Originally Posted by
kmichels
Observation - Just went out and pulled it and it started up no problem. Unplugging the 2-Prong with Yellow and Green wires kills the light but not the motor.
Second question - Is that normal operation? or is something grounding out to close the circuit? I was assuming that the green would have been like a common ground to close both circuits and would therefore kill both the light and motor but, obviously not, at least on mine.
Good observation. No, your's is not unique. the 2-prong plug is exclusively for the lights. It will have no effect on if the engine will run or not.
The single connector (red connector with black/red wire) provides the power necessary for the CDI to operate. It is only a single wire, so the other side is simply grounded through the engine/frame.
Not to add confusion, but the 2-prong connector for your lights: the green wire there is a dedicated ground. However, all the grounds eventually are all tied together. The frame picks up the ground from the wiring harness via the eyelet under the mounting flange of the ignition coil.
To test your "Exciter Coil" (what the service manual calls the coil that powers your CDI) check the resistance on the single connector wire (should be black wire with red stripe) to ground. So, put one lead on the black/red wire that goes into the engine and put the other lead on the engine itself. The manual says you should have between 150 and 400 ohms. If that checks out, confirm again but take the one meter lead off of the engine and put it on the frame (bare metal). Make sure you have a similar reading. This will confirm that your ground connection is good.
- Frank
1984 200ES Big Red
1985 350X (x2)
1986 350X
1986 250SX
1984 Auto-X
1984 ATC70
1985 ATC70