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no spark but alittle jolt...confused...

  • Thread starter Thread starter mrhedges
  • Start date Start date
M

mrhedges

Guest
ok so i admit i am trying to learn about the electric wonders inside my 1982 gs550l but it all still alittle over my head.

i'll try to make this clear and consise, rebuilt my carbs put them back on with new rubber bits starter wouldn't engage, tested starter it was bad, took everything apart again, put new starter in (from parts bike) and it worked consistently, every time press the starter button it spins, put everything back together, no start just a spinning motor, tried new spark plugs with them up against the motor so i could see if they spark, no luck. but i accidently pressed the starter while touching the metal of the spark plug and got a little jolt. how could this be? I know its probably a bad connection somewhere but how could i be getting a jolt from the plugs?

also really confused about what all the diffrent parts of my ignition system do exactly... any good tutorials? i gotta get off the internet but thanks in advance you guys are the best....
 
Hi,

Have you had a look at the troubleshooting tips on the electrical page of my little website?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
mrhedges said:
....
..... no start just a spinning motor, tried new spark plugs with them up against the motor so i could see if they spark, no luck. but i accidently pressed the starter while touching the metal of the spark plug and got a little jolt. how could this be? ........
Click to expand...

Well, if not getting a spark, but did get a "little jolt" yourself, I would not be questioning that. If you got a big jolt, then I would question how that could be. har har
Maybe you just were not well grounded.

But anyway, when you said "spark plugs up againts the motor", you mean the metal part of the plug up against the metal of engine so that the plug is grounded....?

And where are yhou locatged in general? Maybe put thstg in your profile (UserCP) and that will show up in everhy posting. Maybe also put yhor bike in the signature line.
 
Last edited:
mrhedges said:
ok so i admit i am trying to learn about the electric wonders inside my 1982 gs550l but it all still alittle over my head.

i'll try to make this clear and consise, rebuilt my carbs put them back on with new rubber bits starter wouldn't engage, tested starter it was bad, took everything apart again, put new starter in (from parts bike) and it worked consistently, every time press the starter button it spins, put everything back together, no start just a spinning motor, tried new spark plugs with them up against the motor so i could see if they spark, no luck. but i accidently pressed the starter while touching the metal of the spark plug and got a little jolt. how could this be? I know its probably a bad connection somewhere but how could i be getting a jolt from the plugs?

also really confused about what all the diffrent parts of my ignition system do exactly... any good tutorials? i gotta get off the internet but thanks in advance you guys are the best....
Click to expand...

It takes alot of volts and a good plug ground for electricity to jump a spark plug gap. If the voltage is too low or the ground too poor you won't see a spark but the electric is still there and if you, with any part of your body, provide a good path to ground you'll feel it :D
 
Killer2600 said:
It takes alot of volts and a good plug ground for electricity to jump a spark plug gap.

So i should be able to take the my voltage meter and check if the plug is getting 12.6v and if it is then there's a problem with the coils?

I read over basecliff's great site and have instructions on checking the system But I'm a little confused on what all the different parts to the system do. this is the first time i've worked with anything electronic

I rested the metal part of the plug against the metal motor as recommended. No spark.
Click to expand...
 
If you google "spark ignition systems " for gasoline engines, you'll get some good basic info on what's supposed to happen to produce spark. Probably best to start there and then return to Basscliff's site for how this relates to your bike's system.
 
WOW. :eek:

My head is still spinning from that "sentence".

Seems to be a shortage of punctuation running rampant recently.

.
 
mrhedges said:
[........

I rested the metal part of the plug against the metal motor as recommended. No spark.
Click to expand...

Okay. So no spark on any plug.



mrhedges said:
.....

So i should be able to take the my voltage meter and check if the plug is getting 12.6v and if it is then there's a problem with the coils?
Click to expand...


No. No.

Your ordinary volt meter would not be able to measure the voltage required to make the spark. It is something like ten thousand volts (and is just a short pulse).

So, no, can not measure the voltge on the spark side of the coils, but there are some things you can do with your meter.
You can take your meter and measure that getting 12vdc at the coils on the orange/white wire.
And you can take your meter to measure the resistance (ohms) from one cap to the other (thru the coil).
Such test will be described in about any manual.

.
 
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alright, alright, sorry for being such a noobie and yes, I fail to use punctuation correctly especially on web forums...
 
ok so I did some checking and have discovered the following things, wondering how to proceed.

1. I checked to see if plugs spark in the dark and yes I get a faint spark only really noticeable in the dark
2. I checked the coils they seem ok based on the test on basecliff's site
3. checked the voltage of the orange and white wire and there appears to be a voltage drop of around 1 to 1.5. I followed it and seems to be the case all the way to the ignitor

So I should next check the resistance in all the orange wires? it seems the ground to the ignitor is melted/worn could that be the location of the voltage drop?

thanks for your patience still trying to figure all this out.
 
Clean up that ground wire to ignitor- make sure ignitor has good ground contact . If it's mounted to airbox, run a jumper wire to battery negative.Then go back and measure the voltage at orange/white wire at coil ( the one that had 1 to 1.5 drop) while you are cranking- what do you get?
 
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