[TW_in_BC]

I've got a group ride to participate in tomorrow and things aren't looking good!

Yesterday, I changed the oil...that was the easy part. Took it for a "test drive" afterwards and everything seemed OK.



When I went to start it this morning...NO SPARK! I have been through the manual but it's as if mine is different (2001)...the diagrams for measuring the coil resistance don't look anything like my coil!

While cranking it over, there doesn't seem to be any power getting to the coil...but I don't know where to go from here! If it had points and a condensor, I'd have it figured out by now but this has me completely baffled! The parts dealer is only open for another few hours and I don't know what to do.



- Definitely no spark.

- Coil resistance on primary seems to be about 0.3 ohms

- Coil resistance on secondary seems to be about 19 ohms

- Apparently no "voltage" getting to coil during cranking...where do I look now?



The manual mentions measuring "pickup coil" and "source coil" resistances but I have no idea where these items are located...why do they always crap out when you need them?

 

[TW_in_BC]

Follow-up...



I just tried to get the coil to fire "on the bench" by connecting it to a 12V power supply, but it's as if the primary is shorted or the secondary is open, because I am getting nothing!

 

[Gerry]

How about the 'kill' switch on the handle bar, or the kickstand overide that prevents driving off with the kickstand down. I know these are pretty basic, but merit a double check. Gerry

 

[TW_in_BC]

The bike will turn over, but there is no spark. The items you listed are part of the cranking circuit, not the ignition.



Thanks anyway!



I should also add that when I got home from my "test drive" last night, the bike was idling funny...missing now and then, when it usually runs like a top!



Further investigation shows that it is likely the SOURCE COIL that is the culprit...750,000 ohms resistance; should be 600-900.

This sounds expensive!

 

[TW_in_BC]

Update:



Yup...the "source coil" is fried. Dealer tells me they're $258 (plus taxes) and two weeks direct from Japan which means I'll miss tomorrow's ride. DAMN!

What's worse is that I broke off one of the LOCK-TITE'd Allen screws inside the cover...and it was one that didn't have to be removed!!!!



Some days, it's better to just stay in bed!

 

[jbfla]

TW in BC,



Sorry to hear of your motorcycle troubles.



Where is the source coil located? I can't seem to find it in the online parts diagram.



I was curious if an online parts supplier would be significantly less than the dealer's price.



Thanks.



jb

 

[TW_in_BC]

The "source coil" is located on the stator assembly and as such, you must buy the whole assembly....clever on their part, I guess.

It has two wires going back along with the three from the stator itself. Most of the on-line parts stores that I checked are close to what the dealer quoted me.

Living in Canada means that I would also pay the exchange rate AND shipping, not to mention the cost of having to drive down to the drop-box. Since all the prices were within 10%, I stuck with the dealer. I just hope that the manual was right and that this IS the faulty part, otherwise I'm out a few hundred bucks and still dead in the water!



Sorry to sound in such a panic in the first post, but it was rather dire at the time...I really wanted to make this ride but now I won't and it chokes me.



On the brighter side, it's a good thing this happened NOW, and not four days ago when I was 20 miles into the bush!

 

[qwerty]

$208.41 plus shipping from www.stadiumyamaha.com , and they are not showing backordered.

 

[jbfla]

The "source coil" is located on the stator assembly ...

Thanks for the explanation.



jb

 

[firehose]

The bike will turn over, but there is no spark. The items you listed are part of the cranking circuit, not the ignition.



Thanks anyway!



I should also add that when I got home from my "test drive" last night, the bike was idling funny...missing now and then, when it usually runs like a top!



Further investigation shows that it is likely the SOURCE COIL that is the culprit...750,000 ohms resistance; should be 600-900.

This sounds expensive!

 

[TW_in_BC]

Another follow-up to this tale...



My bike turned over 20,000 miles (32,000 kms+) earlier this year and in retrospect, there may have been some signs that something was starting to flounder.

- 60 miles into a ride in April, she quit for no apparent reason. While troubleshooting on the roadside, I noticed there was no spark. I replaced the plug with a spare and made it home. The next day, I re-tested the suspect plug and it fired as if there was nothing wrong with it! I replaced it nonetheless, but it was strange how it just seemed to "fail".

- After being away for two weeks, she was impossible to start. I ended up replacing the plug again and spraying ether into the airbox. Once she started, she was fine and had no problems starting (until yesterday).

- Last winter I had some real issues with cold-starting that turned out to be the fault of the battery. Can't help but wonder if the low voltages and high-cranking currents did something to this coil...



Just a few points to ponder...might be related, might not.





Anyone else ever have this coil go on them?

 

[lizrdbrth]

Have you removed the side cover, or did you just take a reading through the wiring? Maybe I've just been lucky, but all the failures I've dealt with have been from chafed and/or broken wires, either where they pass through the cases or internaly where they are routed to the coil beneath the little steel retainer. Lots of variables here.

 

[TW_in_BC]

Have you removed the side cover, or did you just take a reading through the wiring? Maybe I've just been lucky, but all the failures I've dealt with have been from chafed and/or broken wires, either where they pass through the cases or internaly where they are routed to the coil beneath the little steel retainer. Lots of variables here.

I removed the stator assembly completely and took a meter reading right at the coil connections. While I was at it, I also checked the wiring for breaks...

But that's not to say a break doesn't exist somewhere! I followed the instructions in the manual and they say that if the coil resistance is beyond the parameters, then the coil is the problem, but they don't admit that it might be the ONLY problem!

Now that it is out of the oil and dry the coil reads upwards of 1.2 Million ohms resistance, and there appears to be a scorch mark on the bottom of it.

More and more, it looks like this IS the culprit. I just wish the manual was a bit more concise as to the locations of all these devices. To say "measure the source coil" when one doesn't know where to find it, is rather frustrating. But on the UP side, I learned the hard way and sometimes that's the best way!

 

[TW_in_BC]

How about the 'kill' switch on the handle bar, or the kickstand overide that prevents driving off with the kickstand down. I know these are pretty basic, but merit a double check. Gerry

I'm going to have to eat some crow on this one...

After studying the ignition schematic, it appears that the sidestand switch IS a part of the ignition system. But this makes no sense, does this mean that I wouldn't/shouldn't get a spark if the kickstand is down? I always start my bike with the stand down and let it warm up for a few minutes!

I know that as soon as you put it into gear with the stand down, it will die (or at least, it used to) but I have always started it with the stand down...

 

[srs713]

I'm going to have to eat some crow on this one...

After studying the ignition schematic, it appears that the sidestand switch IS a part of the ignition system. But this makes no sense, does this mean that I wouldn't/shouldn't get a spark if the kickstand is down? I always start my bike with the stand down and let it warm up for a few minutes!

I know that as soon as you put it into gear with the stand down, it will die (or at least, it used to) but I have always started it with the stand down...

Kickstand is not simple go/no-go. It is one of several conditional inputs. If the bike is in neutral it will start with the kickstand down. And then die as soon as you put it in gear forgetting to put the stand up. I've had this happen.

 

[arrowsmith]

Neither my 91 or 03 will start with the kickstand down.

I wired the 91 so it will because it has no battery and my nephew has to use the kick starter. It will start easer if it is upright off the stand also. He is learning to do that.