Coil not working

[wildpudding]

Hi everyone,

The left hand coil on my GSXR stopped working randomly on Monday, and was going great till then.

The coil is fine as far as I can tell, tried some other coils in the same place, same result-no spark. Checked all the connectors, sprayed with WD40, and checked for any frayed wires, can't see anything.

Interesting, with multi-meter connected to 2 wires which plug into the left side coil, show no voltage until the engine is turned over, where it reads around 11.5v. The other good side has the same voltage reading with just with the ignition on.

Any advice, places to check would be good thanks.

Stefan

[El Dopa]

Hi everyone,

The left hand coil on my GSXR stopped working randomly on Monday, and was going great till then.

The coil is fine as far as I can tell, tried some other coils in the same place, same result-no spark. Checked all the connectors, sprayed with WD40, and checked for any frayed wires, can't see anything.

Interesting, with multi-meter connected to 2 wires which plug into the left side coil, show no voltage until the engine is turned over, where it reads around 11.5v. The other good side has the same voltage reading with just with the ignition on.

Any advice, places to check would be good thanks.

Stefan

Given what you've said, are you sure its the coil? Have you checked the wire(s) between the coil and the sparkplug? Wires between the battery and the coil?

Juice in, juice out. If you can, work your way along the wires until you find the point where the juice goes in, but doesn't come out.

[wildpudding]

Funny been messing around and now the other coil isn't working, tried another coil I know works, nothing.

Ok so I attempt to use the multi meter to see whats going on. Clipped onto the wires which connect to the coil gets a 11.5v reading at rest, and a 9.5v reading when turned over. Also tested current, and got something like 6 amps reading when turned over.

So the coil wires are getting voltage, and current, how come no spark? Am I missing something

Stefan

[surfer]

I am assuming that when you check for a spark you are earthing the plug on the engine casing.

Are the wires coming out of your coil sealed onto the coil? If the wires are not sealed into the coil chances are they may have worked loose so push them in a bit. The connection will be a bayonet style one, same for the spark plug caps so do the same here as well.

Do you have condensers? If you do when was the last time these were replaced? Perhaps it may be time to replace them.

Other than this as mentioned before check all the wires and connections. Use your meter to check for a continuity reading either side of the connections sot hat you can see whther a current is able to pass through ok, and at the end of each of the wires to check for a broken wire.

Have you traced all the wiring from the battery to the coil and checked these? Are there any signs of deterrioration such as it being worn through?

[Motu]

The coil works by being switched on and off - everytime it is switched off it makes a spark.So you just need to see if it is being turned on and off,I use a scope or graghing meter....but an old anologe meter is good.Hook it up and turn the engine over,if the needle goes up and down regually then the coil is getting it's required signal,and points to a coil problem.If there is no on/off thing going on,then you need to start looking elsewhere.

[wildpudding]

Ok thanks I'll try more things out and see what happens.

Though Surfer, can you explain what condensers are? First time I've heard that term.

Cheers

[surfer]

Though Surfer, can you explain what condensers are? First time I've heard that term.

Cheers

Condensers stop your points from arcing. Not sure of the year of your bike but if you have points this is worth looking at. If you have elctronic ignition then you don't have points or condenser to worry about.

Modern bikes will have an electronic ignition system but anything around 1980 may not, unless of course it has been converted to an electronic ignition system.

Apologies if this confused.

[wildpudding]

Ah I see, the bike definitly has an electronic ignition!

Have organised to try some Kawasaki coils tomorrow, have read stock Suzuki ones are pretty much useless, see how that goes

Stefan

[wildpudding]

Alright, still have problems. Ruled out the coil, got a pair of ZXR coils and they work fine when connected to the right side coil plugs, but when I take the same coil, same plug and connect it to the left coil...nothing.

So something wrong with the power feed to the coil. Attempt to trace back wires, the negative goes straight to the CDI, replaced that wire, no change. However, the positive lead connects to another lead, which is connected to another lead and so on...very confusing. Unsure where to look now, as it appears our one wire is connected to a plethora of other wires!

Also, continuity, what function on my multimeter gives me that, and what sort of value will I get if things are normal?

Thanks heaps

[dickytoo]

The continuity tester is the one that has the omega symbol (for ohms). on some multimeters, you may need to change one of the leads over. it has a different connector for voltage.

a good connection usually has low values and bad connection or open circuit has very high readings (infinity).

if you have the leads incorrectly connected to the multimeter when you test for voltage, you can blow the internal fuse on it.

cheers

[wildpudding]

Had a knowledgable mate come over and had a wee look, long story short it appears on of the trigger coils under the signal cover isn't doing its thing. Swapped the wires around that come from the trigger coils, and like magic we were getting spark where it was supposed to be from(but not on the other side which was previously working normally, so that confirms the trigger coil must be at fault)

So, anyone have a spare Imulse trigger coil lying around :D

Stefan