no spark

Hey everyone,
I've have my 82 XJ 650 Maxim for 22 years, 100,000 + miles, i've finally come to a problem which i can't solve myself. I have NO SPARK!!! Plugs are good, coils test good, i have 2 different TCI boxes neither makes a difference. All contacts and connectors check good. Battery full charge. I'm getting a ohm reading of 1.1 - 1.0 on the stator, book says .46 ohms. my understanding of the stator is for charging the battery but the manual says "stator/generator". Could the stator be bad???? PLEASE HELP.......

 

Try taking the cover off, cleaning everything up in there with contact cleaner and check the brushes. Make sure the battery is disconnected and everything is dry before putting the cover back on. I've learned the hard way, that sometimes fixing a problem is as simple as cleaning 28 years of gunk off things lol

 

thanks for that but forgot to mention, already try cleaning the stator with electrical cleaner.

 

lol ok I'm outta ideas.. electrical goes way over my pay grade.

 

thanks for your input, any ideas a appreciated. like you said, i may be overlooking something simple.

 

No spark will not be an alternator problem.

If you are sure that there's no spark from either the 1/4 or 2/3 sets of plugs, then the problem's going to be in the safety circuits, ignition switch, run switch, wiring, fuses, or TCI. There is, I suppose, a small chance of two things going bad simultaneously to take out spark on both circuits some other way, but let's go with the more likely scenarios first.

So, first of all, are you sure that you have no spark from either circuit?

If so, the next two things to check are:

1. Do you have 12V (or at least 10V) on the R/W wire at the TCI when cranking?

2. Do you NOT have continuity from the B/W wire at the TCI to ground when ready to crank?

Check these and let us know.

Cheers,
Paul

 

Wow 100K on your bike. That must be a record here. I know some guys have 60-70K and still going strong.

Good luck on your problem

MN

PS I would take a hard look at the ignition switch.

 

Test the components independent of the bikes wiring.

 

thanks for the ideas guys. i'll check all that has been suggested, as soon as i can and get back to you.

 

ok guys. I finally got her back together and checked what paul had suggested, my results are as follows. While cranking i've got 7.7 v from the r/w wire on the TCI. it was suggested i should have 10-12 v. I do have cont. from the b/w wire to ground on the TCI. Where do I go from here and where is the problem with low voltage on the r/w wire?/???? You help is greatly appreciated.

 

how many volts at the battery while cranking? if it reads 11.5 or so and 12 while cranking, but you have only 7 or 8 at the wires, you have a short somewhere. the high reading on your resistance could indicate a grounded wire somewhere. or something grounding out while the circuit is open while cranking.

 

I'll check voltage at the battery today. I should also mention that I was riding my bike when she just shut down as if i hit the kill switch. I still had lights, radio and cranking power, just no fire.... She hasn't run since.

 

I checked the voltage at the battery while cranking and it's 10.8 volts. I'll start checking for frayed, shorted or bad connections. I'll let you all know when I get her running again. Thank You all for your help, I'm looking forward to riding again soon.

Ray

 

UPDATE: NO SPARK
While going over everything again I removed my coils and retested. Readings are as follows,, primary resistance 2.9 books says max 2.75......
Secondary resistance 13.7 book says 13.2 max. These reading are not very far off, my question is. Would you say both my coils went bad???
Thanks again for all the help I've been recieving.

Ray

 

have you taken a good long look at your FUSEBOX? No, I doubt both your coils are bad.

Know this: it is possible for these bikes to have a battery strong enough to spin the motor quite vigorously but not make any spark, because running the starter is using all the current. The symptom for this usually includes a "pop" as soon as you release the starter button.

however:

I believe having continuity on the B/W wire to ground on the TCI means that the safety circuit is grounding your TCI. Locate and unplug the "safety relay" and see what happens; doing that bypasses all the "safety devices" at once.

 

Hey XJ Wizard, I am having the exact problem you just mentioned, No spark, revs hard but no turnover and ends with a "pop"(more like a shotgun blast).What do you think the problem is? In case it matters, I can't get the battery over 11.5, even after a full charge.Let me know.

 

PROBLEM FOUND,
No spark caused by bad pick-up coils. Hope to be back on the road in a couple weeks. Have alot of wiring to put back together cause I ohmed out the entire wiring harness. Thanks for the help guys. Hope I can help sometime.

 

Are both coils bad, or is the common ground wire to them bad? If they're both bad, any idea what caused them both to fail at the same time? Water in the left cover or something?

Thanks,
Paul