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#2 cylinder isn't firing

  • Thread starter Thread starter pjm204
  • Start date Start date
Let's get back to basics here. I know you said it's firing Ok but sometimes things can be deceptive. Try transposing a few things. Swap plugs 2 & 3, swap spark plug wires 2 & 3. See if problem moves to the other cylinder.
 
Yes the vacuum line was blocked. I just tried cutting the wire and it didn't help. The starter seems to be having trouble turning the motor over now?
 
Did you happen to have the cams out or the cam chain tensioner? I would get the adaptor to check the compression.
 
Yea, I will have to do a compression check. I've already swapped the wires on 2 and 3 and it makes no change as far as I can tell. I have not had the cams or tensioner out.
 
Charge the battery. Put your finger over #2 spark plug hole and see if it blows it off. It should. If it doesn't you've found the problem.
 
Alright, battery is on the tender right now. I really want to get this figured out soon.
 
If the clutch safety switch is still operational on your bike you might need two people to do this. Disconnect the other spark plug wires from the plugs. Remove the #2 plug. Have someone push the starter button while you put your finger over the #2 spark plug hole and see if compression blows your finger off the hole.
 
Pat
Did you put new plugs in and try the old coils yet? When you left my house the other day that bike was running on 4 cylinders. I think its a bad spark issue like when we first started it up.
 
Okay so here is the update. I charged the battery and put my finger over, it does push it off after a second or two. I switched to my old coils and.....nothing. The engine seems to miss or something and then if puffs a mist of gas out of the #2 carb. So I guess it could be an air leak or a fuel issue? I have no idea to be honest.
 
I'm betting it's something electrical. A bad connection or a broken wire or something like that.
 
at this point I have no idea what it is. I'm hoping its something simple like float height or the pilot circuit and not valve seals or expensive electrical components.
 
If you have a mist of gas you have fuel. You do have compression so that leaves the ignition. If it's firing three that it's not the coil. I'd check the igniter.
 
I had a similar problem. Was running fine when i winterized it. Woke it up in the spring to find it was only running on #2 & #3 cylinders. Was getting fuel and coils checked out okay. Under advisement from another GSer i tried a known working ignitor and viola! All four fired right up and exhaust heated up. He said, and reading threads here, that they can be working one minute and the next minute not be working.
 
I mean a couple weeks ago before I did the carbs, it started instantly and idled....i only did the carbs because they carbs said it was running rich(it had 160 mains in it?) and i put on a new exhaust. So could the ignitor suddenly go bad?
 
i'm new to this myself so i can't explain how it works but i took his advise and in my case it worked. Lucky me. I know it somehow controls spark as #1 & #4 were not firing and after replacing it 1 1/2 yrs, it's all good. If you haven't yet, do an ignitor search here to see what you find.

Best of luck!
 
If the igniter was bad, wouldn't it cause both cylinders on one coil to not fire? And would I still get spark if the igniter was bad? Should I attempt to repair the igniter or test it?
 
I would reccomend replacing the ignitor it will be much easier than trying to fix it yourself. And on my bike I actually had a short in one of my wires it had been rubbing on the frame and at somepoint was grounded out to the frame. Look over your wiring make sure none of it is exposed.
 
I took the bike to the shop (not a dealer but a real shop who won't rip me off).. he said he would have it right by tomorrow. So hopefully he will and assuming it isn't a valve seal or the cdi it shouldn't be too much money.
 
Report back and let us know what they find. We will all be interested.

On another point, the fact that you have spark at the plug resting on the cylinder head does not mean that you will have spark inside the cylinder where the cylinder is under compression. Compression can kill a weak spark. Sometimes you think the spark is OK, but under compession it fails.
 
So apparently there was a ground issue. I beleive I got advice to check this but I'm a major novice when it comes to electrical issues. Oh well, I am going to pick the bike up now, unfortunately it is raining/snowing so I can't ride it. I'll let you guys know how it runs in an hour or so.
 
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