OK I'm Stuck - Non-GS Technical

[saaz]

You should have 12 volts to the coil when the ignition is turned on. The ignitor grounds out the coil to achieve spark.

All you can do is try and test the circuit through to the coils. Something must be broken or not working. Usually the power will go through the ignition fuse, up through the kill switch then to the coils. There may be extra switches in there to protect you (eg clutch diengage, sidestand etc).

Is there power at the ignition fuse. Is there power at the kill switch. Does the wire from the ignition fuse to the kill switch/coil have continuity (test each section separately) Note, take the fuse out first!!!

You have to get power to the coil before any other problem can be found.

[Hoomgar]

I spent some time on the phone with Earl yesterday afternoon (Thanks Earl) and here is some of what we did.

Since I already confirmed battery and fises were good. We supplied raw power to the coils right from the battery since that is the missing element at this point and I still do not have spark when cranking. I am thinking at this point that I have some serious wiring harness issues. If you read earlier on in the thread you'll see where I was saying about the issue where turning the wheel the whole way to the left while sitting still with the engine running will shut the motor off cold. I am fairly certain that is a wiring harness issue and now this. I am going to try to find another harness for it and if that fails I'll just make one.

My one suspicion this whole time is still the ignitor itself but I know of no way to prove or disprove that.

The cold has lifted a bit so i will be working on this more. I'll post in here.

saaz, to answer some of your questions, I did test the fuse yes and it is good. And the kill switch seems to work fine. If I turn it off the bike will not crank, if I turn it on it does. Another thing to think about is that fact that this problem came on gradually until now it wont start at all.

sigh... I just want to go for a ride

[Hoomgar]

OK the saga continues. I have tested wires until I am actually getting sick of doing it. I cannot find a bad broken or shorted wire anywhere in the mix.

I really really really think it is the ignitor. But just don't know enough to be sure. I am reading voltage to ground when I clip the continuity tester to the + feed leed of the coil while conected to the ignitor. Does this sound right? If I unplug the ignitor and test it with or without it being connected to the coils I do not see anything. As soon as I plug the ignitor back in I am getting about half a meter reading that there is continuity between gound and hot lead on the coil.

If one of my bare spots was rubbing ground while riding couldn't that have taken out my ignitor? If so, does anyone know a way to test the ignitor and if bad where can I get one other than ebay since I am not seeing any on there?

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help. I am at a loss and cannot get this once running bike to fire at all, something has been blown.

[Hoomgar]

Well it looks like this bike is going to be a scrub if this does turn out to be an ignitor. I was really hopeful to get it running so we could go for some rides in this nice weather but I can't find one anywhere. Dealer has them listed for over 500!!!! I am not shelling out hundreds of dollars on a small electrical part.

Very sad. Hopefully I can find a wrecker somewhere that may have one. I am out of ideas.

If anyone had any last inputs that could help me and my whole family would be truely greatful. If not, I know where there is going to be a lot of KZ550 parts on ebay

[Anonymous]

hey hoomgar;

Hang in there we ain't done yet. Sorry i've been gone for a while and not able to get on line to read forums.(did get a nice tan tho and got to do some riding)

When you said you used a different battery and used raw power did you use the wiring harness or did you run a seperate wire dirctly from battery to coil? The kz were notorious for their wiring to slip and shorten up by the handlebars. You need to establish 12 volts to the coil Check the voltage from the kill switch to the 4 pin connector under the frame taht houses the wires for the coils. You could have 12 volts at the kill switch but not at the coil as there are 2 seperate systems and the kill switch would let you use the starter but not have voltage to the coil so check this first. The yellow/red wire is the only one to worry about now as this wire carries voltage to the coils and the ignitor so if you don't have 12 volts to the coil you won't have to the ignitor either. Check this all out first then we'll check the ignitor next (i'll have to find the resistances for that) but i think there is a 12volt problem to sort out first.

[Hoomgar]

We did supply a fresh wire straight from the battery to the coil feed when we tested. I will test the kill switch next and post that here. Anyone know hwo to tell if the ignitor is bad or not?

