GSX 400 f no spark issues

[Guest]

Hi everyone. I have had some issues of late with my GSX 400 F mainly to do with electrical . On my previous post I said that the bike would last about half an hour or so before it would stop running. So I replaced the stator with a hand wound one . Still had problems. So I replaced the pickups / signal generator with some OEM ones . I thought I had it figured out but now once the engine worm's up I now have no spark . any advice on this very frustrating issue would be greatly appreciated.
John mc

 

[tom203]

Seems that your ignitor is heating up after 1/2 hour and shutting down......then cools off and resumes its job.

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

No mention of the Reg/Rec. Did you replace that when you replaced the stator? Either way, you could run the ”quick test” (see my signature) and report all 6 numbers.

 

[Guest]

Yes the reg / rec was replaced before I replaced the stator. Sorry not for mentioning that before.

 

[GregT]

Can you confirm which type of GSX400F you have please. There is an 8 valve twin with this designation - and a 16valve 400 four with the same.
The twins generally don't have many problems - but the early 400 fours have plenty, including ignitor issues.

Your problems do sound heat related. If it's a twin, swapping an ignitor from a 450 or 250 would show a result. Coils breaking down can also be a possibilty.

 

[Guest]

Four cylinder 16 valve .

 

[GregT]

Four cylinder 16 valve .

Well finding an ignitor will be a pain. Id' look at putting an early GSXR ignition on it. Still plenty of bits around for those.
Even grafting a Dyna S on is a possibility - but you hit the cost vs bike value limits there quite quickly.

The 400F is rareish - but not really collectible.

 

[Guest]

I agree . But it's the bike I spent a lot of time on and some thing I will never sell . Igniter cost are the same as the bike when I first bought it. Either way indeed one to run the bike so I will shop around for a second hand one . I have a bike show in September so as long as I can ride it there and back then figure out my next step. Thanks everyone for the advice . Very much appreciated.

 

[GregT]

Try dropping a line to Hyperpac ignitions here in NZ. Ignitors from this era are his speciality.

 

[Guest]

All GSX400F bikes have four cylinder 16 valve engines. The twins have an E suffix, not an F. The Suzuki year codes for these air cooled models are X, Z and D for 82,82 and 83 respectively. Later GSX400F are water cooled, mostly branded Impulse.

 

[Gorminrider]

My Main idea: if you think it's a heat issue, would it not be possible to pack ice or a strong fan temporarily around the suspect component and see if it makes a difference.

because it's very important to be sure with Hard-to-Find and Very Dear parts....

My Obvious idea: A borrowed spare is often best of all tests(unless a coil is completely shorted which might kill the spare?)...

If the bike has ignitor issues from the factory, well, that's that-Not sure I'd want to put another Bad One in and GregT's Replace With NewerbetterStronger and Different is smarter for all the love you've already lavished on the bike?

but "Normally", Ideas I would try in the Hope something Much Simpler Pops Up:
....The ignitor is going to be sensitive to any issue with GROUND( negative) connection too..so another look at this never hurts....also, you might look for any difference in Voltage drop across components when it A) Runs B) doesn't. You could also try any bench tests the manual offers when the component is A)cold B) warm (Heat lamp, heat gun) ...There are some bench tests possible with an ignitor though they are not the be-all end-all and all of the above will just confirm it's blown or at its best keep you wondering.

Being a four, and with no spark anywhere, I suppose it's unlikely to be a coil but perhaps the common "+" supply is worth a look iat the kill switch,wiring and fuse.

 

[Cipher]

the igniter as well as the signal generator look physically identical to the GS 550 83-86
the only difference would possibly be spark advance curve?

If they are virtually identical ther is an old youtube vid of a guy who fixed a gs550 igniter with a simple relatively cheap electronic coimnponent