1979 GS850 - No spark

[DPeanut]

Hello there. I picked up a 1979 GS850 for free. Carbs were drained, oil was changes and everything was prepped for storage. Over the 5 years it sat, cobwebs and some leaves and needles got on it, normal stuff. Thats not the real problem. I was told that it was a nice runner, but had the starter relay scavenged for another bike. I am at the point of getting it going now. I am able to get it to crank over by putting power right to the starter cable.

The stocker battery is right dead, as it would be from 5 years of nothing, so I am using a small car battery (4 cyl car). I assume that the long red wire going to the fuse box is for the lights, gauges and other stuff, and the large cable with the yellow end is for the starter (in the pic). I want to get this thing running while its in the bike (going to use the engine for a sand rail / dune buggy).

Any help with what sires should get power, and to where would be a huge help. I have a very basic car starter relay. one input post, one output and a trigger post. Would that work in place of the original one ?

[SqDancerLynn1]

Old ford starter sol. It should work. Your ref to + end should be hooked to the + battery term

[DPeanut]

Hooked up the relay, went to hit the button. Nothing. No crank, so tick from the relay, not even sparks or smoke. Fuse block and fuses seem to be alright.

Horn works, lights on the dash come on, head light switch is dead...

Any further ideas ?

[gsbuggie]

my 450a had a sticky starter button.tear it apart and clean the contacts.itll work like new..or you can simply cross the silonoid to get it to crank..hope the buggy project works out...iv got a 750 sittin on a rail...cant keep the 3 piece rearend to hold together...have fun,mike..

[DPeanut]

I'm not too worried about the starter button not working, its the entire no spark thing that has me stumped. If need be I could whip uo some redneck engineering and make my own starter button.

[arveejay]

Did you have the clutch lever pulled in? Kill switch set to run?

[Steve]

Verify that ALL of your fuses are working, either with a meter or a test light. They sometimes fail under the cap where you can not see them. It seems that power is not getting to the ignition circuit, the problem is finding the break in the circuit. Start with fuses, check all the wires coming from the ignition switch, and make sure there is power to the coils. Also check that the points are making and breaking contact when they should.

Arveejay has a good suggestion about clutch and kill switches. You can also try shorting across the large connections on the starter solenoid. That should engage the starter whether the key is on or not. There is a smaller wire that comes to the solenoid from the starter button. Make sure that is energized when you push the button (the key has to be ON, kill switch ON, clutch pulled in, unless you have it bypassed).


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[DPeanut]

Alright, I will try those things. But how do I check for power at the coils ?

[Steve]

The coils have two terminals with small wires coming to them, and two large wires going to the spark plugs. I can't tell you colors for your bike, but one of the small terminals should have close to 12 volts on it when the key is on. Everything else has to be set to RUN, too, like the kill switch.

The other small wire is the signal that comes from the ignitor box that tells the coil when to fire.
You will not get a meaningful reading on there with a meter.


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[DPeanut]

I got spark now!!. It was a combo of a bad engine kill switch and rotten wires. The kill switch was so badly corroded, it would not make contact. So I put my own toggle in there. But I still cant get the relay to fire with the starter button. Si I am just putting power directly to the starter cable.

It puts ans sputters, and leaks fuel from 3 carbs. So I pulled them in preparation to clean them tomorrow. I hope this will be going soon.

Any idea on the starter button though? I even tried to bypass it, but to no avail.