Thanks man FINALLY someone that gets to the point and just stick to main points of info I'm tryn to find . Omg I can NOT understand how some people can make a 25 min vid of screwing in a lightbulb
I just replaced my ignition coil on a kz440 and it still didn't work. After about 1 week of troubleshooting I saw this video and found out my new ignition coil failed. This video relieved me of a huge headache. Thanks for the troubleshooting guide! 👍🏾👍🏾
Thanks for adding a real world experience. If I had a nickel for every time I've heard someone say "I just replaced the whatever with a new one, so it can't be that causing the problem", I'd be a rich man. Yes, things can be defective straight from the factory.
Gonna try on my quad that went down a week ago or so. Had spark after replacing the ignition switch. After which I simply removed and cleaned my batt. cables and terminals, placed em back on, and did not have spark anymore. A bit worried about throwing loads of money at a diagnosis, so purchased a multi meter today. No experience using one but there are luckily some informative vids on here. Thanks man !
thanks for posting this video. I am working on 78 DT400 that is giving me all kinds electrical issues. Ran last Sept. but refuses to fire now, took the spark plug out and held against the engine but no spark. Will now try what you have shown here. Thanks again.
Hey don't go throwing away your coil just yet, it could also be a bad HT wire connection with the plug, or the lead with the coil or just a bad wire. You can test this by disconnecting the HT wire and retest where the wire connects to the coil instead of the plug end (or just by pulling around a bit checking for loose connections).
My brother this is 8 years after you posted it and it still helping people out cuz it just helped me at least rule a few things out I've got ohms reading 4.2 from my coil I believe it's the primaries I was checking I go to check the secondary the way you did my meter did not change at all but then again I also tested the volts going to it nothing not sure if it's homes won't go ahead and run through both to check homes and voltage going to it so anything at all either yep just checked no ohms no volts going to it
sometimes the spark plug cap fails - the coil could well be fine - best to unscrew the cap and test that as well or test the HT lead as that can also fail
I just ran this check on my 2001 750 ACE. My secondary reading was the same as youors. I have spent way rtoo much money trying to figure this out. I will check the wires, then replace the wires or coils. Hopefully, this will fix the problem.
Awesome video. I'm rebuilding a '92 VFR750F that has no spark. I was about to blindly start replacing coils but it turns out I was testing them wrong... I'm sure one or two are bad, but this gives me an excuse to go play with tools again. This helped a lot, thanks!
NIce Work. This is something you can commit to memory. (3-5 or so primary 10-20 grand secondary) and have an fast troubleshooting step that diagnoses a major component/culprit in the no-spark scenario.
Thanks. Good stuff. I have a GSX1100G with a very annoying misfire. I notice that pots 1 and 4 run cooler, though they still run. I will check the coil serving 1 and 4 to see if I can find anything. Thanks.
+Will Myers : Will, it beat me in the end. Carbs off three times, carbs ultrasound bath-cleaned, both coils changed to the finest I could find, spare ignition controller sourced, spare crank pick-up sourced (USA), and in the end, some (like) 60 hours later, I had to mothball it. There was no point in the end, Will. It just wasn't going to smooth out, and man, what a lovely engine when it was smooth. I gave up and bought the fuel-injected 1400 Suzi. I have not looked back. A word of warning, Will. If you are considering ultrasound, if you can afford it, buy the ultrasound tank yourself and do it yourself. I know it is expensive but it is better than a half-arsed job. The ultrasound contractor sent the carbs back to me with a spacer missing... the wee yellow plastic spacer that stops the carb main jet needle riding up past the spring when the throttle is closed. They just left it out. You could imagine how long it took me to find that error. It did not make any difference in the end. It still did not smooth out. Good old-fashioned don't give a damn though (again).Be careful.
+TroyaE117 cheers gor the reply pal.. well am stumped now was going to put some £££ aside and invest in some dynocoils but now reading this think its time for a new motor.
+Will Myers Will, it just wears you down. When I bought the 1100G it was marvellous... a big smooth beast. Then it came out of storage and it was mis-firing and It just broke my heart in the end. I thought it was gummy fuel. It wasn't. It got so bad I had to abandon the bike in Northern Ireland for close to a year, and I live in Scotland. I suspect Suzuki are noted for it. It isn't the first time I have heard of it. I would sooner have my old smooth-running communist-design MZ 301 two-cycle running fine than a mis-firing 1100G. Also, Over the years I have become wary of CV carbs. You don't need them, Will.. The old slide carbs were more reliable. My Z650 Kawasaki has slide carbs, and the MZ.. I think fuel injection is the way to go. At least there is some measure of diagnostics from the CPU codes. Best, Troya.
