Dyna S No Spark

Hello, i just installed a Dyna S in my 76 KZ900. At first the bike fired right up, but then i removed the gas tank again to attempt timing it statically and there wasn't a spark the next time i tried to start it. Does anyone have any idea what the problem might be? Now i don't get any spark. Thanks for any info!

-GLen

Since the coils mount to the frame directly below the tank, my guess is that you knocked a wire loose somewhere.

Yeah those wires under the tank need to be checked everytime you take the tank off. ALL of them, mine are always coming unplugged! Should be a yellow with red stripe for the coil power I think. Also the Dyna kit comes with crappy scotch locks to splice the power wire so you may need to check any added connectors and make sure they are good. I soldered everything on mine.

Do you think its possible that the Dyna burned the coils out? I read somewhere that if you leave the ignition on without the engine running for more than five minutes, that this might happen.

-Glen

check the power wire going to the dyna to see if you knocked it loose,

Glen, the Dyna S hookup isn't likely to burn up your coils. It is more likely cockpit error. First, thing is that if you have NO spark on any of the cylinders, the power must be disconnected. FIND the coil hot wire you spliced into. Did you use the blue bayonnette type connector they provided? Hmmm, I would take that thing off and throw it away; they are junk. Take the coil wire and wrap the red Dyna S wire and solder / heat shrink.

OK, if you still have no spark, keep in mind that not only does the ignition switch have to be on to have spark but the kill switch as well. If the bike turns over but has no spark, keep in mind that the starter and coil's power comes through the connector on the right side just around the frame neck where it joins with the connector from the switchgear. Since both the starter and coils are on the same connector it isn't likely you would have one without the other but you could definitely unplug, clean with contact cleaner and lube this connection with dielectic grease. Some folks put a cable tie around this connector to keep it from coming loose as it wants to when you remove the tank.

You could also put a multimeter on the coil lug on your coil; POS on lug and NEG on ground in VDC scale and check the voltage.... with key on and kill switch in RUN.

If you can't see any spark, look at how you check spark. How DID you check for spark? One issue I have seen with hooking the Dyna S up is that while there MAY be spark, it is fairly easy to get the wiring messed up. The wire from the RIGHT pickup should go to the 2/3 coil and LEFT pickup to the 1/4 coil. When you put the rotor on your mechanical advance, did you note the orientation of the pickup magnet? With 1/4 at TDC, it should be at the 9 o'clock position. The magnet isn't easy to see as it is painted over and looks like a small indentation the size of a pencil eraser. If you have the wires backwards OR have the rotor on backwards, the bike will have spark but will be firing 180 degrees out from where it should and WON'T run... you may get some caughing and backfiring but no run...

Right now the engine won't even turn over. I put the rotor on correctly and i'm almost positive the wiring is correct, because it ran for a few minutes before i attempted to set the timing. I do have the blue splicer on it that came with Dyna, I'll replace that, but would it be necessary to soder it if i just use heat shrinking material? Also, do i need to strip the coil wire or the red Dyna S wire before i wrap/soder/heat shrink it? Thanks again for all the help; I just want to ride again!

-Glen

why is the engine not turning over?,

Take the coil wire you spliced into and bare it and bare some of the skinny red power wire off the Dyna S. I ALWAYS solder this connection. You can cut the wire, if you need to and resolder but if you wrap the red wire around the coil wire and solder it, you won't have to wonder if that little blue connector failed. I have seen it fail a number of times... Use heat shrink whenever you have a solder joint.

OK... bike won't turn over has nothing to do with the ignition. To troubleshoot do the following in the order I suggest and you will soon figure out where you need to do some fixing!

