82 Gs650e ingnition issues

[kennysgreen280z]

Hey guys, ive been a member for a few weeks now, and am just getting my 650 up and running. Well sort of. The bike runs great for about 10-15 min, it seems to me that once it gets up to operational temp, the spark cuts out. I tested the pickups according the manual, they tested good. Then I checked the CDI according to the manual, and it was deemed questionable. I purchaced one from a fellow GS'r and was up and running again last night! GF and I took a nice 20min ride came back, no issues. I go to take it out on my lunch break and about 10 min into my ride, bike falls on its face without spark again.

I didnt quite understand the testing procedure for the coils in the manual, and am back at work now anyways. I dont know if there is a temp related failure that could be causing the coils to fail, or two CDI boxes now....

Any help would be appriciated!

Thanks!
Kenny

[kennysgreen280z]

Oh! I wanted to add, after reading on the forums as well.... All terminals and plugs have been cleaned and di-electric greased. I also ran seperate ground wires to all the major components under the seat.

Also, the bike put out 13.6v @ the battery..... when running

Thanks

[hikermikem]

May be the coils

May be the coils. When you say no spark, have you removed the plugs (one by one, grounded against the engine) & verified they were indeed not firing, or firing with a very weak (yellow) spark?

I had a similar issue with my 550. Ran ok for a short time, then fizzled. Both coils passed a bench test, but I changed them & the bike ran & started better than ever.

I don't remember the exact numbers for the coils, but when you check the ohms with a multimeter (coils NOT energized, ignition OFF) each coil should read 30K-50K ohms from the secondary side (plug cap to plug cap), and around 3-5 ohm from the primary side (between + and - push on connections). However, like I said, even if they bench test ok, they might be failing under load.

If you determine you want/need to replace your coils, here's a what you want:

http://www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=210

good luck

[kennysgreen280z]

Thanks, I was unclear whether to test with ignition on, or bike turning over, or what. We have no spark. While I was sittin on the side of the road debating pushing it back (a mile or so flat) I pulled the #4 wire off, and did the ole screwdriver to check for spark test.

I will post testing results later, if I get a chance to check them out tonite. I find it odd that both coils would be failing at the same point, however I guess its not totally out of the question.

Thanks for the quick answer!

Kenny

[spyug]

Most likely coils.

From the symptoms I'd have to say bad coil.

The windings could be broken. When the bike is cold the wire contacts. When it heats up wire seperates and spark dies.

Quite a common problem with older bikes. Had it on both my Virago and my XS.

Change them out and see how she performs.


Let us know how it goes.
Good luck,
Spyug

[kennysgreen280z]

Alright, just got done with the test, the +/- side of the coil tested fine, 3.8 on both.... the sparkplug side, I got nothin, the meter just stayed at 1. I took the sparkplug boots off and jammed the probes into the wires to make sure I was getting a good contact. And still nothing. I assume that means the coils are shot!

So what causes coils to fail like that? And could both fail at the same time?

Ive got some used ones on the way from the guy I purchased the CDI from. Im not quite ready to buy new ones yet, as im not sure if im going to keep this bike around yet.

Thanks guys for all your help, im kinda looking forward to having something other than my FZ6 to ride around on come spring \\/

[hikermikem]

I have noticed that on my multimeter (digital from RadioShack), if I'm not set to the correct scale (e.g., trying to read 1000's on the 10's scale), the meter won't register anything, implying no readable response.

Verify you're on the right scale and if so, then your coil(s) are shot.

[t3rmin]

Scale is key when measuring across the plug wire leads, since as mentioned many meters don't register at all on the wrong scale (mine does it too). Get it on 100k or 200k (whatever your meter has).

From personal experience, I'd start with the plug boots. They should test to 5k/ohms. Higher than that or no reading at all and they should be replaced. I've had two bikes now that the boots were bad and when heated up, they stopped spark in a few cyls. Very frustrating and very hard to diagnose. Those suckers are right on the cylinder head and they cook after years and years of heat; I think the resister boots (which we have) are especially prone to this.

New plug caps available at your local bike shop or www.z1enterprises.com.

[kennysgreen280z]

I did click it through all the ranges on the multimeter to make sure I was getting it in the correct range. and no change in any of the ranges.

The plug boots do look pretty skanky, however ive go no spark in any cyl, so im going to start with the coils. I will check the new plug boots when they get here attached to the coils.

The other question ive got, is there a way to check the CDI box for opperation when you dont have the suzuki tool mentioned in the manual, or good coils? Just curious, as id like to check the old one out.

Thanks again for all the help:-D

[kennysgreen280z]

Hey guys, thought I would post a wrap up on this. I got the coils in the mail saturday and dug into the bike, again, today.

I installed the new (used) coils. We still had no spark. On the plus side I could make spark by the factory recommended CDI testing. I then rechecked the pick-ups, which had tested fine before. No change there, they were still good. Next I started checking continuity of the harness, between the CDI, coil, CDI and pickups. I found the plug between the pickup harness and the main harness was making really really poor connection. Cut it off and swapped them out for some spade connectors and we got spark while cranking!

Put the tank back on, put the seat back on, and took her out for a ride. What a great little bike! it ran great for the 20 mile ride. restarted hot, and had no issues at all. Im excited.

Thanks to everyone here for the help!

[t3rmin]

Great news! Enjoy your 650 -- I know I did!