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So Frustrated...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jestercinti
  • Start date Start date
J

Jestercinti

Guest
For the last year, I have had an intermittent "sputter" and loss of power on the highway. It would correct itself within 20 seconds, and I moved on. It then started happening at idle and around town. It got worse. All signs pointed to fuel starvation. Petcock was original, so I replaced.

After new petcock was installed, still having the problem. Then suddenly, going up a steep Cincinnati hill, I lost almost all power, and smelled strong gas. Quickly realize that right-hand cylinder is not firing: right hand side exhaust ice cold. I limp home, and start troubleshooting. Swap wires, and it's not the coil. Have a spare ignition pickup -- no change. Must be the Igniter box.

So, it's an 82 GS450LZ 138xx miles. Here's the kicker. Bought a new bike, and I was going to list this on craigslist to sell, but it's down again. I bought the bike since it is costing more than a bike payment every month.

Here is the $25,000 question. Do I risk ebay for a new igniter box, or can I fix it?

I will miss you guys when I sell the bike. My new one (2009 GS500F) is too new for this group I think :cool:
 
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Damn, I hate it when my 29 year old bike needs work.:(
 
Jestercinti said:
I will miss you guys when I sell the bike. My new one (2009 GS500F) is too new for this group I think :cool:
Click to expand...

Too new? It's your old bike with half the rear suspension, 50cc and more plastic...:)

-None of which was meant to be bitter sounding. It's the last GS in production.
 
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Anyone have a TR Igniter model 32900-47020? Otherwise I will roll the dice on ebay. There is a junkyard in town that has old bikes. May try that too.
 
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It's been a few days, but here's how I am coming up with the Igniter:

When the issue started, I noticed that lh coil sparks, rh does not. Ran lead wires from lh coil leads to rh. It then started sparking. This ruled out spark plug, wire, cap, and coil.

Have a spare signal generator. Replaced, and still had the same issue. Both signal generators test good (before when bike did not have this issue, confirmed both signal generators worked fine 6 months ago).

The whole thing started on the highway at high speeds. Would bog down, and die. Wait a little, and it would "fix" itself. Sometimes revving the engine would "fix" itself. The issue then started at idle and around town until rh cylinder stopped firing completely.

Thought it was fuel starvation for the longest time. No kinks in the fuel line, fuel petcock OEM and brand new.

Going to bone yard this weekend to get a used igniter. Not much time to work on the bike (I have a 2 year old, and am busy at work), so I will try this.
 
Jestercinti said:
It's been a few days, but here's how I am coming up with the Igniter:

When the issue started, I noticed that lh coil sparks, rh does not. Ran lead wires from lh coil leads to rh. It then started sparking. This ruled out spark plug, wire, cap, and coil.

Have a spare signal generator. Replaced, and still had the same issue. Both signal generators test good (before when bike did not have this issue, confirmed both signal generators worked fine 6 months ago).

The whole thing started on the highway at high speeds. Would bog down, and die. Wait a little, and it would "fix" itself. Sometimes revving the engine would "fix" itself. The issue then started at idle and around town until rh cylinder stopped firing completely.

Thought it was fuel starvation for the longest time. No kinks in the fuel line, fuel petcock OEM and brand new.

Going to bone yard this weekend to get a used igniter. Not much time to work on the bike (I have a 2 year old, and am busy at work), so I will try this.
Click to expand...


Your problem sounds like the same on my bike. Couldn't trace it down to electrical or gas. I was getting spark. I was getting fuel. So it was driving me crazy. I ended up having 2 problems. One was the coils and the other was the fuel. Both problems caused the same symptoms. My right coil was failing after it was warmed up. The fuel problem turned out to be my fuel line. As the bike heated up, the fuel line would kink closed enough to cut fuel off and the bike would lose power and stall. I'd sit a bit and it would start up and go like it was suppose too. Check the fuel line to ensure its not closing up as the bike warms up. I replaced the fuel line with a heavier hose and put a clear filter so I can actually see fuel running into the carbs. Good luck. Mike
 
I have the stock hose with the OEM "spring" that wraps around it. Pretty sure it is not the fuel hose. If it is, then I have convinced myself that it is not.

