TOPIC:

I bought a used IC Igniter off of a guy on Flee-bay and am still having issues getting resistance readings. Can someone seriously explain to me which test is which. It seems like they say Male end or Female End and from what I am seeing that doesn;t make since on some of the test. Look below. Here is what my igniter looks like. It has bullet connectors from the igniter to coils.







It says male pick-up coild. Ok I check the male pickup coil connector that goes to the pickup coils right? I get readings in the 450 range not in the Thousands range.

Now


This one says Female connector. This would be going to the Igniter would it not? How is that a Female connector. The male connector is coming from the pick-up coils.

What am I missing here? So confused it isn't even funny. Someone wanna explain to me what all ohm reading I can do with the igniter out of the bike.

Apparently someone is going to have to draw me a f'n diagram of what to test where and what reading I am supposed to get.

The first test is for Ignitor resistance. The second test involves the pickup coils. So as you posted there, the top box from the service manual, which is for the 81-82 KZ1000, is for measuring the resistance for the different circuits in the ignitor. the second Box from the same service manual is for testing the Pickup coils. OK?

All I am saying is in the second box for the test of the pick-up coils, that is not a female connection. When you disconnect from the igniter you would be testing the Male piece of the connector if I am seeing things correctly.

The only Female Connector I have on the igniter/pick-up coils system is the one shown in the picture I posted of my igniter that connects to thepick-up coils.The male connction is going to the pick-up coils not the female.

And as for this test below:



I certainly am confused.

That test is for the circuit inside the Ignitor, checking the circuit where the Pickup coils are Normally hooked up to, but with them disconnected. Testing the Ignitor circuitry.
Where you look at that test, the header above the Box with all the separate measurements are for the Ignitor. The reason for the confusion, is the tests are for the 81-82 KZ1000. Your Ignitor is older, and has different connectors. Are the Measurements the same? I don't know as I don't have the service manual for the earlier ones, but I would think they should be about the same. The Ignitions didn't change until later.

Here is a section of the 1980 KZ1000 wiring diagram from "File Base" here on KZR, upper right corner of this page.

This shows the Black/ Yellow, which is the main ground wire for the Ignitor going back to battery -, this must have a good connection. Then the Red/ Yellow is power from the Ignition and Start/ Stop Switch, this must be very close to battery voltage with all on. Then the Black and green wires are the output to trigger the Ignition coils. They will switch back and forth to ground if the Ignitor is working. These 4 wires are Not in a multiple connector, they have the bullet ends.
Then your 4 way connector, goes to the pick up coils, Black, Blue, Red, and Yellow wires. These are where the last test for the Ignitor internal circuit is measured, back to the main ground, The Black/ Yellow striped.
Got it?

Notice the part where it says "measured with the Kawasaki hand tester (57001-983)".

The reason this is important is because not all meters are the same. Yes, they do all measure resistance, and if they were all measuring simple resistors, they would give the same result.

But, an igniter's internals are not just resistors. They are active devices which don't behave like classic resistors. When a meter measures resistance, it applies a small voltage to the thing being tested. Then it measures the current through that thing. By knowing the voltage and current, the meter knows the resistance (via Ohm's law).

For simple resistors, you can use a wide range of voltages and the result will be the same resistance. However, when you measure the resistance of active devices with different voltages, you will get a wide range of different resistances.

So in order to compare active devices by measuring the resistances, you must specify that they are tested the same way, meaning they are tested with the same voltages. The only way to guarantee that is to specify which meter to do the testing with.

If you have a known good ignitor, then you might be able to compare readings with another ignitor to determine if it's bad (using the same meter). But even then, manufacturers always replace semiconductor parts in their products due to price or reliability. In that case, the components may yield different resistance results as well.

Just be aware that the ignitor may still be good even if the resitance measurements are way off. To really test it, you need to make a test rig.

By the way, in my signature, there are plans for making an igniter, if you are so inclined.

One footnote to loudhvx's comment. As the technology inside these devices improved, most of the old tests listed in the shop manuals become invalid. After spending time talking with Rick at Rick's, he said the best way to test these days is to plug it in and see if it works! The specs and tests on different generations of these units require different testing tools that most of us don't have.

I have plugged in the new (used) one and I am getting very faint spark at the plugs, not enough to run I am sure. The original one that I had wouldn't even do that. All of my test for the coils (primary and secondary are good). I have good voltage everywhere too. I think I might just have to make one of Loudhvx's and be done with it.

Thanks for all of the help. Sorry to ask so many questions but some of these test were confusing the crap outa me. lol

If your bike has the mechanical ignition advancer(behind a CD sized, right engine cover), you can build the IC Igniter Lou mentioned. Most parts except for the Aluminum mounting/heatsink plate can be bought at most electronic supply stores.

I'm thinking a piece of 1/8" or 3/16" thick Aluminum 6061 T6 or 7075 T6 will do as a heatsink.

You'll need the wire terminals(3/16" and 1/4"), the colored wires, mounting hardware(screws), heatsink compound(it aides in heat transfer), the wire insulation strippers & wire termination crimpers.

I just picked up a set of lightly used 2.2 ohm Grey Dyna Coils off of feebay will these work with my electronic system especially since I am building on of loudhvx's HEI Igniters?

I'd think the 2.2 or 3 ohm coils will work. I believe Lou mentioned previously, that having the lower resistance would not matter until high rpm's.

Also read this:

Ignition Coils And Sparkplug Wire Choices

What came with the bike, were ignition coils that even when new were marginal, add years of cooking under the tank in the stop and go traffic, and the coils will probably fail when hot.

Replacement coils can be bought at www.z1enterprises.com I believe “Emgo” is the brand. They also carry the popular Dyna 2.2 and 3 ohm coils, along with replacement sparkplug wires.

Now, you have a choice on sparkplug wires:

1.Copper plug wires with no supression caps (the best choice, but will produce audio noise on Radio’s and TV’s). Not only do the copper core wires deliver better spark, they will also deliver a much longer lifespan - carbon core wires are prone to erratic spark delivery and early breakdown, & short lifespan.

2.Copper plug wires with supression caps (a built in 5000 ohm resistor, that can sometimes fail, like what came with the bike).

3.Copper plug wires with no supression caps, but using resistor plugs(the “R” in the plug number).

4.Supression plug wires with no supression caps.

NEVER use resistor plugs combined with supression caps along with supression plug wires, as now there will be two (2) sources of resistance in the secondary windings of the ignition coils, greatly reducing the spark energy.

Another choice is the Accel 3 ohm coils, with a similar, primary(small wire)electrical connection, using ring terminals as the Dyna ignition coils do. Whatever brand of coil you go with, make sure the primary wires will clear the mounting hardware, as the spacers come awfully close, possibly blowing a fuse. Some riders have replaced the metal spacers with non conductive Nylon spacers, reducing the chance of an electrical problem.

7mm sparkplug wires will fit the stock ignition coils(if they have replaceable wires, indicated by screw off caps on the coils with ridges). The sparkplug wires fit into a port with a brass ”Stinger” that goes into the sparkplug wire or lead(the Brit’s. Canadians, and other countries call the sparkplug wires (“High Tension Leads”).

What bike are you working on? I have several good IC ignitors for the GPz1100, KZ1000 and Gpz750's.