Firing on two cylinders

[Guest]

Hey all,

I've been lurking and enjoying the forum.

I have recently acquired a GS650G, and it isn't firing on 1 & 4.

Since my left coil controls those, I figured that could be the problem and watched a couple videos on how to test it.

They said to check the Primary side, and then the secondary by keeping one lead on the primary, and touching the metal inside the boot.

I get nothing on the secondary, but did on the primary. So I ordered coils for it. (Both, because I've read here its good to have a set)

They've come in, and I get the same readings as I did on the old. I think I'm just not testing it right. The boots are pretty useless, all cracked up and hard as rocks.

I've looked at the resistors inside, and on spark plug #1 it was coming apart. All burnt up.

I've ordered some generic boots off Z1 today.

So I said all that to say this.

How am I suppose to test the secondary side of a coil? I have two brand new ones from Suzuki, part# 33410-31311

Any other tips and or suggestions you all can offer to get me up and going, and zero'ing in on all the needed maintenance would be appreciated.

Thanks for your time, and such a cool community.

-Casey

[tom203]

Ignition coils are best tested by unscrewing spark plug boots from wires, cutting back wires about 3/8 inch (to expose fresh copper). Stick meter's probes into these wires and with meter range on 20k ohm range, look for reading of about 12000 ohms wire to wire.

since you've been lurking,you must have seen the must do maintenance list.
For ignition testing, try this link...

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/storagecliff/images/electrical_odd-n-ends.html#A17

[caseyw]

Thanks for the response.

I haven't seen it actually. I have the newbie mistakes list, the deadly sins, and greeting site from BassCliff. It has a list, but I'm wondering if there is another?

[tom203]

Buried in the info overload on Basscliff's are the common issues from bwringer...

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/GSR_Greeting.html

avoid buying stuff till you actually know what you need... Ignition coils are very durable, while suzuki's wiring scheme is payback for WW2

[caseyw]

Thank you tom203. I only bought the coil because the test I performed failed. It does on the new coils too, so I'm definitely doing something wrong.

[JTGS850GL]

Why not check for spark first? Assuming that it's the ignition has cost you $$$ already. Check the obvious first. Unscrew a plug on 1-4 and lay it on the head. Crank the engine and look for spark. If you don't have spark then check the input voltage to the coil in question. If it's 12V or more on the orange/white wire then move on to the igniter and the signal generator tests.

If you do have spark then move on to the carbs and fuel system.

[caseyw]

JTGS850GL,

Because I'm ignorant. I'm learning to work on things using this bike as a starter. I didn't know to do those things before. I'll be checking it today.

Thank you for your response

[60ratrod]

casey,

i had the same issue with my 650g when i bought it last year. i chased and chased my tail and even swapped out what were probably good coils with the green dyna's that everyone here is so fond of. since your plug caps are crap, i would replace those after cutting that 3/8" off of the wire, and do the same with the 2-3 coil as well. then i would perform the ignitor test, which takes a couple minutes.

to do the test once you have replaced the caps and trimmed the wires to get to the fresher wire, remove spark plugs 1 & 2 and insert them back into the caps and then lay them back on the cylinder head so they can ground out and transmit the spark to the engine so you can see/hear the spark, it will be an audible pop. then you go to the bracket by your battery on the left hand side and disconnect the connector with the blue/green wires and figure out which side is going to the ignitor.

set your multimeter to the continuity setting(the symbol should resemble that of a wifi symbol) and connect the negative lead to the green, either from the front or in the back if it does not enter on the front of the connector so you can do this next step with both hands(not required, but a hell of a lot easier). next you connect the positive lead to the blue wire, and it should make #1 spark, and when you disconnect the positive lead it should make #2 spark.

if you see spark from both, then the ignitor is good. if it sparks from only one plug, then the ignitor is bad. this is what i had. when i had gotten my gs650g, it only ran on 1&4, and the replacement made it run on only 2&3. after that, i ended up building the diy ignitor since i cut up the original to see if it was repairable or had repairable circuits, and it does not.

let us know what you find!