TOPIC:

Hi guys!

My KZ550 LTD 1981 was running 2 years ago. Since then I took most of it appart (except for the engine); I've made a lot of maintenance on it, all by the book. Carbs are pretty good, might still need a little tweaking but nothing major; I have an aftermarket 4-1 exhaust and a custom 4-1 intake . I lifted the needle one clip, changed the pilot to a 35 if i remember correctly and drilled my main to a 94. Shimmed the valve too, made sure i put everything back correctly.

I was able to get it running and everything seemed great, even went for a little ride.
After getting hot, it started stalling. Figured out one of the ignition coils was shot, sounded like it was only running on 3 cyl. Checked the resistance and voila! one was dead. So I upgraded to Dyna Coils the 2.2 ohms. (Apparently i should've gotten the 3 Ohms. but the 2.2 should still work fine...) Again, plugged everything like it should be.

Now it will barely start!! Tested the pick up coil and resistance are in range. Checked my IC Igniter with the resistance in the manual and looks like thats the problem, but i mean how can it run even worse after I changed the coils? Could it be something else I'm missing? The Dyna coils aren't cheap and I hope I dont have to buy a new IC Igniter as well... If it is IC igniter do you guys have one to recommend?

Thanks a lot

2.2 ohm coils are definitely the ones you want with the factory ignition.

You have two ignition circuits, so you can narrow down the problem by swapping parts. But first, you have to identify exactly which plugs are not sparking. When you check for spark, you must make sure you have a path for the spark. That means, both spark plug wires for one coil must come together somehow, or they must both spark to the same piece of metal THat metal can be the engine itself). If you test it, and don't give it a path, you can damage the coils or the igniter.

IF it does end up being the igniter, you can make one pretty easily using HEI modules, but you have to locate the correct brand of modules. I'll be designing a cheaper option using discrete parts, but it will be some time before it's done.

gpzweb.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.co...ion/GPZgmHEImod.html

Thanks for the info Louhvx.
I think only one cylinder is firing at a time and it seems to change witch does fire... Now, I don't know if im ready to make my own Igniter. That being said, if I go to an aftermarket part, what should I look for since I got the Dyna coil 2.2 Ohm?

Cylinders fire in pairs. That is why there are two plug wires on each coil. When the coil fires, both plugs spark, and you must make sure they both are allowed to spark or you can do damage.

If you want to troubleshoot the problem by replacing parts, then you need the factory igniter from just about any KZ from 1980 to about 1982 or 1983. You might also be able to use igniters from the police bikes made up to about 2000.

Last I checked, Kawasaki wanted $500 for an igniter, and that was 15 years ago, so you will probably want to get one off ebay.

Making one costs about $50 in parts.

Have you cut 1/4" off each ends of the HT leads for better connections. One side firing but not the other suggests a bad connection. Had it happen to me after I gave the bike a bath and went on a ride.
Steve

So I went and bought and OEM igniter... Got it for 300cdn. I really hope that'll do it, but I'll make sure to recheck all my connections before trying to fire it up again. I'll give you guys and update in the days to come, I'm still waiting for the igniter.

Could the cause of all those electrical problems be the fact that the bike has been in a fairly humid garage for the past year and half or so?

It certainly doesn't help, but with the igniter and coils, heat and age are more of an issue. (Heat while running. That's when the internals of those parts get hot.)

How many volts at the coils?
Steve

swest wrote: How many volts at the coils?
Steve

Going to the coils or leaving? It needs to be running to get a reading no?

So I received my OEM Igniter, and checked the resistances of the pin and they dont concorde to the ones in the manual. Should I still try and install it? The connectors are correct, even the wires colour are the same.

The igniter is an active semiconductor device. Simple resistance measurements can be way off because the igniter doesn't act like a resistor. The internals of the meter being used will affect what the measurement result will be.. The manual assumes you are suing a specific, analog, meter. You probably have a modern digital meter.

Also, the manufacturer may have changed the igniter internals, even though the igniter works the same, the internal parts can be different, so any resistance measurements can be totally different.

So unless things are reading as a dead short, you will have to try it to be sure. The worst that can happen is you might blow a fuse. But if the bike doesn't at least start, don't leave it turned on too long if the coils seem to be getting hot.

Alright! So new Igniter in as well as fresh plugs, seems to run just fine now! Going for a little tour to see how it revs and all.

Thanks for the support guys!