1994 Kawasaki Bayou 400 - No Spark

[texaskaw]

been acting up for a couple weeks.running fine then dies,no spark at plug.wait few minutes start up again runs for maybe hours.also sometimes it will run great then it starts losing rpm.will not wind up to higher rpms then it will pickup and go for awhile.well now there is no spark any time ,nothing....

[oxidized_black]

could be the cdi acting up, does it sometimes backfire and then feel like it floods itself too ?

[texaskaw]

yes it has,will cdi go bad or break down slowly or all at once.

thanks for reply.

[oxidized_black]

the cdi will act up and may keep on going or will quit eventually ...

[texaskaw]

I checked coil with ohm meter shows to be bad.I will try this first .where is the cheapest place to buy cdi unit if this one is bad..

[oxidized_black]

online try bikebandit.com or rockymountainatv.com and ebay ... dealer might be good too ...

[texaskaw]

new coil no difference.bike has been setting 2 weeks now no spark at plug. today I checked plug ,its firing now....any ideas what going on?

[skidooer_3]

Two more places you should look. First check the trigger coil resistance and if its up to snuff. Try checking the key ignition. There is a continuity check you can do for that also. Otherwise, you can run a jump wire on the wiring harness side to elimininate the key. once it is jumped out and you get a constant spark then you have your problem. Use a small wire to jump with until the neutral light comes on then the bike should fire up. If this is too complicated then dont take any chances on it unless you know what your doing.

[texaskaw]

Two more places you should look. First check the trigger coil resistance and if its up to snuff. Try checking the key ignition. There is a continuity check you can do for that also. Otherwise, you can run a jump wire on the wiring harness side to elimininate the key. once it is jumped out and you get a constant spark then you have your problem. Use a small wire to jump with until the neutral light comes on then the bike should fire up. If this is too complicated then dont take any chances on it unless you know what your doing.

you talking about pickup coil? regular ohm meter ok? key ignition replaced with toggle switch and green neutral lite has always come on when switch is closed.will a regular ohm meter work to check cdi if needed/ I have older needle type and digital type. think stator would act up like this or cdi? thanks for any help.

[skidooer_3]

Some people call it a trigger coil or a pickup coil. The best meter to use would definitely be a digital meter. However, the reading that youll get may differ some because you may not have the same type of meter that Kawasaki may have used.

As it seems like you have the ignition key already bypassed, then that illiminates the ignition set. Therefore the only other issues has to be the stator itself. Youll need the reading given out of a shop manual in order to test the CDI, I have been around kawasakis for years and I don't ever remember replacing a single CDI. Im not saying it may not be your problem but be sure before you replace it. They are not cheap.

If the ignition coil specs and the pickup coil specs measure up then its either a bad ground or a broken wire somewhere. That's what I would check before replacing the CDI. If your getting spark sometimes and then not id bet money on a corroded ground wire or a loose wire.

Edited June 10, 2013 by skidooer_3

[alfeye]

you could just run a fresh ground wire and see if it helps being intermedant your meter might read fine if and new ground and bypassed ignition switch doesn't help then replace the cdi

 

[mcbike57]

Check your DC voltage at the battery when the unit is running. At idle it may be a little high in the 14s, but should settle down to 14 DC volts when revved up. If over 15 volts then replace reg/rec. If not that, then check all your connectors in the wire harness, you may have some corroded connectors. Just a shot.

[DLB]

I checked everything you could check and everything checked out so I replaced my CDI and still nothing. After a week of going over the atv I looked at the plugins on the old and new CDI. They were exactly the same except the pin placement in the connector from the pickup coil was slightly different so the connectors fit together perfectly but the pins were not making contact. I hooked up jumpers from connector to connector and had spark.  Swopped out connector ends and bike runs perfect. MAKE SURE YOUR PICKUP COIL CONNECTORS MATE UP!