Hey, not new to the forum but new to posting, I’ve been chasing a no spark issue for some time. I’ve got an ‘82 xs400 dohc. After testing I found that one cylinder had very weak to no spark while the other had nothing whatsoever. I had drove the bike to warm it up, then was in the middle of balancing the carbs as it wasn’t running amazing. It suddenly died, due to no spark. While cranking, the side that had no spark would spark once when I took my thumb off of the starter. There is at least one thread on this forum where someone had the exact problem as I have, and they replaced the ignition box and that was it. I’ve bought an oem used one, I tested my coils, bought new plugs, nothing. Could it have something to do with the points being out? Thanks for any input
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‘82 xs400 no spark
- Thread starter salsasaul
- Start date
Your bike doesn't use points, it's all electronic. Where the points used to be is a pickup coil wired to the tci box that triggers the coils. You'll probably want to read over those other threads for troubleshooting steps and tips.
avemachina
XSasperated but XScited!
I chased down a no-spark issue that ended up being a wiring fault (ground wire was loose at one connection point). My thread's here, and I've got a SOHC so not everything will apply to you, but here are the cliff's notes:
- Check your battery, confirm you're getting at least 12.1 V.
- Test and make sure your ignition coils are within spec.
- Make sure your pickup coil (the thing where your points ignition would be) lines up at the right places at the right times. Tip: pop your bike on your centerstand and remove the stator cover for this to check the timing (don't turn the bike on, just rotate it manually). If it's on the centerstand, you won't need to drain the oil.
- Confirm your valve clearances are good.
- Confirm your IGN and MAIN fuses are good.
- Confirm all of your wires from your ignition box to their destination are good and you have continuity.
- Confirm your starter button is good.
- Test your compression.
A multimeter will be your friend, because this is going to be an electrical fault. Some component is failing since you're not getting spark.
Here's everyone's role in the play: the battery provides the initial charge, running through the fuse, which gets amplified at the coils, and the TCI uses the pick-up coil rotor's rotation to determine when to send a spark to the spark plugs. If anyone's wires, solder points, or positions are off, no spark, weak sparks, wailing and gnashing of teeth
- Check your battery, confirm you're getting at least 12.1 V.
- Test and make sure your ignition coils are within spec.
- Make sure your pickup coil (the thing where your points ignition would be) lines up at the right places at the right times. Tip: pop your bike on your centerstand and remove the stator cover for this to check the timing (don't turn the bike on, just rotate it manually). If it's on the centerstand, you won't need to drain the oil.
- Confirm your valve clearances are good.
- Confirm your IGN and MAIN fuses are good.
- Confirm all of your wires from your ignition box to their destination are good and you have continuity.
- Confirm your starter button is good.
- Test your compression.
A multimeter will be your friend, because this is going to be an electrical fault. Some component is failing since you're not getting spark.
Here's everyone's role in the play: the battery provides the initial charge, running through the fuse, which gets amplified at the coils, and the TCI uses the pick-up coil rotor's rotation to determine when to send a spark to the spark plugs. If anyone's wires, solder points, or positions are off, no spark, weak sparks, wailing and gnashing of teeth
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