how do you test an igniter??

[Anonymous]

i was wanting to know if you can test an igniter and how you can test to see if your coils have a short...i have a problem with my coils heating up with just the key on..if anyone can help please do!! thanks...

[duaneage]

Use a spark plug dangling in free air (you must ground the threads to test it) and crank the bike.

Is this problem with both coils or just one? 12 volts gets applied to the coils when the key is on, the ignitor switches the coils OFF when teh engine fires. The magnetic field in the coil then collapes and sends a jolt through the spark plug. It is a collapsing magnetic field that magically fires a spark plug.

If your looking at one bank only having a problem then swap the leads to the coils and see if you move the problem to a different pair of cylinders. Moving the problem is sure sign that it is NOT the coils , rather the ignitor or pickups on the crankshaft.

Coils are pretty darn reliable. The pickup on the crank can get damaged by water penetrating the seal, the ignitor is pretty safe from the rain but damaged by jump starts and overactive Regulators that crank battery voltage up to 16 volts or so.

If you rode in the rain, jumped the bike, or had charging system problems recently troubleshoot accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately my scanner is broken at the minute, but I've taken a picture of the relevant page in the haynes manual with my camera and posted a copy of it here.

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/paul.j.pritchard@btinternet.com/album?.dir=/20ec&.src=ph&.tok=phx2aiDBthWrpd7o

[scotty]

I just found a few scanned pages myself. the quality is poor but if you email me i will send them.
slowpoke59ds@yahoo.com

[Anonymous]

hey do you think you can take a larger pic its kinda blurry i cant really read the numbers thanks

[Billy Ricks]

This is for an '85 700 but you can probably use the same tests for your bike.

Here's how to check the ignitor. 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.


As for testing the signal generators, measure the resistance between the two wires on each pickup. You should get somewhere around 130-200 ohms. If the resistance is infinity or less than spec they are shot.

To test the coils put one probe of the multitester on each of the terminals on the primary side of the coil. You should get 3-5 ohms. Check the secondary windings by placing one probe into each of the plug wires coming from one coil. Those would be 2 & 3 from one coil and 1 & 4 for the other. You should get 30-50,000 ohms for stock coils and 15-20,000 for aftermarket.

[Anonymous]

yea i did that and no spark came to the plugs on eihter of them..maybe this test will not work on this igniter

[Anonymous]

hey do you think you can take a larger pic its kinda blurry i cant really read the numbers thanks

Try clicking on the download button and you can downlaod them to your PC and view them in full size!

[Billy Ricks]

Well, that's the test. If you did it right then the ignitor is shot. As for your question on r/r testing I only about every other day. These instructions are directly from the Suzuki shop manual for my bike. With yours being a late model GS the test are most probably the same for your bike as mine. If you have four terminals on each plug of the ignitor the test will work.

With the r/r removed from the bike, fins pointing up and terminals facing you, the terminals from left to right will be A, B, C, D, and E.
Negative probe on A and positive on B you should get 6-7.5 ohms.
Negative probe on A and positive on C you should get 6-7.5 ohms.
Negative probe on A and positive on D you should get 6-7.5 ohms.
Negative probe on A and positive on E you should get 50-70 ohms.

Then switch the negative probe to terminal B and place the positive probe on A, C, then D, you should get no reading. Positive on E should read 6-7.5 ohms.

Switch negative probe to C and positive to A, B, then D, you should get no reading. Positive on E should read 6-7.5 ohms.

Switch negative probe to D and positive to A, B, then C, you should get no reading. Positive on E should read 6-7.5 ohms.

Switch negative probe to E, positive to A, B, C, and D should give no reading.

The numbers have to be within range. It doesn't take much of an out of range reading to lead to the wrong output.