'86 Tecate Ignition Issues....No Way,Right?

[Maico]

Hey guys....

Been away for quite awhile on life's other adventures and now have returned to the dark side.

Yes...the dark side.

The '86 Tecate ignition issues dark side.

New coil and correct NGK resistor cap.
New NGK B8ES plug gapped .026
OEM stator that ohm's out to spec. (Used)
Aftermarket flywheel with encased magnets. (Used)
New OEM flywheel key and bolt/washer.
New OEM stator screws.


Got spark...not the biggest,blue-est spark but does have spark none-the-less.
Got compression 140PSI.


This thing will NOT start, period. Not a pop, snort, backfire or hiccup. Nothing.

Airbox removed and dribble pre-mix down the carb throat or even down thru the plug hole.

Still nothing.

Ground wire from CDI box is clean. Frame mount where coil is mounted...clean. (Changed out 3 different '86 Tecate CDI boxes to no avail)

I'm stumped. I've been around this stuff since '77 and pride myself on finding and fixing the unusual and difficult to trace down kind of repairs. Sleds,dirt bikes,jet-skis.....you get the idea.

But this has me baffled. Without dumping $250 on a new Stator & Flywheel...I'd like some input or life experiences from anyone with the same issues.

Could the flywheel have too weak of magnets to produce spark under compression?? When the flywheel is off and laying on the floor...any nut, bolt, end wrench or even the dog with his steel spiked collar is stuck to the inside of the flywheel. The magnetic pull feels pretty damn strong to me but there's no way I know of testing it other than replacing it with another...of which I don't have.

Could the stator be the culprit even though it specs out within range??
Sorry for the long rant.

Carry on with your day.

[MIK6]

Ive had stators check out good, have spark and still not work.. i picked up a new one from Rickey Stator and they will fired rite up..

[3 Wheel Drive]

One time I kicked my tri z for nearly 10 mins & the switch was off. Petcock set on?

[christph]

Yeah, just because you can see a spark with the plug out doesn't mean it is sparking under pressure. I had that problem in the past with my Tecate. I ended up getting a new stator from Ricky Stator and it solved the problem. Before doing that, gap your plug and make the clearance tighter. If you have a weak stator that may help. Check the alignment of the timing line on the stator--make sure it is not advanced or retarded. Finally, 140 psi seems low. I'm thinking a healthy cylinder should at least be in the 160 range.

[jeswinehart]

Early on when I started doing the encapsulation of Tecate flywheels I did get a few of them wrong with magnet placement. The magnets can be placed in any wrong order and it will still produce spark,,, just at the wrong time.
As far as I know I only done 2 wrong. Mine and Jason Halls.
My posting in the R + D section has had pictures deleted (?) showing correct placement of magnets but if you got that from me before 2010 and first time using it, heck maybe I done 3 of them wrong ???
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthr...ywheel-upgrade
I sent a pm to you shortly after you posted up yesterday Roger with my cell #. Hopefully you have your pm's turned on.
Here is my cheat sheet on magnet placement. Be sure to hold your test magnet with the same side all around.
Push and pull magnets are to be directly across from one another. Of course another thing that is going to give you a false reading is on e side of magnet vs. the other side is your north vs. south poles. Just first make sure that the 2 magnets directly across from one another are either pushing or pulling on your test magnet.

Call me.

[jb2wheels]

This is exactly what one of my 85s did. Had spark like you describe - kinda wimpy with the plug out and laying on the head. Would not start. $40 worth of stator and it ran great.

Yeah, just because you can see a spark with the plug out doesn't mean it is sparking under pressure. I had that problem in the past with my Tecate. I ended up getting a new stator from Ricky Stator and it solved the problem. Before doing that, gap your plug and make the clearance tighter. If you have a weak stator that may help. Check the alignment of the timing line on the stator--make sure it is not advanced or retarded. Finally, 140 psi seems low. I'm thinking a healthy cylinder should at least be in the 160 range.

