82 KZ550 Wont Start (No power to coils)

Alright well I'm usually over at Kawasaki Twin Owners Forums but I got a recommendation from another member to give this forum a good browsing. I was told a member on here by the screen name of loudhvx is a 550 guru so I thought I would join and see what yall thought about her. Long story short I bought the bike with new tires and new brakes and it hasnt been running for about 4-5 months now. The previous owner said that it was the igniter, but I had my doubts as he didnt seem super knowledgeable about it. He did however give me a clymer manual with it, but I've done about all of the diagnostics I can on it myself. I've went through the whole wiring harness and am only receiving about 1.5volts at the postitive on the coils. Im pretty sure is has to be the igniter unless its some other freak thing. I have 2 igniters and both test the same although one is a jy igniter so I cant really trust it all that much. When i first got the bike i had read about the HEI mod and thats probably what Im going to be doing in the next few days if I cant get it straightened out. Just though Id see what anyone on here has to say about it. Thanks in advance. Heres a pic of where the bike is at now after a good cleaning.

Looks good.
Looks like someone replaced the plug wires. Make sure the left coil, as you sit on the bike, goes to the inside cylinders (2 and 3) and the right side coil goes to the outisde cylinders (1 and 4). The right side coil gets the black wire and the left side coil gets the green wire. Also, on the rotor for the ignition, make sure the point of the rotor is toward the "Tec" logo.

Also, if there is only 1.5v to the positive side of the ignition coils (that's the yellow/red wire on the coils), something is wrong. It should be the same as battery voltage when the bike is on. No voltage when the bike is off.

If anyone dissassembled the pickup assembly, they may have installed the magnets incorrectly. If so this thread shows how to install them correctly.

kzrider.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&...34612&catid=4#134612

Yeah i replaced the wires...had some good NGK wires left over from one of my corollas, so I cut em and fitted em on there. Ill check everything over hopefully tomorrow.Hopefully Ill have some good news to report.

Im really confused. Ive checked most of the wiring, and there appears to be no shorts or anything. Ive checked the connections, and the regulator, etc, etc. I cant find anything wrong with the wiring. However on the fusebox side I have an extra blue/white wire and an extra yellow/black which appear to both be negative. Still cant figure out why Im not getting 12v to the coils. Some of the wiring harness has been hacked into for aftermarket turn signals, but I have double checked over it and it appears to be fine. Also check the pickups and they are fine. Cleaned em up a bit but besides that they are in good order.

Just to get it running, you can run a jumper from the battery to the coils. The ignition will only power up the coils if the pickups sense crank movement (if the ignition is built correctly ).

Toy, silly thought. coils usually recieve their power from kill sw.(after ign sw.) If you havent already, unplug yel/red wires at coils and chk for bat. voltage. (harness side) at coils. both disconected. a scatterd ignitor diode /grounded wire,could cause a 1.5 v reading at coil/s if voltage was feeding to ground. if still 1.5 v before coils, backtrack...luck g

Thats what Ive been doing.

I might actually be taking it to a motorcycle shop tomorrow. My friend knows the electrical guy and said he is reasonable/great. I would keep fooling with it but I need to get it running. im hoping its maybe just a flip-flopped wire or something...im gonna go see what he charges, and if its too much, Ill contiune to do it myself.

Wait, let me back up here and take a different way to say the same thing these guys have said.

Where are you grounding to when you are testing the voltage at the coils? Try the frame if you haven't, will split the problem area in half.

The 12vdc from what i remember goes through the ignition switch and through the on/off/kill switch area. Not real hard to follow if you have a diagram. So it is hot all of the time that the key is on.

I'd look into these areas first. I hate following Clymer diagrams, but with a high lighter it is easiest I have found. You should find that the 12 volt side goes back though the handlebar controls and though the keyswitch, and your problem is in there.

Not hard at all.

Now if you have 12VDC to the coil/frame and it still won't start, then you are looking at (most likely) the kickstand switch or the clutch safety switch.

So now after all of that, fill in the blanks:

1) Was moronic, forget that until later.

2) Positive lead on coil hot wire, negative lead on chassis ground. Key on. Voltage is __________________.

3) Following the wiring diagram back to the kill/start switch, I see _________ volts coming out with the key on and frame ground.

4) I see ___________ volts coming in from the battery into the keyswitch.

I bet one of these is going to lead you right there. Or at least help us out tremendously.

My mechanic was grumbling one time: "mutter mutter its always that keyswitch mutter mutter...."

loudhvx wrote:

Looks good.
Looks like someone replaced the plug wires. Make sure the left coil, as you sit on the bike, goes to the inside cylinders (2 and 3) and the right side coil goes to the outisde cylinders (1 and 4). The right side coil gets the black wire and the left side coil gets the green wire. Also, on the rotor for the ignition, make sure the point of the rotor is toward the "Tec" logo.

Also, if there is only 1.5v to the positive side of the ignition coils (that's the yellow/red wire on the coils), something is wrong. It should be the same as battery voltage when the bike is on. No voltage when the bike is off.

Lou,

I have a '81 gpz550 like yours and noticed your setup to hold down the timing advancer, which is interesting. I had mine off today to lube it and the stock 8 x 63mm bolt had been replaced with an aftermarket bolt. Just curious if the stock bolt is prone to failure? Maybe people break it by trying to take it off the wrong way? Just curious. Thanks.

Robert

they break them because they try to turn the motor over with the bolt instead of the nut between the bolt and the advancer i have found this to be the case in most instances.