden disappearance of spark on one coil.
You could also check out the multiplug to the ignitor and see that it's tight and clean. Next time you get it running give it a good wiggle. There is a joke in there somewhere

 

[fieldmatt2]

I went out and paid for a proper battery this morning, got it all set up. Battery seems to have alot of juice and spun the motor over fairly easily...

But the motor will not start, its same thing, no spark on cylinders 2 and 3 at all

 

[Steve]

Losing spark on #2 and #3 does make you think "ignitor", but there is also the signal generator on the crank and a few connectors to check in the system.

You are correct on one point, the ignitor is NOT a "CDI". The ignitor is just a box of transistors that replace the points. They make and break the connection to control current flow through the coils, just without moving parts that wear. The overall system is still an INDUCTIVE discharge ignition, not Capacitive Discharge Ignition.

.

 

[Cipher]

new battery should spin an engine like a bastard.
Do you not have the manual for the bike?

Does this thing have points or electronic ignition? If electronic check the pulsar coils. They can die.
Another poster mentioned harness connections to coils check em.

 

[fieldmatt2]

It has electronic ignition with the mechanical advance. I checked the pick up pulse coils, both read 62 ohms, and seemed to change resistance for a split second when i spun the the motor

 

[fieldmatt2]

Ok so new battery and found the molex plug that connects to the 2-3 ign coil was really loose, so replaced it with a better connector.

The bike fire right up.... idled poorly but it ran

 

[fieldmatt2]

At idle the stator out about 19 volts ac on each leg, and 22ish on each leg at 2500 rpm

I noticed when i unpluged the stator from the r/r, the idle seemed to smooth out a bit, like a big load had been taken off it

Could a faulty r/r put too big of a load on a motor to keep it running? Or is what i noticed normal?

 

[tom203]

At idle the stator out about 19 volts ac on each leg, and 22ish on each leg at 2500 rpm

I noticed when i unpluged the stator from the r/r, the idle seemed to smooth out a bit, like a big load had been taken off it

Could a faulty r/r put too big of a load on a motor to keep it running? Or is what i noticed normal?

You need to disconnect for the r/r from stator and measure AC leg to leg and ALSO leg to good bike ground. This helps to prove stator is still ok. Then we can move on to r/r and connection issues.

 

[fieldmatt2]

Bike died again and has no spark on any cylinder now so I'll check AC Legg to ground as soon as I figure out why my spark is gone

 

[posplayr]

Bike died again and has no spark on any cylinder now so I'll check AC Legg to ground as soon as I figure out why my spark is gone

Do the Quick tests as well.

 

[Lorenzo]

Ignitor might be gone.
But prior to bin it, it might be worth checking if it is properly fed the correct voltage.

 

[fieldmatt2]

Ok guys got it squared away, the plastic connector from my pick up coil to the ignitor was loose and was loosing continuity when the motor was vibrating. I have good strong spark now and the motor starts.... now im onto my carburetor issues lol

 

[tom203]

Since it's running ,perform the Quick Test asap to ensure the charging system won't fry anything like the expensive ignitor!