Cylinders 1 and 4 not firing

Hey everyone,

Just picked up my first bike a couple of months ago. 1980 kz 750e. Repainted the gas tank that had a couple layers of poor paint job. Took out the rear fairing cowel and changed the seat foam.

My bike ran fine when I First got it a couple months ago and ran strong. A couple weeks ago, while I was riding my bike, I felt a loss of power. Rested the bike for a bit, started right up again but felt sluggish still. I tapped the exhaust pipes and found out that the outer cylinders were not firing due to the cold pipes. I checked the spark plugs by grounding it against the cylinder head. I got sparks from 2 and 3, which are the middle plugs, but none on the outer plugs. I switched outside plugs and moved them to the middle. Same thing happened. I got sparks so the spark plugs were not the problem. I switched around the spark plug wires I knew were working and got the same result. Only sparks on the 2 and 3. Spark plug wires aren't the problem. I switched the coils around to see if that was the problem, since 1 and 4 are connected to one coil, as well as 2 and 3 to a separate coil. This did not make a difference. Still no fire on 1 and 4, but 2 and 3 still fire right up.

I was wondering if anyone had some advice on what I can do. I love the bike and don't want to junk it out.

Thanks for your help

JUNK IT OUT... how dare you. :laugh:

Not necessary at all. Its more than likely the pickup at the ignition or the signal wire from the pickup.

Check your service manual - as I dont have the info available right at the moment, else someone here will chime in with the ohms for checking.

good luck!

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 2K, 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. The 550’s,650’s & 750’s may be backwards to the Z1’s,Kz900’s,Kz1000’s & Kz1100’s.

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.

6. Checking with Kawasaki.com website has determined that the Pick up(pulsing) coils are available . The pulsing coil # is 59026-1133 and replaces the older # 1002, 1012 which were used from the MKII motors until the 2005 P24.

7.Check the small 4 pin connector that the pickup coils connect to for corrosion/loose pins too.

If not already done, would assure -- with ignition switch ON -- that the 1&4 coil is receiving same battery voltage via red wire as the 2&3 coil is receiving from its red wire.

And also assure the black wire is making a good connection (1) at the 1&4 coil and (2) through the 4P connector between the igniter and coil.

Good Fortune!

Hey hope you fix it check the plug boots and make sure their screwed in tight the plug boots should ohm out at 5k these unscrew from the coils and can fail easily also check the rectifier regulator if any thing has grounded this out it will fail but normally it kills the bike completely, but check the plug boots first and ohm them. Again I hope you find the problem if it is the pick up coil z1parts.net/ might have it, good luck and don't give up.

Sweet, I didn't expect such a fast and detailed response. Thanks everyone for the input. Ill try them out when I'm free and update you guys. Thanks again!!!!

Patton wrote: If not already done, would assure -- with ignition switch ON -- that the 1&4 coil is receiving same battery voltage via red wire as the 2&3 coil is receiving from its red wire.

And also assure the black wire is making a good connection (1) at the 1&4 coil and (2) through the 4P connector between the igniter and coil.

Good Fortune!

+1 and +1 for what gamemartin64 said
Dont replace anything until you have thoroughly checked out all the connections and checked for voltage at the coils
Nice to see another 1980 750 E1 here

recent update:

hey guys, thanks for all the great hints. finally had a chance to work on the bike. I checked the connections and found out there was no power going to the right coil which connects to the 1st and 4th cylinders. traced it back to the ic igniter where the wire harness was and found out there was a bad connection. The harness was all cracked up so i just made it a direct connection to the wires and it started right up. I need to get a replacement harness for it but everything worked fine. Sorry it took so long to keep you guys updated

thats great you got it running again

we like updates keeps us informed on (why) bike wont work

great job