Hey guys im new here and am in the process of getting a 1980 xs400 running again. My bike wont start, its got fuel and air but no spark. When I put my digital multimeter on volts dc there was power up to my coils 10.75 v, but none after. Should I buy new coils? Also im trying to get going by this next weekend my dad just bought a bike and we plan on going on little venture into Canada. Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.
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No Spark!! 1980 xs400
- Thread starter PEDIE
- Start date
the clues in the volts, only 10.75, you should be getting 12v, that makes it a battery or poor connection issue!
welcome to the forum BTW
welcome to the forum BTW
is the battery charged?
hmusket
XS400 Addict
Did you check the voltage at the battery, it should be about 12.5. Tail light on? Turn signals work? Horn? You can test your coils for proper resistance. Download the manual: View attachment 3882
Go to page 24 of the PDF, look at transistorized ignition troubleshooting.
Also double check your connections from the pick-ups.
Go to page 24 of the PDF, look at transistorized ignition troubleshooting.
Also double check your connections from the pick-ups.
Update: It started tonight!!! but unfortunately its only running on one cylinder. Could that mean i need a new coil? Also tonight I fitted a 1973 johnson 115 coil on the side that wasnt firing and it ran on both for 10 seconds then again ran on only one cylinder.
tailight is on and so is neutral light, blinkers dont work because i dont have the flasher relay. headlight did work but its not now i think its burnt out. ill look at the manual and read how to test my coils now, thanks for the manual hmusket
Tombo
XS400 Addict
jsun: A more likely cause of running on one cylinder is a carb issue, just my two cents. The holy trinity of proper firing: Spark, Fuel, Compression. You need all three. Run a compression test, make sure that's ok. If you think it might be elecrical, you can pull the plug, attach it to the wire, run the starter and see if it sparks. If it doesn't, then spark is your issue. If it does, then it's a fuel delivery problem...
Everyone likes to jump on the Coils are bad, when the often just replace the 3 easy things, New plugs, New Caps, and new wires. If you just got new plugs, and caps, a short cut I like to recommend is to cut both ends of the plug wire by .5 inch (20 mm) All that will do is to get the cap/coil fresh bite of fresh wire. which will make fresh connections to the whole system.
