No spark problem.

[Mr L]

So i bought a 1979 XS400 a few days ago and have been working on it but i can't seem to get it to spark. The battery is completely dead, and the points don't seem to spark. Is the kickstart reliant on the battery? Unfortunately the wiring is a mess as the last owner turned it all into a rats nest so i haven't even been able to go through all that yet. Any thoughts on what the problem might be for no spark?

Thanks,
L

 

[HoughMade]

These bikes will not fire without a charged battery.

 

[Mr L]

The coils are fine, but the points don't spark when i kick it. I adjusted them and cleaned them up but they still won't spark. Should i replace these, if so where would i be able to find them?

 

[OliverB]

As HoughMade said, if your battery does not have a charge, the plugs won't spark and the bike won't start - even with the kick start.

Lots of places mentioned here on the forum for parts, even at a Yamaha dealer. Since you are new to this bike, you should take some time to read through the forum. There's a wealth of info here on our bikes. Getting good background always helps in problem solving.

 

[HoughMade]

The coils are fine, but the points don't spark when i kick it. I adjusted them and cleaned them up but they still won't spark. Should i replace these, if so where would i be able to find them?

Somewhere I heard that the battery needs to be fully charged for the ignition to work.

Points are visually inspected. If you can't point to something on them and say: "yep, that's the problem", don't replace them. You are looking for pitting in one side and buildup on the other. Even with bad points, you can get them to work well enough to diagnose and run with some filing.

...but for some reason, I just keep thinking about the need for a fully charged battery.

 

[Mr L]

So ive read through the manual and I checked the regulator, the rectifier, battery, and both the coils. All are good yet no spark. I think my best option at this point (considering the state of the wiring, it's so crazy) and that I need to do some welding as the previous owner chopped the frame, i am going to strip it bear and work backwards replacing everything that's broken. The fork seals, some of the engine fins, wiring of course, frame needs paint and buff, clutch, kickstarter, pegs, and fenders all need to be replaced. Going to be a big job and a lot of work.

Thanks for the help,
L

 

[drewpy]

points are not supposed to spark, if they do, the condensor is knackered!

just check for continuity at the points using a multimeter