Pooched CDI??

T

timtune

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KLR has no spark. Checked with a meter when cranking the starter the power into the coil was around 0.50V. I was expecting much closer to 12V. Popped all the connections between the CDI and the coil cleaned them all and it made no difference.

Thoughts??

The way I've ridden this thing hard and put it away wet has me thinking maybe this is the correct fix....


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If it’s on the +side of the coil, it’s a supply issue not the cdi. Check outputs at key and kill switch. Then side stand too. If your clutch or neutral switch interrupts power, check them too.

Then look at grounds.

If it’s low on the - side, check the cdi ground. Then ohm out the pickup coil wires, should be 100-300ohms.

I’ve seen the odd cdi failure, but not many.
 
The line out of the CDI to the coil (+ side I believe) is getting about .5V with the engine cranking over. If the engine cranks then kill, neutral and clutch interupts are good correct?

Mad Mike said:
Then ohm out the pickup coil wires, should be 100-300ohms.
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Not sure what this means or how/where to get the reading.
 
timtune said:
The line out of the CDI to the coil (+ side I believe) is getting about .5V with the engine cranking over. If the engine cranks then kill, neutral and clutch interupts are good correct?


Not sure what this means or how/where to get the reading.
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Normally the safety switches kill spark not the starter. Cdi shpuld be sending pulses to the coil which will show up as a weird voltage as most meters will display the average.

Mm is trying to get you to measure the sensor leads.

gen-1-elec-ign-no-safety-jpg.28066
 
Can you translate that for the hard of thinking? Where do the leads go and what am I setting the meter to?
 
Black with yellow stripe is ground. This diagram indicates that one side of the coil is grounded all the time. The other side is only going to get intermittent pulses of power when the CDI wants a spark. There is no circumstance when it will apply constant battery power. A normal meter isn't going to be happy about showing this. You really need a scope.
 
GreyGhost said:
Normally the safety switches kill spark not the starter. Cdi shpuld be sending pulses to the coil which will show up as a weird voltage as most meters will display the average.

Mm is trying to get you to measure the sensor leads.

gen-1-elec-ign-no-safety-jpg.28066
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The simple but potentially painful test is to stick your finger in the spark plug lead (or the coil where it attaches to the spark plug wire) and crank. If it whacks you, CDI is working.

If you don't get whacked, I would disconnect the ignition switch and engine stop switch connectors and test the switch end (meter set to ohms). They should both open or both be closed (when the bike is configured to run eg key on).
 
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GreyGhost said:
The simple but potentially painful test is to stick your finger in the spark plug lead (or the coil where it attaches to the spark plug wire) and crank. If it whacks you, CDI is working.
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With a plug grounded to the engine I had no spark.
 
timtune said:
With a plug grounded to the engine I had no spark.
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That requires a spark powerful.enough to jump the gap. Finger test tests for even a crappy spark (and you can test upstream of plug wire). Strength of spark (from something to something more powerful) would normally be a coil issue not a cdi iasue. The safety switches are normally the culprit for no spark.
 
timtune said:
If the safety switches are allowing me to crank it over could they still be impeding spark?
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I wpuldnt be surprised if they cut spark. Also test ignition and kill switch. I had a honda before that had multiple contacts in the ignition switch. Some would connect, some wouldn't. Very confusing roadside troubleshooting. Shoved a bent fork in the back of the switch to short the offending contacts and I was back on the road.
 
Cleaned a real dirty kill switch which nothing. Then finally checked the pickup and exciter coils. P/u is good but exciter has no continuity.

Thru on the tank and other bits, washed it quick, wheeled it onto the lawn and snapped some pics. Already have the FBM ad written.
 
timtune said:
KLR has no spark. Checked with a meter when cranking the starter the power into the coil was around 0.50V. I was expecting much closer to 12V. Popped all the connections between the CDI and the coil cleaned them all and it made no difference.

Thoughts??

The way I've ridden this thing hard and put it away wet has me thinking maybe this is the correct fix....


View attachment 78180
Click to expand...
It's interesting how you all tried to help out (as expected from the participants in this thread) and the subtle suggestion of throwing a new bike at the (most likely inexpensive) problem is the solution went right over your head. :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

I'm not going to lie. This thread helped with this observation.
 
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timtune said:
Cleaned a real dirty kill switch which nothing. Then finally checked the pickup and exciter coils. P/u is good but exciter has no continuity.

Thru on the tank and other bits, washed it quick, wheeled it onto the lawn and snapped some pics. Already have the FBM ad written.
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Whats the asking price on the non working KLR?
Asking for a friend.
 
timtune said:
Cleaned a real dirty kill switch which nothing. Then finally checked the pickup and exciter coils. P/u is good but exciter has no continuity.

Thru on the tank and other bits, washed it quick, wheeled it onto the lawn and snapped some pics. Already have the FBM ad written.
Click to expand...
Unplug the exciter coil and measure AC voltage while cranking (remove plug from engine to get best reading - cranks faster). If it’s under 20vac, you have a problem, under 10 and the stator is done.

Check for good ground between engine and black-yellow. If it’s open or high resistance, you have a ground wire or connection to fix.
 
How many km? And has it been fed with Rotella?
 
70,000 KMS. Only started drinking the Rotella in the last few years.
 
Mad Mike said:
Unplug the exciter coil and measure AC voltage while cranking (remove plug from engine to get best reading - cranks faster). If it’s under 20vac, you have a problem, under 10 and the stator is done.

Check for good ground between engine and black-yellow. If it’s open or high resistance, you have a ground wire or connection to fix.
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Isn't a lack of continuity in this circuit proof enough it's done?
 
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