GREAT video! My RM370 pops and snaps and won't pull under load, and I saw .5 ohms on the primary side. Double checked my meter and your method on my good running GT550 and it showed 4.5 just like you said. So now I know what the RM needs. Thanks for posting this!!!
Fyi. This only works for single coil bike. If you have 2 coils. You check the secondary by inserting the leads of the multimeter to the both of the spark plug wires. Hope that make sense.
Thank you! Brief and to the point! Your hands were not in the way, like most of these people trying to make a video. We could see what you were doing and didn't have to listen to a lot of time consuming nonsense! Excellent dude!
Good video was helpful thanks, I did the tests thought I had a rotten coil but it was the end cap not on properly make sure you check that first or you could be throwing away a good coil
finally I found somebody to know if they were done thanks man you know what your doing but call you know what you're doing with the video thank you wanted the best instructional videos I've seen tonight
Great video. I'm working on a 73 Suzuki RV125 that lost spark. Coils are available, but, extremely expensive. You probably just saved me $125.00. Thanks!
Really appreciate vid. Put over $300 bucks into my sportsman with upgraded RMSTATOR ignition changed stator/pickup coil voltage regulator used your test and it was the coil. $29 bucks but I got it free because it was still in warranty. If I'd only seen this vid. earlier. Thanks will subscribe.
+OutlandRiderz damn. I'm getting to be in the same boat as you. glad I found this video though before I started throwing money. First I need to get a multimeter >.
i know a good multimeter is necessary (and mandatory) on some levels but i prefer using my fluke automatic multimeter...if i need to technical i just switch to the other probe input on my meter
You may also use a mega ohm meter , because as a student of MMI Phoenix AZ they taught us that resistance really doesn't mean it's a good reading. But a maga meter will create an open if it is there at all
you need to test the pick up modules that operate off the crank shaft inside the engine. . i have found this is usually gone. they also trigger the fuel pump. go get a 4 psi fuel pump from your speed shop . honda fuel pump no longer available. by pass all that wiring and put your new p u coils in. its tricky
I have a ATV no spark. Coil has a positive and negative. Both have constant hot wires when key is on. Doesn't seem right. Should the negative one be grounded? Adopted someone else's nightmare.
What about a non-polarity Dynatek coil? I get 4.5-5.0 primary test, and 1. using the high tensile lead test, on both! But the bike runs on both cylinders! What am I doing wrong?
I have a 99 gz250. it does have an orange colored looking wire and the white are they both hot wires I believe the orange wire tested 10 to 11 volts and when I hit the kill switch it went to zero so I assumed that that's how they kill switch grounds the coil but what is the white wire for I'm just curious I will do the test though that you showed on the video. Thanks.
Love your vid brother. I've done everything to this motorcycle from carbs, vac lines, plugs, fuel pump, oil/oil filter. The bike starts right up and idles great, it dies upon throttle unless I spray fuel in airbox or carbs, then it will rev normal. Can a bad coil still spark just enough to idle but not rev? Any help appreciated.
Can the secondary coil be bad only on one side or would I have an electrical wiring issue. I have the 3.1 Holms but still no spark for cylinder 4 on a 1991 gsxr 750. Number 1 cylinder is getting spark and they share a coil
Hi there. Nice informative video. Thank you. I did this method on my bike which has electronic ignition. Both coils had about 18 ohms on the primary test but on the second test, both had no movement on the multimeter, it just stayed on 1.... What does this mean???
I have a motoplat electronic ignition coil for a 70's dirt bike and the primary measurement is 33.1 ohms. The secondary is open (too high), so I suspect that there is a problem with the plugs/wiring. However, is 33.1 ohms too high and an indication that the primary coil is faulty?
So the bike don’t have to be running to test this ? Just turn the key on ? I’m dealing with my rear cylinder losing spark on my 96 Honda shadow 1100ace
Thanks, man 👌🏼 I finally found the damn problem, that I've been trying to solve for a couple years, now. One of my spark wires was badly worn, not even touching the coil anymore. Cheers man👍🏼
I'm getting the 3.6 for the first test. For the second test nothing. I get 11.1 between the 2 ht leads. Does this indicate my secondary is shot? Thanks
If I have oil in the plug well and a coil that is cracked at the end under the boot can this blow the ignition fuse intermittently (the fuse is the B+ supply for the coils) thanks
hi fella.i know this is an old video but good. i have a yamaha 400xs 1981.carbs been on and off god knows how many times .my bike runs but when it gets hot it cuts out at idle🤔i checked the coils .i get4.6ohms at primary but no reading at secondary. could this be my problem 🤔
Hey I have a question, My bike manual says that the ohms should be between .18 to .26 does that mean a reading of .5 is wrong and the stator is messed? Also my ohms meter, tells me data in 00.0 form so a (.5) is over the (.18) ? please help. BIKE: 2007 yamaha r6.
