Spark on Right side only

[Chickenone]

Damn it!
just wired it from the ground up.. New plugs.... Coils are good and both getting power... now what?

 

[Chickenone]

Its a 81 xs400 special ..... here are some pics

 

[drewpy]

looks like electronic ignition, tci box?
checked earthing?

 

[Chickenone]

im a super rookie... how do u check earth? and with the heck is that?? lol

 

[HoughMade]

That is what we call "ground" Make sure everything is grounded correctly.

 

[Chickenone]

ha...figured... but how do you check for that??

 

[drewpy]

undo all black wires to the frame. clean connector and frame, use smear of vaseline and replace.

 

[Chickenone]

ok.... so the switch from the ignition is under my seat... the ground for the switch is in the seat and as you can see the seat is upside down not connected ... maybe problem.. hahaha

 

[Chickenone]

all the earth is good...
switched coil plugs and then i switched orange and grey and the other coil didnt spark so both coils are good... and power is going through all the wires... the igniter is new off a working bike.... pick up coil not gapped right?? how do u gap it?

 

[Chickenone]

think if i turn the headlight off it will get that spark?

 

[drewpy]

battery knackered, as I've always said, the xs400's need a good 12v supply especially if electronic ignition bikes

 

[Chickenone]

new battery... 12.9 volts all around....kick only.. i do have a super small battery though...

 

[skillzman1]

my '81 has the exact same issue...my mechanic buddy said it was the CDI box...have yet to replace it to see.
He has 20 yrs experience in the older bikes...so I tend to trust him...but without knowing for sure that its what fixed the problem,I'm not 100% sure yet.

 

[drewpy]

new battery... 12.9 volts all around....kick only.. i do have a super small battery though...

what amp battery is it?

have you tried a temp bigger one?

 

[Chickenone]

so only the gry wire sparks... i flipped the wires and the spark went with grey... poor little orange.. no sparks like him.. means coils and caps and all are good... no its eith TCI or Pick up coils.. anyone have the same issue???... i tried a big fully charged battery as well....

 

[Chickenone]

when are you going to replace?? just one of the TCI wires sparking??

 

[Chickenone]

this is the battery im running

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103438&tab=custRatings#showFullReviews

 

[drewpy]

when are you going to replace?? just one of the TCI wires sparking??

is this a question?

 

[skillzman1]

going on what my mechanic buddy said...if the TCI is 3 wire..it one bank running both cylinders...if it had 4 wires it would be a 2 bank ...one per cylinder..and it could have a bad bank.
Being that it is 3 wire and one cylinder has spark...it should be in the CDI.
I believe that was his explanation...at least thats how I understood it.
However a TCI on ebay is considerably cheaper than a CDI....I hate electrical issues..I'd rather rebuild the motor twice than fool with electrical gremlins!!

 

[Chickenone]

ya.. my TCI has 7 wires.... 3 to the pick up.. 1 ground(blk) 1 orange(coil) 1 grey(coil) and the red wht to power...also my Battery is at 12v..Red white wire to tci reads 12v...Grey wire reds 11.40..and orange is reading 3.70v... i read you can put in a new transistor on from the xs650 guys...????