Lost a Cylinder

[DMPLATT]

I was riding into work this morning, going about 60 when I had to slow down for a school bus. When I did the engine started to bog down and I could feel it wasn't running on all cylinders. Unfortunately it was too late to turn back. All the way in it didn't want to idle of course and I could tell it wasn't running on all 4.
When I got to work, all the exhaust pipes were about the same temp.
I've still got 1/4 or so tank of gas. It ran great yesterday.
I'm about 1 hour from home with limited tools.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I may be able to get a spark plug socket here at work, but not much else.

[humhead]

Frist try & id the bad cylinder. Try removing & replacing each plug wire while it's running. When you get to the bad cylinder, nothing will change.
Beg or borrow a plug wrench & pull the plug in the bad cylinder. That should tell the tale.
Another trick: Listen very closely to the engine while starting. You'll hear the sound change as the starter works against engine compression in each cylinder. The pitch change should be the same for all four cylinders. If your hear the starter motor speed up' raising the pitch of the sound, somewhere in the middle of cranking, there's probably a loss of compression in one cylinder.

Terry

[AOD]

get a spark plug and swap it into each boot and ground it to the block. check for spark. you could try removing the plug like suggested above, but it may be hard to tell which is not working.

if you have spark...you have a carb issue.

[DMPLATT]

Thanks.

I pulled #4 and No spark. #3 was good, #1 No spark. I didn't bother with #2.
Sounds like a coil went.

Important question: I'm about 25 miles and 45 minutes in traffic from home. Is it safe to ride it home this way?

[lhanscom]

Before even attempting to drive home, see if you can take the tank off to get to the coils, other then some strange looks in the parking lot, it's no big deal. It may be as simple as a wire coming unhooked, so you may be able to fix it quickly.

[DMPLATT]

Would these work?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4508229009&category=35594

I'm assuming they are 3 ohms. It says they are the 140404 coils?

[SqDancerLynn1]

Those should be fine I would check the Acell web site and check the #s

[DMPLATT]

I checked the wires at break time and all seem connected. I will get a multi meter and check voltages after work.

Will it be alright to ride home on only 2 cylinders if I can't solve the problem?

Thanks for the help with this.

[bwringer]

You won't get far on two cylinders, and all the unburned gas won't be good for your cylinders. I definitely wouldn't try it.

You most likely have a broken wire somewhere. It probably won't be too hard to fix, but you need to find the break. One of mine broke off at the coil a while back, but since you've already looked there, you'll have to track it down.

[saaz]

I have gone a lot further than that to get home on 2 cylinders. The main problem is blowing fuses, depending how the coil has gone. Disconnect the power to the coil that has gone...trust me from my experiences! Two cylinders and stopping all the time to change fuses is not a great experince!! It also took out one of the circuits in the electronic ignition...

[Wingnut]

If it were me, I would ride it home. You need to get home and you need to get the bike home. I don't believe it will cause engine harm. Yes, unburnt fuel will be passing through the cyl. but it is adequitely lubricated from the crank below and cyl. temps will be relatively low. You will consume more fuel than usual of course. I can see no reason for concern.

[DMPLATT]

Thanks for all the help. I started another thread as I was stuck yesterday. It turned out to be a bad (or 2 bad) plug caps. 1 is completely open. The other seemed to work after I trimmed the wire and put it back in.
I DID ride it home on 3 cylinders. Hope I didn't do any harm. I was thinking that my rings all appear to be good, so I was hoping any spent fuel might get sucked thru the exhaust ports.
I had a cap at home, but it's the short 90 deg one. I put it on just to test the spark and it was nice and blue. So, today I was late to work anyway and happen to find a shop that had some in stock. Tonight will be the real test.

Thanks again for all the help. It's great knowing that the help on the GSR is always there. Especially in a tight spot I was in yesterday.

Thanks.