Spectre won't start. Did after work. Won't now.

Hi,

So... I've been working on this bike for the better part of a year. I've learned a lot and gotten rather comfortable diagnosing and understanding a lot of theory due to it. I've been able to research everything via this site and Kawasaki Forum. THANKS! I bought the bike about 5 years ago, took a little to get it running but eventually it became a daily rider.

Last summer every ignition and starting problem presented itself. Little bit of work before winter and then I jumped determined to get it runnin ASAP this summer after deciding there was absolutely no way I was selling it. I love this bike and can't imagine owning someone else's.

Here's whats been done:
-rebuilt starter
-Dyna Ignition system (original pick ups failed under heat. Thennn Dyna sent me a faulty unit. 1/4 side didn't work. They happily sent me a new one though)
-Static timed. (strobe gun i had quit on me)
----Can't afford new Dyna Ign Coils, but its on the list
-New solenoid
-Cleaned carbs (a couple of times)
-Replaced air box with pods. (boots were reallly bad.) (((I also know this is where some people will sight some jetting problems.))))
-Raised needle jet 0.5mm

Around this time I got it running. Low end Idle was rough, but 1/4 throttle and up it ran better than it ever did. Pulled like a beast.

-Backed fuel/air screw out about 2 turns on each carb.
-valve clearances looked good

Still a little rough at idle and I found a vacuum leak at the exhaust headers.

By the way it started the first time almost every time until here:
-found vacuum leak at the exhaust headers. they were missing the brass gaskets. put those in.
-replaced turn signal cancel unit (needed it)
-changed brake fluid. bled them. (reallly needed it)

Went to start it. Starter just turned. No firing. Not even with starting fluid. Which tells me electrical... but the spark plugs are all firing, and the the sparks are blue. Fully charged battery. Can't seem to find a wiring issue... still need to go through and check resistance on all of them.

I'm now left scratching my head... asking why the bike doesn't want me to ride it.

Things I need to do:
-compression test next (probably renting a gauge from Auto Zone/Pep Boys tool loan. Or picking up a cheap one from either.)
-wiring checks
-ignition coil check (still has original coils, they were fine last time I checked them, but that was last fall.)

Does anyone have any other ideas/suggestions?

Thanks.

If this is a 750-Spectre, the airbox ducts are still available, so put the airbox back on.
If it's a different Spectre, those ducts are Active Limited Quantity.

Hello,
I think you are headed in the right direction. You only need a few things to make your bike run (spark, fuel, air, compression). Check the compression for sure. You had said you cleaned the carbs…are you sure that you removed the pilot jet to confirm that that tiny little port is open on the jet. A rough idle tell me the pilot circuit is dirty. The other thing you mentioned was the carb holder boots…did you replace them with new ones? Old nasty carb boots will not let the carbs pull fuel like they should and they allow air to be sucked in places it shouldn’t. Good luck there is a vast wealth of knowledge here.
Ty

Hello, nasvi, and WELCOME to KZr!

What year and displacement is the Spectre at hand?

Perhaps ignition coils are connected to the wrong spark plugs.

Signal wire from 9 o'clock Dyna-S pickup module goes to whichever ignition coil is attached to the outside spark plugs #1 and #4.

Signal wire from 3 o'clock Dyna-S pickup module goes to whichever ignition coil is attached to the inside spark plugs #2 and #3.

Good Fortune!

You didn't mention anything about your battery, how old is it, is it putting out enough juice ? many times a weak battery has enough juice to turn the motor pretty good , but not enough juice to start it

Did you take apart the advancer for any reason? IT can go back together two ways. Only one way will work.

Also, as Patton suggests, if you've done any wiring work, check the wires to the coils, including the small wires.

Sorry for missed information:

Its an '82 kz750n.

New(er) AGM battery. Bought it before winter last year. Kept indoors and charged. Holds a charge ok. Drains after a good session of working on it/constant starting and attempts. Charge it with a slow 2 amp-12v charger. Close to 13v after charge and proper voltage through load tests on the bike.

Things I back-stepped and fixed on previous not-starting problems:
-Early I had found that I had put the Magnet on facing the 2/3 not 1/4 direction on the Ignition system unit/timing advancer. Switching it fixed it that time. Started after that.
-Either loose or crossed spark plug wires. Started after switching to correct sides.

Like I said before... Once I had worked on all of the previous issues, it started great. Was running well to, just what I would consider 'performance' issues with the idle. Which boils down to Jetting work.
After I had done these little projects (brake fluid, turn signal cancel unit, exhaust header gaskets), it didn't want to... was kind of like a sucker punch.

I keep thinking that maybe I had loosened or have an issue with some old wiring. I've wanted to spend some time on rewiring the majority of the bike, but thats not a "its riding weather" project unless it has to be.

It also seems rather weird that if it is the Ignition Coils going, that it would have been starting so consistently for the 2 weeks prior as I had worked on the carbs a bit.
--I need to meter the ign coils either way.
--One thing i wasn't sure if there was a concern with and couldn't seem to find any info on was the order of the red/green & red/black wires to the front side of the coils. I.e. Red on top on both?

Anyways, when it cools down a bit later, I'm going to try to rent a compression tester and look into that.

Thanks a ton for all the suggestions.

By the way, Dyna recommends coils that are 3 ohm or higher for use with a Dyna S, and warns against using ones that are less. Yours are less than 3 ohms. So it wouldn't be a bad idea to get new 3 ohm coils anyway.

Also, on some KZ650's, using a Dyna S exposes charging system weaknesses. If your Kz750 charging system is not fully functional, a Dyna S may require periodically trickle-charging the battery to top it off.

Not a bad idea on the tender suggestion.. unfortunately I don't have a garage and it has to be parked in front of the house on a busy street. (Makes for an awwwesome place to work on it. not to mention every guy thats ever seen a bike needing to stop and throw their 2 cents in...) I'll probably pick up a tender, and might have to start taking the battery out if I'm not going to ride it for the rest of the day (once its running again). MIght also help if theres a small parasitic draw I'm missing.

As for the Dyna coils: For a while they've been next up on the "when I can afford them" list, as well as the "Come onnnnn E-bay, give me a deal" list. It doesn't help that my parts fund is competing with a wedding fund. She puts up with all my obsessiveness over motorcycles and all the bitching thats ensued for the last year due to this bike. So the wedding fund wins... till Oct.

Thanks

nasvi wrote: . . . One thing i wasn't sure if there was a concern with and couldn't seem to find any info on was the order of the red/green & red/black wires to the front side of the coils. I.e. Red on top on both? . . . .

The ignition coil's primary terminals are non-polar, so it doesn't matter which terminal receives battery positive and which terminal receives the signal wire from Dyna-S pick-up module.

Good Fortune!

nasvi wrote: Starter just turned. No firing. Not even with starting fluid. Which tells me electrical... but the spark plugs are all firing,////-ignition coil check (still has original coils, they were fine last time I checked them, but that was last fall.)

Does anyone have any other ideas/suggestions?

Thanks.

That's the first thing I would replace.

nasvi wrote: As for the Dyna coils: For a while they've been next up on the "when I can afford them" list, as well as the "Come onnnnn E-bay, give me a deal" list.

Z1 sells some 4 Ohm OEM coils for $36 each that work great. May not be optimized for Dyna ignition which is designed around 3 Ohms, but 4 Ohm coils will work well, will not overload the ignition module and will draw a shade less current off the alternator output.

www.z1enterprises.com/ItemDetails.aspx?i...zuki&item=EM24-72451