Even cold, the right coil does not spark. If I take leads from the left (small alligator clips) and turn the engine over, viola, it sparks.

Not doubting the users on the forum, but I have had this issue for a while. Shortened the fuel hose, lengthened it a bit, and same thing. I think mainly it is a spark issue.

One other thing, on the Signal Generator, I checked the resistance between the green/white wire and the brown wire. It is 120 or so Ohms. One of the tests (Mr. Matchless version) states 250 or so Ohms. This was checked on and off of the bike, with 2 different Signal Generators. I know they work. Does this seem odd, or am I comparing apples/oranges?

Thanks for the replys.

Am I on the right path?
 
Jestercinti said:
... Then suddenly, going up a steep Cincinnati hill, I lost almost all power, and smelled strong gas. ...
Click to expand...
Hopefully that wasn't Straight Street. :eek:

That is one street in Cincinnati that is actualy mis-named. :-k

It should have been named "Straight-UP Street". :D

It's not a very long street, just about .6 miles. Only the last 860 feet are relatively flat, rising only about 10 feet.
However, the first 42/100 mile (2250 feet) rises 257 feet, yielding an average of 11.4% grade.

Even a good-running 450 would have fun with that. :o

.
 
Steve said:
Hopefully that wasn't Straight Street. :eek:

That is one street in Cincinnati that is actualy mis-named. :-k

It should have been named "Straight-UP Street". :D

It's not a very long street, just about .6 miles. Only the last 860 feet are relatively flat, rising only about 10 feet.
However, the first 42/100 mile (2250 feet) rises 257 feet, yielding an average of 11.4% grade.

Even a good-running 450 would have fun with that. :o

.
Click to expand...

Nope, it was Miami Avenue on the Mariemont/Indian Hill line.
 
Jestercinti said:
I have the stock hose with the OEM "spring" that wraps around it. Pretty sure it is not the fuel hose. If it is, then I have convinced myself that it is not.

Even cold, the right coil does not spark. If I take leads from the left (small alligator clips) and turn the engine over, viola, it sparks.

Not doubting the users on the forum, but I have had this issue for a while. Shortened the fuel hose, lengthened it a bit, and same thing. I think mainly it is a spark issue.

One other thing, on the Signal Generator, I checked the resistance between the green/white wire and the brown wire. It is 120 or so Ohms. One of the tests (Mr. Matchless version) states 250 or so Ohms. This was checked on and off of the bike, with 2 different Signal Generators. I know they work. Does this seem odd, or am I comparing apples/oranges?

Thanks for the replys.

Am I on the right path?
Click to expand...
Ok, with the sparking issue, you have checked all the leads down to the signal generator to make sure there are no breaks in the insulation. On another bike, I had a wire ground out on a clip as it wore through the insulation. One other thing, start your bike in the dark, no lights and look for sparking near metal parts. As far as your fuel line, the spring doesn't keep it from collapsing as mine was doing. Sounds like you are on the right track, but I would check for a break in a wire or insulation that maybe grounding out. As I said before, mine grounded near the point cover on the metal clip. I couldn't see it until I unhooked the wire and followed it. 30 sec fix cost me 6 hours on the side of the road. I'm not sure on the output of the signal generator anymore as I did away with mine and switched to the dyna S ignition and dyna coils. Oh much cheaper than a new signal gen. Don't know if they have the system for your bike. I ride a 1982 GS1100G.
 
Yes, I heard about the DYNA S, Ignition/Coils, but there was an issue with the 450 Rotor not being the same size or something. It fit the older 425 I think, but there was something about the rotor that did not work on the 450. The 425 is breaker point ignition. The 450 is electronic with a mechanical advance...I think that the 425 has a rotor that does not advance. My rotor magnet "moves" with the increase in speed. The 1983 model has this advance built-in to the igniter unit.

Update: I checked the resistance again in the signal generator. There are 4 wires in the harness, and I checked them all. 2 said "OL", one reading was 60, and the other was 120. Both signal gens say this, and Clymer says 60-80 is the magical number, but they say check 2 leads (I assume that the others are ground which is why they are OL).

I'll go to the junkyard this weekend and will let you know what I find.
 
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