Spontaniously dropping 2 Cylinders?? help!

so i was riding to work this morning and stopped at a light and sat there for a min, slight revving every 30 seconds or so, well.. when i went to take off it dropped 2 pistons and lost over half power. it was like that the 2 blocks the rest of the way to work. when i pulled up to work it definantly smelled like a little gas wasn't getting burned. its done this twice before since i stored it in my friends basement when i went on vacation for 2 weeks. it ran fine for the first few days and now its doing this once a day for spells of a few min at a time

it makes me sad when she dosen't run right

could it be half my coil going in and out?

i figure its not carbs or lack of fuel cause i smell the unburned gas

help! thanks!

forgot to say that so far every time the problem has fixed itself after less than 2 miles and will just kick back in to full power and all pistons

it has never slipped into that state twice in the same trip, but then again i commute and don't go more than 10 miles at a time

:whistle:

I would suspect that you either have one coil failing or are loosing power to one coil. Your first check should be to verify that you are getting battery voltage to both coils. If that is good, then try swapping the coils to see if the problem moves to the other two cylinders. Can you determine which two cylinders are not firing?

Would check:
Spark quality;
Compression test;
Valve clearances;
Fuel level (clear tube test);
Air filter(s), fresh, clean and unobstructed;
Assure choke is fully closing.

Could also adjust carbs to slightly leaner pilot circuits.

And install brand new spark plugs.

Good Fortune!

.

yea so i started it at lunch and t was still not running right and found that 2 and 3 pipes were not heating up.

got me tools out and unpluged and repluged the coils and it was still not right ,, alas i had to get home so i rode it up the street about a mile or 2 and it suddenly kicked back on full power nearly ran out from under me

anywhy i picked up my lunch and started it again and it started right up all 4 strong and it stayed that way all the way home

i hope it just goes away on its own!! otherwise i know ts time to chk my valve clearances, and wiggle some of the *gasp* wring harness

the wiring harness on these bikes just freak me out i just pray that nothing goes wrong lol

thanks for the help!

I would be surprised if it wasn't your coils, with two cylinders cutting out.

Something else to check:

Ohm Checking Pickup(Pulsing) Coils

The pickup coils on the Kawasaki’s with the factory supplied electronic ignition can sometimes fail or become intermittent due to heat and vibration.

1.Trace back from where the pick up coils are mounted,(under a right side CD sized cover) locate and disconnect a small 4 pin connector. Using a multi-meter set on OHMS and range of 2K, check between the BLUE and BLACK wires(#1 and #4 sparkplug wires) for between 360- 540 OHMS.

2.For #2 and #3 sparkplugs the wire colors will be YELLOW and RED, again 360-540 OHMS. The 550’s,650’s & 750’s may be backwards to the Z1’s,Kz900’s,Kz1000’s & Kz1100’s.

3.If the pickup coils are suspect of failing due to heat, they can be stressed using a hair dryer without the need of the engine running.

4.A replacement set of pickup coils might be obtained from a dealer who serviced the police Kawasaki’s.

5. If replacement pickup coils are not available, your next choice would be to order a Dyna “S” electronic ignition system from www.z1enterprises.com It replaces the IC igniter with a smaller module located where the mechanical ignition advancer was mounted.

6. Checking with Kawasaki.com website has determined that the Pick up(pulsing) coils are available . The pulsing coil # is 59026-1133 and replaces the older # 1002, 1012 which were used from the MKII motors until the 2005 P24.

7.Check the small 4 pin connector that the pickup coils connect to for corrosion/loose pins too.

what's plug reading in dropped cylinders?

i haven't checked the plugs on the non running cylinders yet i suspect to be gas fouled

but heres an interesting tidbid i discovered today too

it always seems to be present in a cold state, and goes away when it heats up a little bit..

like i got back on it to ride back to work and 2 & 3 wern't werking , after about 2 miles they kicked back on again..

seems like it does alot better with the bike warmed up

dunno yet still havent taken it apart or traced the wires or checked the connectors or resistance tested the coil itself or the ignitor

is it a common thing for a coil thats on its way out to only work when its warmed up?

Perhaps the coil has small cracks where moisture get's in and is temporarily shorted out until it gets hot enough to drive it out.

Tried switching coils to see if that's the problem? What kind of sparkplug wires being used? Kawasaki? Dyna? Supression? Copper wire type? Tried new sparkplug caps?

While it might be a bad coil, am more inclined to suspect something else, such as weak spark for some other reason (such as plug wire leakage, faulty connection at coil or cap or plug, faulty cap, failing plug), poor compression (perhaps too tight valves), overly rich mixture for whatever reason (such as improper pilot adjustment, too high fuel level, imperfect choke release, clogged or obstructed air filter, etc.).

May ohm check the coil, or better yet have it checked with a genuine Kawasaki coil tester tool which assures ability to throw a sufficient spark.

Of course, a set of new Dyna coils and new Dyna solid metal core plug wires should obviate several possible present or future issues.

But would first check the other mentioned items and components.

Good Fortune!