please help spark problems

[elevenspecial]

good day everyone first must say this is a great site sorted out most of my hassle with your forums now i have a different problem. to start off with i bought a eleven special for a bargain my dad a biker for years reckon its the best bike ever. now got the bike it didnt have spark. sorted the problem on sunday with the forum on pick up wiring repair. but the motor cranked to slow to start. then i read about corrosion and things next day i opened the kill switch got confused on reassembly and put together as i thought it must go. then i threw the old positive and negative cables out and put new ones in. treid to swing it. motor cranked faster but there the spark was gone again. swoped the wiring on the 1 pick up coils i wasnt sure about around and still no spark put it back like it was redone all the wiring from the pick up coil to the cdi plug and still no spark can you guys please help me been goiong on like this for 4 days no and cant get spark to get ny baby started. thank you.

[xs11bobber]

Have you tested the TCI?

[elevenspecial]

ok i started it eventually but now from time to time when i try to start it again then no spark. then all off a sudden the spark is back again. any advice

[randy]

Sounds like a loose connection somewhere. Go through them all.

[elevenspecial]

where were u suggest i start played with the pick up wires not there

[CatatonicBug]

where were u suggest i start played with the pick up wires not there

I assume you are asking, "Where do you suggest I start? I played with the pickup wires, so not there?"

If that is the case, Randy is right, you need to go through EVERY electrical connector on the bike. Start in the front and work your way back (or vise versa). If you need the wiring diagram to find them all, there is one in the back of the Yamaha manual, which you can get from the link in my signature. Take every connection apart, one-by-one, and don't stop until you have completed them ALL. When you take them apart, clean them and sand off any corrosion, and cover them with dielectric grease before puting them back together. Ground wires are especially important. Also, the fuses, though they may LOOK good, may not actually BE good. Test them. I would also suggest changing out the old glass fuses for the new spade-style (ATC) fuses. There is a replacement for sale in the "Parts for sale" area on this site. It's $9 shipped and includes the connectors. You just add the fuses and the labor to install it. Takes about an hour.

[elevenspecial]

cleaned all the connections i could find. just someting i am wondering about i fixed the pick up wires if my insulation between the wiring at the pick up is not insulating well could that cause a lack of spark. for example the wiring is open and could cause a short at the pick up. and not send a current to the cdi?

[cruiser]

Check/wiggle connections at TCI while cranking and watching for spark. Ran into this on a 79 special with intermittant spark.

[Ivan]

These scoots are notorious for having bad fuse blocks, it may be worth your while to check yours to see if the tabs are loose and not making good connection to the fuses.

[randy]

Do you know how to use a tester? The test video on my website will tell you if your pickups and TCI are working. If that test goes OK, then your trouble is somewhere between the TCI and the spark plugs/ If it doesn't go OK, then your trouble is somewhere between the TCI and the pickups, or in the TCI itself.

PS - do you have a service manual?

[xs11bobber]

ok i started it eventually but now from time to time when i try to start it again then no spark. then all off a sudden the spark is back again. any advice

Had that problem on my dad's bike. Assuming you have the stock fuse block with the glass type fuses, wiggle it a bit with the key on. You might get the same result as I allowing you to just watch your warning lights as you wiggle it. They flickered a lot when I did that. Was also the cause of the runaway spark.