1. battery charge... put the battery on a very slow trickle charger and make sure you top off with distilled water to red line on battery. If the battery discharges quickly, we might have to do some checking on the battery
2. OK... battery charged up and it won't turn over? If the engine isn't frozen, there is an electrical issue. First thing to check is the starter itself. Take a piece of heavy gauge wire and with the key off, bridge the terminal on the starter solenoid with the other big terminal where the starter is connected. If the battery is charged and you get NOTHING, then the starter is dead. If you get the starter to jump when hotwiring it, then likely, the starter is good.
3. OK, starter is good... check the solenoid. To check, with the key OFF, take that heavy piece of wire and put one end on the hot terminal on your battery (POSITIVE). Touch the other end to the solder joint where the black wire is soldered on the outside. If the starter jumps, your starter is good and the solenoid is good. If starter doesn't jump, the solenoid is DOA.
4. OK The solenoid checked out? Look at the fuses. Sometimes it is EASY to see if a fuse if blown and sometimes not. IF you have a multimeter, check all of them for continuity. That is, put the meter in Ohms scale and touch each metal end of the fuse, if you get ZIP, then the fuse is dead. Replace. If the fuses are good, then the problem is with the wiring that ends up triggering your solenoid. Power comes from one of those fuses through the ignition switch and then out where it connects to the right hand switch gear via a connector in the headlight shell on most bikes. This wire goes INTO the kill switch. The kill switch is in RUN, right? OK. open up the connector for the ignition switch. There is a fat white wire on the fuse side. Check it for DC Voltage... you should see about 12 VDC as this wire is always hot. If you don't go back and check the fuses and battery connections...
5. Reconnect this connector if the white wire is hot. OK... find the right switch gear connector in your head light shell that connects with the ignition switch. Look at the color of the wire that goes INTO your right switchgear to the kill switch by opening up the switchgear and looking. Disconnect the connector between the ignition switch and switchgear, turn key on and look for 12VDC on the pin that connects to the wire that goes to the kill switch. If you have no power, the ignition swich is bad.
6. You have power at the connector between the ignition switch and right switchgear. Reconnect. Go to kill switch and check for DC voltage at the in to the kill switch. If no power, the wire from the connector to the kill switch is broken. If there power, put the kill switch in RUN and with the power on, find the black wire that goes from the kill switch to the starter button. Check for voltage where this wire is soldered to the starter button terminal. If there is no power, the kill switch is bad.
7. If you find power, push the starter button and check for power coming off the starter button at the major connector where the right switchgear connects to the main harness. The wire will be black and just check the pin associated with the power on, kill switch in RUN and the start button pushed. If you get no voltage, the starter button needs clean up or replace. Remove oxidation from contact surfaces with an emery board or steel wool and use some electrical contact cleaner (any autoparts store has it). If you can't get voltage even after cleaning contacts, replace the button.
8. If you DO get voltage, make sure the connector between the right switchgear and harness is solid, cleaned (electrical contact cleaner / dielectic grease)... this connector wants to work loose because the tank rubs when you remove it. If the connection is solid, then check for voltage at the solenoid at the solder joint where the black wire is soldered. If you have no voltage, the wire is broke between solder joint and the switchgear/harness connector. Do this with the key on, the kill switch in RUN and the start button pushed...

That is it for testing why your bike isn't turning over.

Hey, thanks a lot for all the help. Right now I'm at work and can't do the tests, but I will as soon as I get home. But last night i checked out my coils and the primary resistance was slightly over 4.3 ohms on both, and the secondary resistance on the coil that fires cylinders 2-3 measures about 12k ohms. The other coil, that one that fires the 1-4 cylinder does not have any secondary resistance, it does not read at all. Could this be the source of my problems?

-Glen

Glen4747 wrote:

...removed the gas tank again to attempt timing it statically....

IMO strobe light is better method to time and also see operation of advancer unit.

BTW, why removing the gas tank to check and adjust ignition timing?

Go through the steps I laid out... I know it looked cumbersome but if you follow in order, you WILL find the problem. The static timing thing isn't all that accurate as I recall. I have only done it once just to do it and then ended up timing with an inductive timing light. Since I am an old man, I seem to own a fleet of the things that I have picked up over the years and as Patton noted, you can see the advance working clearly with the stobe when you rev the engine.