Need some advice for 77 gs550 owner.

[gearhead13]

Have you checked/adjusted the points? new condensers?

[johnhend]

Have you checked/adjusted the points? new condensers?

where are the points and condensers?

[hampshirehog]

where are the points and condensers?

They are on the RH side of the motor ie cylinder #4 side, low down on the end of the crankshaft. You have a cover held on with 3 screws (should be cross-head / phillips / JIS type but best replaced with allen screws). Cover should have a Suzuki emblem on it, though often missing. Points and capacitors are just behind the cover.

[mike_of_bbg]

John, servicing the points ignition is covered in the GS550 factory service manual, pp 69-72. That manual is available for free download at BassCliff's site:

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

If you have the Clymer manual, it's also there on pp 60-61. If you don't, PM me and maybe I can get you those two pages. It's a worthwhile investment to get the whole thing. Each manual arranges and presents some of the information differently.

Your bike has two sets of points with condensers. One works cyls 1&4 and the other 2&3. That's why it's very important that you ensure the correct routing of the spark plug wires (this has been missed by many before). If your plug wire routing is correct, and cylinders 1 and 2 are experiencing weak spark, it is unlikely (but not impossibly) due to a problem with the points, condenser, or voltage to the coils (after all, that same coil is giving a strong spark to it's other cylinder at the same time).

One other suggestion I'd make is to go to your user CP in the upper left hand corner, edit personal details, and put your location in there. There may be a nearby GSer willing to come by and offer you some hands-on assistance.

I understand your frustration, and totally sympathize with not wanting to shell out much more money for a bike that's not running. I was there too. But I agree with that other assessment which says you're probably very, very close. Your cold compression numbers say to me that your motor is in good shape, but you need to get ignition and carbs straightened out.

[johnhend]

You guy's rock. Thanks for all of the help so far. I ordered an o ring set for the vm carbs (thanks robert) and I am going to try to go through the carbs myself. Does anyone know the part # for the intake boot o rings (77 gs550)? Another quick question, there are small philips head screws (one for each boot) going into the rubber intake boots between the carbs and the cylinder head. Are these normal?

I think I've got low spark from both coils, so after checking the plug wires and trying to switch them, I think I'll try the relay mod. There are a few ones on here so I'm confused as to which to follow, I printed out the one for the gs1000 with the bosh 5 pin. By the way is there a way to check for proper spark with a multimeter? I'll also look at the points and condensors.

If those things don't work, I guess I'll try to check the valves. I'm guessing the 77 gs550 has 8 valves with shims? (That should be fun!) If none of those get the thing to run right. I'll get back on this post.

By the way, I live in Lakeland FL, work at Disney (free tickets) and have a Florida GC License. If any of those things apeal to someone who lives close by maybe we could trade for some wrench/diagnosis time.

J

[hampshirehog]

The screws in the boots are removed when you are balancing your carbs - they're normal.

[Nessism]

I have some intake O-rings that size. Drop me a PM if you want some.

[johnhend]

The screws in the boots are removed when you are balancing your carbs - they're normal.

okay thanks

[Big T]

John

1. Robert may have the head/boot O ring. If not, try one of the many vendors listed on BassCliff's site
2. You did read your way thru BasssCliff's site, right??
3. Those Phillips heads in the middle of the intake boots are where you hook up the vacuum carb sync tool
4. The coil relay mods are basically all the same - get full 12V to the coils
5. Points - I'm surprised you can get any spark at all, generally, it's the condensors that cause poor spark,but it can also be corroded points or low voltage, I recommend putting in a Dyna S rather than spending all the $$ replacing points and condensors, much cheaper in the long run.
6. Yes, you have to change shims to adjust your valve clearances

To help us help you, do a couple of things:

a. Go to the User CP, put your bike and location in your signature. That way every time you post, members can see where you are and what bike we're talking about. You can add an avatar also, which for me is that little photo of me coming down Mt. Shasta on my 78.

b. Go to BassCliff's site (you have read it now, haven't you?) and read on how to post up pictures. Spend 5 minutes setting up Photobucket and learn how to show us pictures. We love pictures and, as the old saying goes, they're worth a thousand words.

Everything and every problem you are going to encounter working on your bike has already been experienced by several people here. They're glad to help you become experienced without all the possible bad mistakes one can make.

[johnhend]

Thanks Big T, I'll post some pics as soon as I get the bike back.

[paco13]

Where did it go?

[johnhend]

Where did it go?

It is at the car mechanics house. He didn't think it was worth working on, so I've got to pick it up and work on it myself.

[mike_of_bbg]

By all means, get that bike back in the hands of someone who cares - you!

It looks like the Suzuki part number for the 28mm intake o-rings is 09280-28003, and they're about $2 each. They're on the air cleaner fiche for your bike.

I agree that in the long run, Dyna S is the way to go for you. But that's also $125, and might not help get the bike running at this point. You could sink about $270 into Dyna S, Dyna green coils, and plug wires, and pretty much not have to concern yourself with the ignition ever again. But then, we don't want to get you into too much trouble

I don't know of a good way to check spark with a multitester. You can check the coils using the ohmmeter: your primary should be about 5 ohms. Use the forum search function and surely you'll find some values for the secondary. You can also check to see how much voltage is coming in to the coils. If you're already ~12V, you're not going to get much out of a coil relay mod. This from BassCliff's site, electrical odds-n-ends section:

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.

Your primary should be at the 5ohm value because it's a points type ignition (assuming it's still stock).

[johnhend]

Okay, I got the bike back. It wouldn't start for the mechanic. Now it won't start for me. I think it's because the battery was worn down from the mechanic trying to start it combined with an already low spark. I took the tank off and looked at how the ignition wires were routed and they were wrong. Coil on left fed cylinder 1 and 3. Coil on right fed cylinder 2 and 4. That is how it was when I got cylinder's 3 and 4 to start and idle. Now I switched it over so coil on left feeds 1 and 4 and right coil feeds 2 and 3. Wouldn't start. Battery is on charge. Oh yeah, took off the cover to look at points and there is already a Dyna S electronic ignition installed.

[mike_of_bbg]

Dyna S already installed? BONUS!

Yes, on my GS550 left feeds 1 and 4 and right feeds 2 and 3. More importantly, with a Dyna S the 1 and 4 coil should be grounded with the WHITE wire and the 2/3 coil the BLACK wire (from the 3-wire Dyna harness). The RED 12V feed for the Dyna can come off of either coil (the orange/white wire) or any other constant 12V source, it doesn't matter.

Don't charge the battery with more than 2A current. Use your voltmeter to ensure your orange/white coil wires are getting ~12V with the ignition on. If they're not the coil relay mod may help, if they already are don't bother. Instead of the coil relay mod, you could have a field day cleaning connectors, particularly around the ignition switch. That's usually where the voltage loss is.