Sparks every time the key is turned on.

[Kitten Tooth]

alrighty. ill be slowly melting my way into it tomorrow. On that one guys project thread where he makes his own CDI, do you know if he made the box that he fitted the CDI guts into or did he buy that? I heard they sell project boxes at radio shack. Im thinking im gonna toss the original box and make a nice metal one. and yes, my bike does have a mechanic advance. im going to make extras of my CDI box too.

[Matchless]

alrighty. ill be slowly melting my way into it tomorrow. On that one guys project thread where he makes his own CDI, do you know if he made the box that he fitted the CDI guts into or did he buy that? I heard they sell project boxes at radio shack. Im thinking im gonna toss the original box and make a nice metal one. and yes, my bike does have a mechanic advance. im going to make extras of my CDI box too.

He built his own box from aluminum. You need a good heat sink for the two output transistors and the easiest is to have a look at his photos, he has all the photos of how to do it in that thread. In actual fact he will send you a PCB free if you are one of the first 6 to ask for one!

[Billy Ricks]

AS already stated these bikes don't have CDI, they have igniters and signal generators. CDI is something found mostly on old two strokes.

[Steve]

Havent checked the wires coming from the CDI box yet.

That means the igniter or the cdi box is not firing the coil.

Try jumpering the trigger coil (ignitor) wires to the opposite CDI box leads to see if the sparking while turning the engine moves to the other coil. If so, it is most likely that the CDI box is OK and that you have an ignitor or ignitor wiring problem. Otherwise the issue is with the ignitor.

. The CDI box is 1982. ... All im hoping is its not the CDI box.

I am detecting a trend here, there is some education necessary.

As a side note, there is no Capacitive Discharge Ignition (CDI) on the GS models. There is an igniter ...

Finally, some words of wisdom.

Cleaned the hell out of the contacts that go to the CDI box and now i have spark.

ok lost spark again and found that something inside the CDI box is clicking while the engine cranks. Also found that when you push on the CDI box that you get spark again...

On that one guys project thread where he makes his own CDI, do you know if he made the box that he fitted the CDI guts into or did he buy that? ... im going to make extras of my CDI box too.

And yet the trend continues.

AS already stated these bikes don't have CDI, they have igniters and signal generators. CDI is something found mostly on old two strokes.

What we are trying to tell you, Kitten Tooth, is that THERE IS NO "CDI BOX"

Yes, there is a "magic box" in the system, but it only has a few transistors that act as electronic points.
A CDI box will store electricity in a bunch of capacitors, then discharge it when triggered. Get it?? Capacitor Discharge Ignition.

.

[Kitten Tooth]

Just got into the habbit of calling it that. Im tearing into the igniter today. i do understand that its not a CDI box, but an igniter. trying not to be misleading in any way but i think you guys know what im talking about. The igniter does "click" on the inside as the engine turns over. When i put pressure on the box by holding it against the mounting plate with my hand, i get spark. I think some re-soldering needs done inside there. Like i said, opening it up today to take a look. Ill keep you guys posted.

[Dave8338]

Just got into the habbit of calling it that. Im tearing into the igniter today. i do understand that its not a CDI box, but an igniter. trying not to be misleading in any way but i think you guys know what im talking about. The igniter does "click" on the inside as the engine turns over. When i put pressure on the box by holding it against the mounting plate with my hand, i get spark. I think some re-soldering needs done inside there. Like i said, opening it up today to take a look. Ill keep you guys posted.

Is the box not grounded to the frame through its' mounting points?

[Kitten Tooth]

Not sure if its supposed to be grounded or not. In the diagram that includes just the ignition circuit it looks like there are 2 grounds inside the box. i believe it has a ground wire running out of the box though. Also, the "Click" i described earlier is the solenoid clicking when i hit the starter button right as its beginning to turn the motor. Im not able to find any bare metal on the igniter box anywhere. I saw rust where the bolts go through to mount the box but the rust was from the bolts themselves. its all just plastic.

[Billy Ricks]

Is the box not grounded to the frame through its' mounting points?

If it's anything like mine there is a ground wire going in and the box itself is insulated from the frame.

[Dave8338]

Must be a break in one of the circuits inside then. I can't remember if there are rubber isolaters on my bikes or not. Guess that is a good thing. I would certainly clean ALL of your connections. I've fixed many gremlins, that would show up at times, just through a good cleaning and dielectric grease applied to the connectors. As for the internal ground wire, it is a good idea to make an additional ground wire that leads to the - on the battery post.

[Kitten Tooth]

Must be a break in one of the circuits inside then. I can't remember if there are rubber isolaters on my bikes or not. Guess that is a good thing. I would certainly clean ALL of your connections. I've fixed many gremlins, that would show up at times, just through a good cleaning and dielectric grease applied to the connectors. As for the internal ground wire, it is a good idea to make an additional ground wire that leads to the - on the battery post.

Yep, when i was upstairs my dad made the ground wire for the negative terminal to the lead on the battery post. We have spark like a said but only if you push on the igniter box with your hand.

[Kitten Tooth]

Yep, when i was upstairs my dad made the ground wire for the negative terminal to the lead on the battery post. We have spark like a said but only if you push on the igniter box with your hand.

Also decided to wait on opening the box up today. We found a salvage yard that has two igniters in stock for a suzuki GS300L. Gonna check the price and probably order one before we cut into this one that sorta works.

[Kitten Tooth]

If it's anything like mine there is a ground wire going in and the box itself is insulated from the frame.

Yep thats how mine is.