I'm not getting any readings. I set the multimeter to ohms and it just shows a '1' no matter where i connect it to. I checked the spark plug boot method. I didn't connect to the pigtail since its buried but I did test the ignition coil prongs and the cables that go to it. Nothing. I do get readings when i switch the meter to DCV, @ 35 something.
That depends on the bike. It's wiring diagram will show you whether or not it does. For my 81gn400, the magneto runs the headlight, so it needs to be running for it to work. The turning signals and brake lights are run off the battery though which doesn't need the engine running, but the ignition turned on.
If your magneto is fucked could that also read the ignition coil is fucked? I get 4.5ohms on the pig tails but nothing when connected to the coil. I've recently found out that the magneto is screwed and that's why im not getting a spark. Just wondering if the coil is bad or it's cause of the magneto. Thanks.
Still certain that it's one of the coil packs on my 2004 zzr-600. Just not sure how to test it properly. Watched your video and it was somewhat helpful, however, this bike has 2 coil packs. One for 1and 4 the other for 2 and 3. I Believe it's just one of the packs that is going bad because the bike idles real bad at low rpm, like it wants to stall. Then once I get it up to above 4 grand it revs nicely. I checked the spark from both coils and it seems that one of the coil packs is not producing enough spark, if any. Changed the plugs, cleaned carbs, used seafoam. Still the same. I just need to know how to properly check the coils before purchasing a new one. Any help would be great. Thanks.
am going threw the same buddy . my mate suspects 1 of the coils. same too new plugs, cleaned an balanced carbs today, new air filter. going to do this test tomorrow night.
I’m going through this with my 2001 FZ1 right now. Symptoms identical to yours idle sounds like a twin or triple it’s rough and lumpy, and the water spray test on the 4 exhaust headers shows cylinder #1 not as hot as the others. The bike seems to run ok at cruising rpm although acceleration might not be exactly right you know it’s hard to tell sometimes... Hmmm. Like your zzr600, the FZ1 has two double coils. My spark plug caps are removable and were showing excessive resistances. I was referenceing the factory service manual online and following the procedures to check resistances and it specifies to remove the spark plug caps and check the resistance between the two spark plug wires to get the secondary resistance. If you don’t remove the plug boots the resistances, as mentioned by another commenter, are much higher as the FZ1 boots spec at 10k ohm resistance so that adds 20k ohms to your reading which for the FZ1 is 12k-18k ohms. So doing it that way, the resistance was 35k ohms which if you subtract the boot 10k eack(20k total between two boots) resistances it comes out at 15k ohms which is what I got with the boots removed so something to keep in mind. I am going to experiment with disassembling my FZ1 spark plug boots and cleaning the spring and resistor and threaded end and clips to see if I can minimize the plug boot resistances which would produce the healthiest spark and that would be good! I bought a used coil and wires and the bike idles much better. Unfortunately, the much lower mileage used coil has much higher plug boot resistances than my 100K mile original coil boots. I’ll try the disassemble clean to address that but right now it’s idling better and the #1 cylinder exhaust header pipe water spray test is showing it as hot as the others so preliminary assessment is it was something with that coil and wires.
1983 Shadow 500. Found my left rear spark plug was not firing. Took the coil out. Got 2.5 ohms on the primary side. Got no ohm reading on either spark plug part of the coil as you shown on the vid. Now I know one side was working ( I saw the sparks ) but the other wasn't. So why am I having no ohms on both sides when doing a reading ?
good video ,we all know the pain I am currently going to an elec problem on my Kawasaki dirt bike no spark coming from the bike , so I orderd a new coil and if that dosnt fix it I might need a magneto YIKES!!!
