fuel to right bank, no spark

[pggg]

So it's gotta be either one dodgy pick-up connection or a dodgy black-box then?

[randy]

no, it has to be something that's either common to 3&4 or the plug wire ends are corroded. The only thing common to 3&4 is fuel/air delivery. 3&4 have seperate igniton coils.

So i would go with corroded wire ends. motoman, don't know if you check those yet, but try unscrewing the caps and cutting 1/4" of the ends of the wires and screw them back on the the caps. Then see if you have spark.

[motoman]

Thanks for the reply guys, already knew swapping wires wasn't answer, that would just change firing to wrong cyl. at wrong time through ignition box and module. So if one of ya's had a correct answer to my prev. last question I would appreciate it....Thanks.

[randy]

motoman,

The 3&4 are the side that has the most vulnerability to the elements when parked on the sidestand (guessing here). If it was parked that way for long enough, moisture can get into the plug caps where the wire connects.

Unscrew the caps, cut off 1/4" and screw the caps back on the wires.

[motoman]

Sorry bout making this complicated to figure out guys. Prior to this problem occurring, I installed new plug boots(NGK), and cut back the wires, as they showed some green corrosion, as did the old screw in ends. Did this cause they looked bad, and bakelite insulator s were cracked. Mind you, it was running good, well as good as can be expected considering the neglect and torture it had endured after I sold it 15 years eariler. The other thing I did when I had seat off and had pressure washed it under there at home, The four fuses kinda came apart when I went to remove them after bike would'nt even even click at the starter when I tried to start it after the douche job. Rep;aced all of them with new ones and it ran like it did prior to the cleaning (like a neglected XS) actually very crisp at the higher RPM's. That was also with the old plug ends,as I hadn't changed them yet. Didn't start it for bout three days, and when I put new plug ends on, that's when cyl. 3 and 4 weren't firing. Then I screwed back on old ends, thinking there was a corrilation putting new ones on(maybe not making contact with wire with screw-in contact) Darn, could'nt be that simple....cause that was all good, cause it did the same thing, no spark to 3 and 4. The other thing I thought of was that I got moisture or water in electronic "black box". Removed cover, noticed that there is a o-ring that seals it, and didn't notice any moisture in it, but it kinda hard to tell as the printed circuit board takes up whole space. Put that back together....and scrached my head in frustration. Unless moisture caused the problem those few days later, cause as I said above I ran and rode it after that cleaning, and it ran as good(which was still poorly at low RPM) as it did prior to the cleaning......Help??

[randy]

Hate to say this, but it's possible that when you replaced the caps the first time, is it possible that you yanked on the wires a liitle too hard and broke the connection inside the coils?

This is my last guess.

[TopCatGr58]

Originally posted by motoman
Thanks for the reply guys, already knew swapping wires wasn't answer, that would just change firing to wrong cyl. at wrong time through ignition box and module. So if one of ya's had a correct answer to my prev. last question I would appreciate it....Thanks.

Hey Motoman,

If you swapped wires 4 with 3, YES you would get firing at the wrong time. What we are saying is swap #1 with #4, and #2 with #3, since they are coming from the same coils. Then if the 3-4 pair start firing and getting hot, then you have essentially eliminated problems with the carbs, and can then realize that like Randy said, the coils and the wires to 3 and 4 got messed up somehow, either yanked loose, broken, or something along those lines. There is a tech tip on how to replace the old wires with new ones, involves a bit of dremmeling and such. OR you can buy a pair of replacements.

Pggg, If he's getting fire to both 1 and 2, then the pickups and TCI are working, the problem appears to be further down the line, at the ignition coils or the wires! T.C.

[motoman]

Thanks Randy, that was becoming my suspicion also, just had to hear that from someone else, specially after reading in the tech part on coil wire replacement, or the other choice being to use new coils for the 600, as they plug in. I'll pull the tank, since it only takes less than 1 min. and look and see if the insulation on wire looks like its been pulled out a bit. very possible came out enough to come off of pins......Thanks for the great train of thought...sounds like you've seen it happen before.

[thumperjsa]

I used to test for spark by having the plugs hanging on the side of the head by the plug wire. The plug end should be close to the head. If you do this when it is dark out, you should see a fine blue spark across the plug bottom (anode to cathode I believe it is called).

No blue spark and trace it back from there. Make sure the plug is clean before you do it though.

[pggg]

O.K. both coils are kicking out a spark. Pickups and black box are fine. If plugs 3 & 4 aren't sparking - then it's the leads/caps surely?

[motoman]

Yeppers....I'll do the old lay it on the head trick....also took tank of and coils and pulled back plug wire cover(OEM) and it didn't look like wire had moved back out of housing. Even pulled on them pretty good to see if I could get them to move....looked like u would have to argue with it pretty good to pull one out....but was worth checking anyways. Started getting dark, so tomorrow was gonna for grins swap where coils plug in and hook up wires again to see if other two plugs and boot get warm from firing, to either comdem coil, or wires....bout gotta be somethin I did pullin wires around, as like u say coil fires to both wires, just dead fires to those two cyl. while on exhaust stroke....dunno.....kinda got me baffled anyways.....good brain exercise, being retired and all.....aye?