82 GS400 No Spark

[AllanSim]

Battery's fully charged, lights come on, kill switch is on, engine turns over fine, but no spark on either of the 2 plugs. Both were bought new last year. As far as I can tell there's only one fuse on this bike and it's fine. Ideas? Rectifier? Ignitor?

The ignitor has one plastic plug with 8 pins, 7 of which are used. I pulled it off to have a look -- reading this forum some have pulled them apart to reflow the solder on the components but i don't see any way to do this...

I went to DynaOnline to see about replacing the whole setup with their system....$300!! Strangely enough my bike seems to be the most expensive for that even though its the lowest performer...

[Nessism]

You might want to try disconnecting all the electrical plugs, cleaning them with contact cleaner if dirty, and plugging them back up. That fixed my bike that had the same issue.

Good luck.

Ed

[AllanSim]

Thanks for your response. I'll give it a try and see if this helps. Otherwise, I'll see if I can get a hold of a used ignitor from my local cycle salvage. And if that doesn't work, I think I'll be trucking it on down to my local repair shop!

[Nessism]

Right next to the airbox intake horns is a black plastic boot, the plug that kept my bike from starting was inside the boot. I didn't trace the wires back but most likely it's for the ingnitor as you noted.

[AllanSim]

Ahh, I see! You're saying there's a rubber boot under the rubber air-intake horns that holds an electrical connector that is crucial to getting the plugs firing. I didn't know that and I will definitely have a look for that and clean the connector inside.

[SqDancerLynn1]

When you get it running make sure to check the voltage regulator If it runs 16-17 volts it can kill the ignitor

[earlfor]

The reason the Dyna ignition setup for the GS400/425/450 series is the most expensive is unlike other models, Dyna includes two, 3 ohm, single output, new coils in the kit.

Earl

Battery's fully charged, lights come on, kill switch is on, engine turns over fine, but no spark on either of the 2 plugs. Both were bought new last year. As far as I can tell there's only one fuse on this bike and it's fine. Ideas? Rectifier? Ignitor?

The ignitor has one plastic plug with 8 pins, 7 of which are used. I pulled it off to have a look -- reading this forum some have pulled them apart to reflow the solder on the components but i don't see any way to do this...

I went to DynaOnline to see about replacing the whole setup with their system....$300!! Strangely enough my bike seems to be the most expensive for that even though its the lowest performer...

[Nessism]

Ahh, I see! You're saying there's a rubber boot under the rubber air-intake horns that holds an electrical connector that is crucial to getting the plugs firing. I didn't know that and I will definitely have a look for that and clean the connector inside.

Read my post carefully, the boot in question is by the intake ports to the airbox (you have to take off the seat to get access).

Good luck.

Ed

[AllanSim]

Thanks for the info, everyone! DancerLynn: I did a test on the voltage regulator 2 years ago and it was good, but yes, probably a good idea to test it again when the beast is running. Earlfor, thanks for the insight into the Dyna pricing. Nessism, I think I know the area you are speaking of. I noticed it when I removed my air filter for cleaning so I will definitely be checking that out.

I am optimistic that this may be much simpler problem than I thought: dirty connectors preventing the current getting through and that the ignitor maybe OK. I'm also going to buy a new battery since this one doesn't hold its charge as well as it used to. That should help matters if there isn't any permanent damage to the igniter.

[Superfly]

My ignitor connector would fail intermittantly on me (typically when I was riding) and I realized this by having the bike running (holding the connector, and basically wiggling it) and it would cut out, lift the connector, the bike would start, let the connector hang down, no spark at all. I eventually cut out the connector, soldered the connections, and have not had one problem with it since.