TOPIC:

i have a 78 kz650 i am fixing up. the bike ran good when i got it. i replaced the points system with the electronic ignition. now the bike barely idles on full choke and i checked the headers and 2 cylinders arent firing. im not sure what the piston arrangement is so thats my first question.

does it go (1)(2)(3)(4)?
is the outside piston on the points side #1?

if it is (1)(2)(3)(4) then #1 and #3 arent firing. i pulled the spark plug wire loose on #3 and hooked a spare spark plug in it and it is firing but its yellow; not a good white/blue spark. it confuses me because it seems like both coils are only working half the time. i havent checked to see how strong the spark is for #1 or #4 because the headers for those are hot and tells me theyre working.

the coils have 2 wires...red and black. the black plugs are working but both reds are not.

#1 is on your left as you are sitting on the bike(stator side), making #4 on the points side.
Check the spark at all the plugs, just to be sure you have good spark at #1 & #4. If you do, then you can begin your troubleshooting from there.
I'm not familiar enough with the electonic ignition to pinpoint for you, but my guess is either the #2-#3 coil is going bad, or it could be your electronic pick-up is at fault.
You can also do some wiring testing if you have a multimeter. Measure the resistance (ohms) of each pickup wire(2) to the coils. I don't know what they should be, but if one is significantly higher than the other, then you know where the problem may be. You can also check your spark plug wires by doing the same. But by your description, the problem seems to be specific to the #2-#3 coil circuit.
The other you can do is check the voltage to both coils by touching the red(+)meter probe to the coil (red in your case) and the black probe to a ground. You need to have the key trurned on, but not running. That will tell you what your power is to the coils. It should be around 11-12 VDC?If it is like mine was (8 VDC), then you might want to consider doing the "coil mod" that can be found on WG's website.
I hope this helps...

Kind of need a few answers,,, what kind of ignition did you install???
also sounds like you have the coils wired wrong from the new system.

If you installed a dyna, The pick up coils were wired backwards from the factory, took me a bit to figure it out, but that may be what is going on also

The coils fire 2 cylinders (obviously), one firing 1 & 4, the other 2 & 3, (counting from the left when sitting on the bike as mentioned above).

Each coil will have a red wire (power +) and either a green or black (yours may have different colors here) that connect to the points/electronic Ign. through the wiring harness.

Check that all the coil wire connections are clean, and wired correctly. Use a wiring diagram if needed.

And yes, which electronic system did you relpace the points with?
A Dyna S system is self contained (no IC Igniter).
A Dyna III will have a small box wired with it (Ic Igniter ?).
A later model Kawi electronic Ignition will need an Ic Igniter. This is what I'm using.


Which ever you are using, if after you check all the connections and she's still not working right, swap the green and black coil wires around. You may have them backwards. I did.

With the Dyna-s there are two "readers" on the plate. If just one of them were bad.....

Have you tried swapping the coils with each other? Maybe a coil is bad, OR maybe a reading unit is bad in the new ignition.

If you swapped the coils and the problem switched cylinders as well, I would suspect a coil is bad.

If you swapped coils and the problem stayed on the same two cylinders, I would suspect the new ignition unit reader doohickey thingey.

Just a thought.

ok heres an update..

i got the dyna S ignition

i was tracing my wires looking for bad spots and i noticed that my coils are getting power from a white wire with pink stripe. i traced that white wire with pink stripe up to a wiring clip that contains 4 wires..... white wire, white/pink, brown, brown/white stripe. i took the connector loose and jumbled it around; plugged it back in and now i have 3 cylinders firing. only one that isnt firing is #4. the white/pink stripe wire looks kinked at the connector on the male end (from back to handlebar)

yes my ignition colors are black and green.

now that i have a 3rd cylinder firing i know its a voltage issue. last night i had trouble troubleshooting it because negative lead on my meter had a break at the plug. im taking my meter from work home tonight and doing some more tests. i am unfamiliar with the coil mod but ill look into it. what is the WG website?


also just to clarafy...
does it go... stator (1)(2)(3)(4) points plate?

cannibal440 wrote:

also just to clarafy...
does it go... stator (1)(2)(3)(4) points plate?

Correctamundo;)

i brought my meter home last night and checked some stuff. i have 9.2 volts going to the coils with the key turned on. my coils ohm out at 2.4 and 2.2

the dyna S says the coils need to be 3 ohm. i think that might be my problem. the previous owner just bought the coils before i got the bike. would that cause some issues? i noticed that i am getting spark for cylinder 4 and it does have gas in the bowl. still only 1,2,and 3 are firing.

If you are getting 3 out of four sparks, the Dyna is fine, though it may work better with 12v instead of 9. The 3-ohm minimum is so the Dyna won't fry. 2.2 ohms is going to allow more current than the Dyna is rated to handle, but others have reported the Dyna can handle it.

If you are only missing one spark for sure, then it's the plug, or wire, or possibly even the coil itself. Try swapping coils.

Have you checked the plug condition? Sometimes they foul in ways that befuddles me. Try switching the plugs with a cylinder that is firing well or change out the plug for a new one just to eliminate the possibility of a bad plug (even though it was firing?)

If there is fuel for the carb, and spark at the plug both for the dead cylinder, then it is either;

lack of compression (ring or valve seal, mechanical failure),
carb fuel blockage,
misadjusted carb,
vacume issues or
electrical misfire/intermittent spark problem.

Just to eliminate problems;.... How is the compression across the cylinders?

Have you sprayed starting fluid on the dead cylinder's carb air inlet to see if it pops up?

How are the carb boots? Spray them as well to check for leaks.

Is there anything that has changed besides the ignition when you switched it out and these problems started?

Could something have been disturbed during the ignition switch that could have led to these problems?

How is the coil ohms all? Is 2.4 and 2.2 within limits?

heres an update:

i installed a relay to switch the ignition system on. voltage at coils is almost same as battery now of course...dont know why i never thought of doing this before.

since i did the mod now its swapped. before cyl #4 wasnt firing and now cylinder 2 isnt firing. again i am observing this by running the bike for approximately a minute and shutting it off. during the runtime it sounds like all cylinders are firing when it first starts then it starts missing after 5 - 10 seconds.

the previous owner said he replaced the coils. after doing some research i found that he got some kind of wing wong economical coils. im going to go ahead and get the dyna 3 ohm coils. this is for a kz650...are there any other brand coils that others recommend?