No spark on one cylinder

Thanks Patton. That shows a few more wires than I actually have. Here's a scan from my manual for that section of the wiring diagram. The two wires running out of the frame go directly to the CDI unit.

I tried putting one of my multimeter leads on the tab connector on the front of the coil and the other on the connector to the spark plug wire. On both coils I got no reading at all. Only one of them could possibly be bad, because only one side doesn't have spark.

So I figured I was doing something wrong.

I swapped the leads going to the coils and then had spark on the right, but not the left, which told me one of my leads wasn't getting current.

I swapped them back and it suddenly fired right up. I guess I've got a short somewhere. From looking at the wiring diagram those leads go straight to the CDI unit. I guess the thing to do will be to check them at that end.

1st post
I pulled my '88 KZ305 out of winter storage a week or so ago and am trying to chase down a few problems that seem to have shown up over the winter.

The latest is that I don't have any spark on the right side of the bike. I had it running and rode it around the yard last week. This weekend it wouldn't start up and it appears that I have no spark on the right cylinder.

last post
I swapped the leads going to the coils and then had spark on the right, but not the left, which told me one of my leads wasn't getting current.

I swapped them back and it suddenly fired right up. I guess I've got a short somewhere. From looking at the wiring diagram those leads go straight to the CDI unit. I guess the thing to do will be to check them at that end.

So look at the connectors from the pick-up coils to the Ignitor, you may want to clean/ tighten all of your old electrical connections.

Cleaning Motorcycle Electrics (You should print this out and keep it handy)

Get some of the De-Oxit electrical contact cleaner and figure on spending a good day going from the front of the bike to the back. It’s a plastic safe cleaner/preservative. www.deoxit.com is their website.

On the older Kawasaki's, a majority of electrical connectors are inside the headlight housing requiring removal of the headlight, then the fun begins.

Do one set of electrical connectors at a time to avoid mixing up what connects to where. Usually disconnecting, spraying with De-Oxit and reconnecting is about all you'll need.

However, when encountering the green crud of corrosion, a brass wire brush may be needed on the pins you can reach.Some 400-600 grit wet and dry sandpaper strips rolled into a tube should reach the male and female pins in the more difficult to clean connectors.

Smoker’s pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and wooden toothpicks work as cleaning aids.

Really small electrical connectors may require the use of a welders tip cleaning tool assortment.

Most pins in the connectors are coated with a thin plating of tin, and others may be nothing more than copper or brass.

If moisture is added, the resulting corrosion lowers the voltage/current being carried causing dim lights, slow engine cranking, slow turn signal responce and lower input voltage to the ignition coils resulting in weak spark.

The left and right handlebar switch pods will need attention too as they have circuit functions like turn, horn, run/stop, and start.

Usually a spritz or two with actuation of the switch is about all needed for these switches unless corrosion is detected and then careful disassembly is required.

The ignition switch may or may be not sealed to allow spraying the internal contacts. I urge caution if attempting to open this up as springs, and ball bearings may fly out never to be seen again!

If your bike has the older style glass tubed fuses, I suggest replacing them as vibration can cause internal failure. AGX is the type used, and most auto parts stores can get them for you.

Clean the fuse holder clips, looking for signs of overheating(discolored insulation, signs of melting).
I use metal polish on a cotton swab, followed by spraying another clean swab with the De-Oxit and then rubbing the inside of the fuse clip.

Each "Bullet Connector" will have to be sprayed to ensure good connectivity, especially the ones going to the energizing coil of the starter solenoid.

The alternator output “Bullet Connectors” are usually behind the engine sprocket cover and will need inspecting and cleaning too.

The turn signal light sockets will benefit from a spritz from the contact cleaner along with the tail light/brake light socket.

Some brake light switches can be sprayed on the actuating rod, with the spray running down inside to the electrical contacts, others may be sealed requiring replacement if the switch is intermittent in operation.

I think I've covered about all of the electrical systems on the bike.........

I have the same bike with the same problem, no spark on the right side. I had it running a month ago, when I picked it up, seemed to run fine after a carb cleanup, but was tough to start when cold. I took the panels and the tank out for paint and then re-assembled it. 3 days after trying to start it, I noticed that the right coil had no spark, the left only a weak one. Swapping the coil wire that comes from the CDI produces spark on the side that the live wire comes from. The dead wire (black/white stripe)gets no signal and the coil connected to it has no spark. I unwrapped the wire harness and found no frayed or broken wires, cleaned all of the connections starting from the headlight and ending on the tail light. That gave me a split second run on one cylinder. The resistance across the pick up coil wires is around the 124 ohms on both coils. One curious finding was that the two wires that come from the CDI to the coils had been spliced together, so I gather that this is not a new issue on this bike. The wires were spliced when I had it running. I took the pick up coils out and noticed that the face of the coil where the metal sensor is looks a bit bulged. The wires had been spliced and soldered near the connector, all wire colors matching the other side of the splice.

Without using heatsink clips(yes, they make them), it's possible to do damage inside whatever you're soldering, especially if the soldering iron is larger than 25 watts.

The heatsink clips attach to the wire's conductors, reducing the chance of overheating the component being soldered: www.hobbyengineering.com/H4440.html

For a good solder joint, you'll need rosin flux, rosin core solder, heatsink clips, a 25 watt soldering iron, rubbing Alcohol, or Acetone, and a cut down acid brush, so it's about 3/8" long. It's used to scrub the excess rosin flux from the soldered joint. If done correctly, the soldered connection will look almost polished, with no voids, or openings.

All soldered joints, if possible should be covered with heat shrink tubing, for protection, and to reduce the chance of an electrical short.