[Maico]

Early on when I started doing the encapsulation of Tecate flywheels I did get a few of them wrong with magnet placement. The magnets can be placed in any wrong order and it will still produce spark,,, just at the wrong time.
As far as I know I only done 2 wrong. Mine and Jason Halls.
My posting in the R + D section has had pictures deleted (?) showing correct placement of magnets but if you got that from me before 2010 and first time using it, heck maybe I done 3 of them wrong ???
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthr...ywheel-upgrade
I sent a pm to you shortly after you posted up yesterday Roger with my cell #. Hopefully you have your pm's turned on.
Here is my cheat sheet on magnet placement. Be sure to hold your test magnet with the same side all around.
Push and pull magnets are to be directly across from one another. Of course another thing that is going to give you a false reading is on e side of magnet vs. the other side is your north vs. south poles. Just first make sure that the 2 magnets directly across from one another are either pushing or pulling on your test magnet.

Call me.

John.....Thanks for the response and the kwik chat on the tele. Went with a Rick's Motorsports stator. Should be here before Saturday. If it doesn't fire up after this....I will part this god forsaken POS nightmare headache pile out and possibly set it on fire! LOL

Just sayin'...

[Maico]

One time I kicked my tri z for nearly 10 mins & the switch was off. Petcock set on?

The part where I said I drizzled gas down the plug hole and down the throat of the carb....pretty much eliminated that thought.

Oh yeah...ALL of the sources of stoppage are long gone. To kill this Tecate.....it's a foot on the brake and a kwik dump of the clutch.

[RubberSalt]

Mine is doing the exact same thing. Brand new ricky stator, 2 of my custom stators wound to factory spec. New ignition coil, new plug. Everything is cleaned (with wire brush). I've ran dedicated grounds from the stator to the frame to the coil.

Spark is ultra weak.

I've got 2 CDIs. Both due the same thing. I plan on trying to build a CDI. I've been researching them for half a month now. They are very simple devices. (Not new to building electronics). The difficult part.. Kawasaki encased everything in a hard resin.

[nd4speed]

When my stator slowly went it ran and died, would start right up. Then it sat and would just pop. It had spark but then nothing, no pop. But my ohms did test low. Weak spark wont cut it.

Hopefully a new stator does the trick.

[Maico]

When my stator slowly went it ran and died, would start right up. Then it sat and would just pop. It had spark but then nothing, no pop. But my ohms did test low. Weak spark wont cut it.

Hopefully a new stator does the trick.

Let's hope,right?? I still have a sneaking suspicion that the stator is NOT the problem. New stators flywheels and coils but a nearly 30 year old electronic part is in the middle of it all.

[fieldy]

A tecate that I bought has a pvl system which includes a cdi as I understand it. I always wondered why this stock trike had a pvl on it, maybe it does because the cdi went bad. It may have been switched because of the cross-eyed headache of the stock systems infamous problems.....traded for the alternative ones.

Are the nos 86-87 Tecate cdi's gone or just old and expensive? I love these trikes, lol!

[RubberSalt]

I just got another PVL stator in the mail today

on a side note, I've made some headway on the CDI dis-assembly.

[Maico]

New stator arrived from Rick's Motorsports today. I'll get at this afternoon (Saturday) and let you all know if it fires or not.

[RubberSalt]

Maico! Send me your cdi for R&D(research and destruction). Once I get this figured out, I'll be sending out CDI(s) for testing. If your tecate hasn't been set on fire by then, I'll send you one.

I'll be building my first CDI today. Its not a Kawasaki cdi, but it looks tuneable by altering the caps used.



I rebuilt my stator about 4 times before I broke down and. Ought Ricky's stator. Ran for a few minutes and died.

Replaced the ignition coil with a new one, one from a blaster, and another one from a tecate.

I exchange my flywheel with John thinking that was it. It had a weaker magnet, but that wasn't it.

I finally replaces the CDI with another one. Possibly from a kx125. Same story.