Spark dies, then mysteriously returns. ICM prob?

So, let me set the stage. I'm riding to Bastrop state park to meet a buddy to see if we know how to camp using our motorcycles. It rides the entire way from San Antonio to Bastrop, no problem (2 hours or so).

Now, at Bastrop we ride around for a couple of hours, no problem. Then about 45 min into the way home, the engine shuts off. Lights still work, still cranks, there is still gasoline in the lines and tank. I sit on the side of the road for 10 minutes cursing the gods. Then i get on my bike to give it a futile crank and POW, it turns over and is running perfect once again.

It repeats this, with shorter intervals each time, until i make it home. The intervals seem to have little relation to how long the bike has been shut down. Except when i leave it overnight, where it seems to magically reset to the beginning of this story.

Now what the heck could this be? I can only assume that its related to the spark, since nothing else in the ignition has failed. It doesn't have anything to do with temp, because i've been having this similar problem for a while, cold or hot.

I'm grasping at straws here, but i decided to blame my ICM (i temporarily replaced it with a spare, just to find out). Perhaps coils could be to blame? Gremlins?

Anyone have some insight?

I had a mysterious issue like this on my 550, it always seemed to happen when I went over some railroad tracks or went over a bump. It used to really make me flip out when I was sitting on the side of the road wondering what was wrong, and then it magically started again for "no reason". What I discovered was that (on that bike) there was one of those plastic clip connectors under the right side cover that had gotten quite corroded, and the connections inside were disconnecting when I hit a bump, or sometimes just on their own. This connector contained my ignition wires that fed to my coils. On my kz1000 this clip is red and resides under the gas tank. Once I soldered the wires together on the 550 the problem was alleviated for good.

Maybe try going through all those clips on your bike by opening them up and seeing how they look.

Does it die while you are at speed, or when you stop and idle?

If your bike has the Kawasaki electronic ignition, I'd suspect one or more of the pulsing(pick up coils) may be coming intermittent.

Try this:

Ohm Checking Pickup(Pulsing) Coils

The pickup coils on the Kawasaki’s with the factory supplied electronic ignition can sometimes fail or become intermittent due to heat and vibration.

1.Trace back from where the pick up coils are mounted,(under a right side CD sized cover) locate and disconnect a small 4 pin connector. Using a multi-meter set on OHMS and range of X 100 check between the BLUE and BLACK wires(#1 and #4 sparkplug wires) for between 360- 540 OHMS.

2.For #2 and #3 sparkplugs the wire colors will be YELLOW and RED, again 360-540 OHMS.

3.If the pickup coils are suspect of failing due to heat, they can be stressed using a hair dryer without the need of the engine running.

4.A replacement set of pickup coils might be obtained from a dealer who serviced the police Kawasaki’s.

5. If replacement pickup coils are not available, your next choice would be to order a Dyna “S” electronic ignition system from www.z1enterprises.com It replaces the IC igniter with a smaller module located where the mechanical ignition advancer was mounted.

MFolks wrote:

If your bike has the Kawasaki electronic ignition, I'd suspect one or more of the pulsing(pick up coils) may be coming intermittent.

Try this:

Ohm Checking Pickup(Pulsing) Coils

The pickup coils on the Kawasaki’s with the factory supplied electronic ignition can sometimes fail or become intermittent due to heat and vibration.

1.Trace back from where the pick up coils are mounted,(under a right side CD sized cover) locate and disconnect a small 4 pin connector. Using a multi-meter set on OHMS and range of X 100 check between the BLUE and BLACK wires(#1 and #4 sparkplug wires) for between 360- 540 OHMS.

2.For #2 and #3 sparkplugs the wire colors will be YELLOW and RED, again 360-540 OHMS.

3.If the pickup coils are suspect of failing due to heat, they can be stressed using a hair dryer without the need of the engine running.

4.A replacement set of pickup coils might be obtained from a dealer who serviced the police Kawasaki’s.

5. If replacement pickup coils are not available, your next choice would be to order a Dyna “S” electronic ignition system from www.z1enterprises.com It replaces the IC igniter with a smaller module located where the mechanical ignition advancer was mounted.

Yep, I'm going with coil failure... over heating, then shutting down til they "cool off" - good reason for an upgrade to a set of Dyna's -- Good call MFolks!

Glad you were able to "nurse'er" home, and not have to call for a buddy to bring a trailer.

i've checked the connectors, they are all good to go.

Would i need to replace these pick up coils and my ignition coils? Or just one?

Does that dyna S system replace both the ignition module and the pick up coils or just the pick up coils?

How could i test my ignition coils?

Bah, i have a trip coming up. Time to go shopping.

My understanding you'd just have to replace the pick up coils, although determine which one is failing if you can.

The Dyna "S" replaces the pick up coils and the IC Igniter with everything under the cover where the PU coils were installed.

Ignition coils can be tested with either a analog or digital multimeter. To check the primary side, remove the push on wire terminations and put the meter probes on the places where the wires went.

Use the lowest setting to read the primary windings ohm rating.You'll probably read 1.8 to 2.8(sometimes 3.0) ohms in the primary windings.

To read the secondary windings, remove the sparkplug wires and put the meter leads in the two ports where the wires were.It should read between 10.4 to 15.6K(thousand) ohms.

The meter will have to have the scale changed to read the higher ohm level from the first reading.

The only way to say for sure if the spark dies is to pull a plug when it happens and test for spark.

Other things to consider are fuel. You did say you had fuel in the tank and in the lines but whne this happened to me I had a kink in the fuel line which slowed the gas and the carbs ran dry. Leave for a while and carb float bowls fill up again and away we go. Other possibility is bolckage in the vent in the gas tank filler cap. If it happens again open the filler cap, give it a minute and push start button.

Good luck

At first i did seriously suspect my gas flow. But there are no kinks. And several times when this has occured, i jumped off immediately to look in my filter (to check for fuel flowing) and it was full and stable, just like it always is.

Also, its just the way it dies. When i run out of gas, i know it from a mile (or 2) away. the throttle feels funny, there's no pick up, then my high end fades out. This is more of an abrupt failure in the engine.

So, i think i'm going to bite the bullet and buy the Dyna S, plus Dyna 3 ohm coils and a new 12 volt regulator/rectifier. I have the money and i know the parts have to be fading out. I've been pushing them hard for 9 years now and someone was pushing them hard for the 22 years before that.

A quick way to test them is to remove the ignition cover and go ride the bike. They start acting up when they get hot. The rest is self explanatory.

Next time she dies on ya.... First get off the road of course...

Reach up under that fuel tank and using your built in temperature gauge (back side of finger between knuckle and finger tip) see how hot the coil is....

You should be able to rest your skin across the coil... If it's too hot where you can't then coils are breaking down to age or a partial short as mentioned in the ignition plate area...

Meaning drawing excessive current through the coils due to short...

Then there always static testing as described in the manuals... Same time, yours seems to be only during a ride (Dynamic testing)... With some voltage measurements, may provide some answers...

What's the coil & spark plug conductor conditions...
Brittle, cracked, hard rubber etc....

Do you have a solid and clean ground termination to the frame and engine case? Clean the terminals on the case side.... Emery cloth the terminal as well as the case contact point, may have a little oxidation occurring after 30 years...

Let us know what you find out for I'm sure others have and will come across this phenomenon...

OMR

If one coil goes bad the engine will still run on two cylinders. If it is a poor fuel supply the engine will not dye suddenly. It will let you know before it dyes. The problem here is electrical and it is at or before the module. This is why everything dyes suddenly. Personally I would suspect the module.