most of you all know about my zzr1100 or hope you do cos ive posted enough about it.
Anywhoo.
at the weekend i cleaned out the carbs and cleaned up the spark plugs.
When i tested the spark plugs i noticed the sparks when earthed to the engine were sooooo slight on all the plugs that im surpised it started.
im using a set of leads (HGV starter leads) wired to my car with engine on.
When i turn it over its sooo pale blue and the spark is soo small.
Im unsure on were to start.
i have ordered more plugs to try and im gonna buy a car battery to see if that helps.
im unsure of how many earth leads i need to wire up but now ive cleaned the carbs and made sure the firing order is right.
it wont start.
it pops fuel out of the little nozzle in the bottom of the carbs.
I have the choke in and out no difference.
Idle speed thing is adjusted with no change.
It shoudl be a simple engine cos its the c model with carbs.
What else could stop the sparks all leads to be really pale????
Thanks in advance all.
Is there alot of earth leads to attached up ive only found the main battery one.
and ive earthed to leads and to Frame of kit.
Dave J
[Edited on 25/10/10 by jossey]
Its always ignition (in my limited experience).
The ignition circuit should be simple.
12v to coils on one side, other side of coil switches to 0v to charge up the coil and then open circuit to fire off a spark.
So, worht checking the coil is getting 12v (small voltage drop from battery to coil). Worth checking that the ECU has a decent earth (less than
0.5Ohm, coils are around 3Ohm), otherwise you won't be getting the 0v which would result in the coil not charging up, and hence wimpy sparks.
I only know about gsxr1100, but I guess the principles are the same.
Matt
ill get my multi meter out and have a play around.
thanks for ye help.
see what other things to check get added.
thanks again matt.
dave
are the coils wired the right way round, in theory it should make no difference, but they are marked + and -, surely this was for a reason?
if the engine is turning over a bit slow then the spark will be rubbish, with bike engines, all the power is drawn by the starter and unless the
battery is good and the engine spinning at a good rate, then the spark will be useless
see it many times people trying to start a bike with an almost flat battery, all your doing is knackering the battery, theres no spark going on
check the 12v to the coils without the engine turning, then clip it in place and spin the motor over, see what happens to the 12v supply to the coils,
I expect that it drops!
maybe not, I could be wrong, but not in my experience
Good point on the engine rotation rate.
A test for this is to leave the spark plugs in the engine and use different spark plugs to check whether you are getting sparks.
If you take the plugs out of the engine, then the engine always spins faster so can mask this effect.
I would have thought that with a truck battery that it would be turning fast enough though!
Matt
ok ill add that to the list of things to check.
how do i check the earth OHms ???
dave
yes, put multimeter to Ohms (resistance), put the leads together and see what it reads (normally a bit more than zero).
Measure resistance from battery terminal to wherever should be earthed (noting that you can't do better than when you shorted the leads). Wiggle
things and look for changes.
Matt
cool i try them things and then come back for more help if ok with you lot.
These things cant be that complicated its just a simple engine. grrrrrrr.
thanks again peoples.
dave
Tony has a good point about the coils, mine ran much better when we swapped the leads around.
I'm assuming you have hard mounted the engine into the chassis, so it's pretty well earthed. It'll be the lead from the chassis back
to the battery that is the only weak spot in that bit. Remember that lead needs to be at least as thick as the starter lead!
The ZZR1100 in my Radical used to be a swine to start. Any hint of unburnt fuel on the plugs and they were useless. Warming them up a little (in the oven or very gently with a blowtorch) would sometimes revive them.
ok.
ive ordered new spark plugs and a battery and new 8MM ht leads.
I have found a few more earth leads to earth.
So at the weekend ill get them all in and give it a go.
the starter was getting very noisey and hot last week so it should be cooled down.
plus i had to empty the water out last nite cos i aint put anti freeze in there.
anywho ill come back to you all and let you know how i get on.
multi meter on order cos i lost mine. GRRRR
dave
That trick of heating the plugs on a gas ring is a good one. It burns off crap, dries them out, and when you come to start it helps discourage
flooding.
The success of getting it running will be all the sweeter after the struggle.
Matt
matt! i pormise you i will be the happiest man alive if/when i get her running.
and ill be buying beers to all you lots for your help.
i may have to post you some cans though cos you miles away lol
dave