[Hoomgar]

The kz were notorious for their wiring to slip and shorten up by the handlebars. You need to establish 12 volts to the coil Check the voltage from the kill switch to the 4 pin connector under the frame taht houses the wires for the coils. You could have 12 volts at the kill switch but not at the coil as there are 2 seperate systems and the kill switch would let you use the starter but not have voltage to the coil so check this first. The yellow/red wire is the only one to worry about now as this wire carries voltage to the coils and the ignitor so if you don't have 12 volts to the coil you won't have to the ignitor either. Check this all out first then we'll check the ignitor next (i'll have to find the resistances for that) but i think there is a 12volt problem to sort out first.

OK here is what I did just now. With everything plugged back in (ignitor harness all wiring) I put a volt/ohm meter on the negative terminal of the battery and the positive lead on a bare spot on the yellow/red-stripe wire that is going to/from the kill switch. I turn on the key and I get nothing with the kill switch in any position. Pull in the clutch as well just to make sure. No voltage on that wire. Note that the kill switch does seem to work for the starter because you cannot crank it if you don't have it in the on posision.

I am ready for the next step.

[Hoomgar]

Is there anyone else with any bike wiring experience that could lend a hand here? I am seriously stuck and cannot afford to pay a shop to work on this. I am hoping that someone will be able to help me pinpoint what is broken so I can fix it. Without this bike, I wont be riding until mid summer or later as that is when the GS is scheduled to be done

If you can think of anything next to check I really appreciate the help.

Thanks guys...

[Anonymous]

hey hoomgar;

The fact that you don't have any voltage at the yellow/red wire says that there is something wrong at the handlebars. Did you check voltage at the kill switch itself or at the coils?

This is where i need to know what model kz you have as some models like the kz550 a2 the yellow/red wire comes from the zstarter button whereas the kz550 c2 comes from the kill switch. Either way you need to check the contacts on both the kill switch and the starter switch as these are probably the parts that are giving you grief. You know you have 12 volts to the kill switch as you can run the starter so the contacts between the yellow wire(power in) and the black wire (to the starter lockout switch) is good. Pull the kill switch or starter switch (whichever the yellow/red comes out of) and spray the contacts with a contact spray to loosen any crud there. Then check for broken contacts(little copper colored metal plates) to see if they are broken.

On some models you can remove the small phillips screws and pull the contacts apart and clean them. Be careful not to lose the tiny screws. Doing that should get you voltage down to the coils and to the ignitor.
Let me know what you come up with.

[Hoomgar]

Thanks overboardkat, I'll do that now. It is a 81-82 KZ550 C3 LTD

[KennyJ]

Well, I can tell you one thing...If it was a Ford I would garrentee that you need a new module (we call them Ignitors). The only way I know to check them is wait for them to heat cycle (die when hot) the swap for the new item ASAP. Thus if it starts right up, you know the module is dead.

As for looking for one on ebay...don't just look for the 550, try other models from the same year. I would think that most of the 4 cylinder would interchange for function, but maybe not mounting (who knows, could all be identical). Try the 650/750/1000 etc, maybe even the GPZ versions.

Kenny

[KennyJ]

Do an ebay search on "Ignitor". There were a few different kawasaki units on there for pretty cheap. Some looked different that others, but I am pretty sure they used the same ignitor across the model spectrum.

Kenny

[Hoomgar]

Do an ebay search on "Ignitor". There were a few different kawasaki units on there for pretty cheap. Some looked different that others, but I am pretty sure they used the same ignitor across the model spectrum.

Kenny

I am collecting them as we speak

If you search for "Ignitor" you get 20,000 hits with almost non of it motorcycle related.

[KennyJ]

Wow...I only had 81, are you searching just the title or the body too. Just search the titles will narrow it a ton!

[KennyJ]

Wow...I only had 81, are you searching just the title or the body too. Just search the titles will narrow it a ton!