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Intermittent NO SPARK; Runs well when running.
Hello,
I lost my first post here due to a computer gliche, so I'll keep it short and cryptic.
1980 XS1100 MIDNIGHT SPECIAL. Dropped 3 times after purchase until I cut the shock springs. Only run a couple times since purchase. Most runs okay. Last run for 3 hours ran great, but started to run a little rough. Stopped the bike and could not restart due to no spark. A buddy came to rescue me with his test light. He stuck his testlight into the #1 plugwire for resistance to ground and the bike oddly restarted. He said that sometimes, when you have maybe ignition crossfire (and it sounded like that possibly to me earlier), some of the ignition units get messed up. Applying resistance to a plugwire is an old biker trick he's used before. I don't know if it worked for that reason or worked due to the intermittent nature, but it got me home. The bike ran well otherwise ever since.
Carb and fuel issues are okay. A little coldblooded is the motor, but runs nicely when warm. Ample power. No bogging. A little on the lean side because she didn't have an airbox and I'm waiting on a filter. But normally starts and runs fine.
Then, just out of the blue -- like today -- she won't restart due to NO SPARK. Certain there. I've pulled the #1 and #4 plugs. Checked. Possible loose wires and connections to still run through. Sometimes reconnecting things has returned the spark briefly. Other times not. Very frustrating. This afternoon, I pulled the seat and tank to get to the ignition coils. A good 12 volts go into the coils and come out through the orange and grey wire. I have no ground continuity on the exit wires, however. Bypassing the orange and gray wires straight to ground also rendered no spark, but possibly did for a brief time after disconnecting other wires and reconnecting. When I fiddle with the fuses and connections, sometimes I get spark and then it fades. Other times I redo all that and nothing. No logic to it.
A couple times, I've felt high voltage spark at the ignition key after trying to crank over and look for spark. Makes me wonder if something in the high voltage circuit isn't shorting to the frame. Charge builds up in the frame and engine and then grounds through me. Other times, it doesn't do that. I don't know anymore. Nothing is constant.
Tonight, I've searched these forums and read the tech tips. Many checks to run still -- ignition coil ohms, connection cleaning, primary coil wires, tipover switch. I suspect the ignition coils are good, but best to test.
Just wondering what any of you would first suspect or if this sounds familiar. I'm prone to thinking the maybe the tipover switch, but won't know until eliminating the possibility. Could be something simple like the kill switch, but it was working fine otherwise. I don't think connection cleanliness the issue. Wire breaks, shorting, and loose connections seem more logical. Maybe something shaken loose among drops. Maybe those primary coil wires?
Any comments much appreciated. Thank you,
Stan
P.S. Problem sounds very similar to a 10/17/04 post by Deve1Shere. Mine runs great if you can just get her to restart and she won't restart once in awhile for no apparent reasons. In my 16 years on cars, boats, and aircraft, that's usually something loose or failing electrical rather than something fully broken or fully bad. Some little loose gremlin somewhere. I'm operating without a manual or elec. diagrams, though. But, I dunno anymore. Much more troubleshooting to do. Hoping any comments you have might save me considerable time by pointing me in the right direction. Many thanks for forum information gleaned so far!
I lost my first post here due to a computer gliche, so I'll keep it short and cryptic.
1980 XS1100 MIDNIGHT SPECIAL. Dropped 3 times after purchase until I cut the shock springs. Only run a couple times since purchase. Most runs okay. Last run for 3 hours ran great, but started to run a little rough. Stopped the bike and could not restart due to no spark. A buddy came to rescue me with his test light. He stuck his testlight into the #1 plugwire for resistance to ground and the bike oddly restarted. He said that sometimes, when you have maybe ignition crossfire (and it sounded like that possibly to me earlier), some of the ignition units get messed up. Applying resistance to a plugwire is an old biker trick he's used before. I don't know if it worked for that reason or worked due to the intermittent nature, but it got me home. The bike ran well otherwise ever since.
Carb and fuel issues are okay. A little coldblooded is the motor, but runs nicely when warm. Ample power. No bogging. A little on the lean side because she didn't have an airbox and I'm waiting on a filter. But normally starts and runs fine.
Then, just out of the blue -- like today -- she won't restart due to NO SPARK. Certain there. I've pulled the #1 and #4 plugs. Checked. Possible loose wires and connections to still run through. Sometimes reconnecting things has returned the spark briefly. Other times not. Very frustrating. This afternoon, I pulled the seat and tank to get to the ignition coils. A good 12 volts go into the coils and come out through the orange and grey wire. I have no ground continuity on the exit wires, however. Bypassing the orange and gray wires straight to ground also rendered no spark, but possibly did for a brief time after disconnecting other wires and reconnecting. When I fiddle with the fuses and connections, sometimes I get spark and then it fades. Other times I redo all that and nothing. No logic to it.
A couple times, I've felt high voltage spark at the ignition key after trying to crank over and look for spark. Makes me wonder if something in the high voltage circuit isn't shorting to the frame. Charge builds up in the frame and engine and then grounds through me. Other times, it doesn't do that. I don't know anymore. Nothing is constant.
Tonight, I've searched these forums and read the tech tips. Many checks to run still -- ignition coil ohms, connection cleaning, primary coil wires, tipover switch. I suspect the ignition coils are good, but best to test.
Just wondering what any of you would first suspect or if this sounds familiar. I'm prone to thinking the maybe the tipover switch, but won't know until eliminating the possibility. Could be something simple like the kill switch, but it was working fine otherwise. I don't think connection cleanliness the issue. Wire breaks, shorting, and loose connections seem more logical. Maybe something shaken loose among drops. Maybe those primary coil wires?
Any comments much appreciated. Thank you,
Stan
P.S. Problem sounds very similar to a 10/17/04 post by Deve1Shere. Mine runs great if you can just get her to restart and she won't restart once in awhile for no apparent reasons. In my 16 years on cars, boats, and aircraft, that's usually something loose or failing electrical rather than something fully broken or fully bad. Some little loose gremlin somewhere. I'm operating without a manual or elec. diagrams, though. But, I dunno anymore. Much more troubleshooting to do. Hoping any comments you have might save me considerable time by pointing me in the right direction. Many thanks for forum information gleaned so far!
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