electrical diagnosis on 185s.

[dc]

I have a weak spark on my 185s so I was testing the electrical system and came up with these results.
ignition coil primary windings are good. .4 ohms
secondary windings are under specs. 3.9 K should be 8 - 15 K.
lighting coil is open.
excitor coil is 196 ohms. specified is 245.
now the cdi is what has me confused. If you go through the instructions for testing it in your cymer's manual it tells you what connectors to put your probes on and says all readings should be infinity. Well I am using a very good DVOM.
A fluke 87-5. And on at least half of the connections I got continuity, sometimes
around 1 M ohms, and sometimes around 400 K ohms. Is this close enough to infinity. I don't think ohmmeters back in 1982 could read this high.
Pickup coil was also good.

trike won't start because of weak spark.
What should I replace and where can I find parts?

thanks
dc

[firefirefire90]

Check your kill switch, it might be burnt out. I have a suggestion on that though, open it up and pretty much take everything out of the plastics(might have to break clear white piece) and go to your "off/on/off" switch and cut the green wire. Then get a new spark plug. This will short out the kill switch and cause the kill switch to be turned on forever. ONE problem will be when your bike starts you cant turn it off Lol. Oh well. If you want to replace EVerything, go to www.bikebandit.com. Good Luck.

[holmstrom]

Check your kill switch, it might be burnt out. I have a suggestion on that though, open it up and pretty much take everything out of the plastics(might have to break clear white piece) and go to your "off/on/off" switch and cut the green wire. Then get a new spark plug. This will short out the kill switch and cause the kill switch to be turned on forever. ONE problem will be when your bike starts you cant turn it off Lol. Oh well. If you want to replace EVerything, go to www.bikebandit.com. Good Luck.

My yamaha will start with the kill switch unhooked, i think id try that before shorting something out.

[3 weelin geezer]

Well I am using a very good DVOM. Is this close enough to infinity. I don't think ohmmeters back in 1982 could read this high.


trike won't start because of weak spark.
What should I replace and where can I find parts?

thanks
dc

----------------------

They used a high impedance ohm meter to take those measurements so that the meter didn't try to read itself as being part of the circuit and give you funny readings. Thats why they specify a certain model of ohm meter. What is the impedance of your dvom? Yes, they could read that high by the way. If you have a spark I think it should work. You say its weak. What do you call weak? Did you measure the voltage? Mine also looks pretty anemic but it starts. I also got readings that were not consistent with what the manual states. It turned out to be the rotor for timing was put upside down. My timing weights fell out and I put them in 180 deg downside up. Did yours work before? Is there something that you rebuilt on it before it stopped working? If you have your kill switch unhooked it won't work because that is hooked up to the cdi unit as part of the ingnition system.

[dc]

My DVOM has 10 mega ohms of impedence.

the spark when I last checked was thin and orange, and only slightly tingled when gripped in your hand.

I haven't modified anyting on it, its just that the wiring harnesses are getting old and decayed. When I pulled the recoil start off the case had a thin film of rust inside and the excitor coil was shot. So I cleaned it up and replaced with good used parts and it worked for a while.

I don't really have any way to check the voltage. I don't have one of those little clamps that you can put aroung the spark plug wire and plug into your DVOM.

[knubutknotdum]

GRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr..........

Sorry, 2nd thread I've tried to reply to that came back and told me I wasn't logged in, lost a nice long post.... anyway....

dc, you have everything you need to make "A" spark. As in ANY spark. That would be the Primary side of the equation. The SECONDARY part all starts out in the ignition coil, which you have already proven is more than 75% out of spec by your measurements. Nice meter BTY, I had one for work, but got into a graphing one, so brought that one home for doing whatever.

You can make A spark, it's just weak. Your coil, which determines how much ZAPPPPPN you get, assuming all the primary stuff is in order, is out of spec. Do you see a sign???

As to the out of spec readings on the CDi unit, I'd trust basic electricity before I trusted the specs out of an aftermarket manual for such an involved, complicated piece such as a CDi box. You have to know, especially with your meter, something has to connect to something else for anything to work.

Get a coil.

Good luck,
Craig