Do not ignore that most bikes use a resistive spark plug cap. Typically 5k ohms. This probably explains why you had roughly 15k on the secondary, as you measured it in series with the cap. Also to where you said "there's a break in our secondary coil somewhere and we definitely need to replace it" I have to interrupt. That's not true 90% of the time. It's most often a broken cap resistor, which involves a simple and cheap replacement of the S.P. cap. The second most likely thing to happen is corroded HT wires. They corrode where they mate with the screw in the S.P. cap and also at the coil mating surface IF it's not fixed and factory sealed. The rubber boot becomes brittle and allows moisture to enter it, as years go by. The best way to test your coils, is to perform an actual electrodynamic test on it. I know sounds very advanced and fancy to you, who haven't heard about it before, but it's actually very simple. What you do, is you simulate the point's and condenser principal, on your work bench. Figure out the rated voltage of your machine (typically 6V,DC or 12V,DC). Then feed it to the coil and don't forget the capacitor! Just find a capacitor from any machine, that was designed to act as an ignition capacitor. If you don't have it, go find, or very cheaply buy one that isn't polarity sensitive (electrolytic), has a capacity of at least 0.2µf and can withstand 600V. If you aren't familiar with the old points and condenser setup, I will tell you; that it's very easy to simulate and anyone can do it and understand the diagram, which you can find anywhere. Just tap a loose wire, to simulate the opening and closing contacts (breaker point). At each moment you break contact (release the wire), your HT lead(s) should spark, if the coil is any good. Just remember to place them very close to ground. As close as a spark plug gap typically is. Ultimately you will just perform the test with the spark plug(s) connected. Just make sure their metal body touches ground. This definitely also works on machines with electronic ignition, as the coil remains to rely on the same principal 95% of the time, or more. On some self generating systems however (not everyone, depending upon design), it can be impossible to perform the test, due to a variety of design limitations, but this test is good for almost every system, which relies on a battery for sparking. The ohmic test we see in the video, is only solely reliable if you have the particular coil's ohmic specifications on hand. You will also need a name-brand meter, which must include low resistance probes and probe wires. Cheap meters come with wires plus probes, of at least one ohm sometimes, and their accuracy is somewhat questionable too. This becomes an issue at tasks like this exact one - when dealing with low resistance, where a little change in resistance, has relatively dramatic distortion on the test result. Best of Luck, Ragnar W. Eliansson.
I ran into a contraction with my bike. I have spark on both sides of my yamaha 650 v star but my test for the secondary coil on both ignition coils doesn't read anything. It's not 0.00 but open lead. This doesn't make sense to me, as these would have to be working in order for me to get spark right?
Would it be unwise to swap out spark plug wire before spending on a new coil? Just sayin, is it not impossible that they go bad as well, or would a good coil pass this test regardless of the plug wire?
You need to make sure this is how you check your own bike. This is NOT how you check for a 85 Honda shadow! Just make sure you look a your repair manual first. You'll be buying coils you don't need.
I guess my multimeter is not the same. Works as you show for primary - My CB360 coils both 4.7. But secondary direct to plug wire the meter at 20K stays at "1". My bike has spark so it should show 14 omhs. The meter is to crappy.
![HOW TO TEST A STATOR / WHAT IS A STATOR [step by step] GY6](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VoXYzQ61tRM/mqdefault.jpg)
excellent and to the point. Watched 6 other videos that took 10 -15 minutes to explain and it was still unclear. 10 STARS!!!!
An excellent video from a true expert. Thanks for making this quick, to the point and informative.
Thanks man FINALLY someone that gets to the point and just stick to main points of info I'm tryn to find . Omg I can NOT understand how some people can make a 25 min vid of screwing in a lightbulb
😂🤣
I just replaced my ignition coil on a kz440 and it still didn't work. After about 1 week of troubleshooting I saw this video and found out my new ignition coil failed. This video relieved me of a huge headache. Thanks for the troubleshooting guide! 👍🏾👍🏾
Amirali Mohamed I have a 79 Kz400 I'm working on 👌
Thanks for adding a real world experience. If I had a nickel for every time I've heard someone say "I just replaced the whatever with a new one, so it can't be that causing the problem", I'd be a rich man. Yes, things can be defective straight from the factory.
Thank you, I followed that and was able to verify my Lucas 6v Coils in as long as it took you to so clearly demonstrate the process.
This was great! Short, simple and to the point! Thanks for putting this out. This will help as I restore my 1980 CB750 on my channel!
I was lucky, this was my first vid. It's all I needed. Thank you from Western Australia.
Gonna try on my quad that went down a week ago or so. Had spark after replacing the ignition switch. After which I simply removed and cleaned my batt. cables and terminals, placed em back on, and did not have spark anymore. A bit worried about throwing loads of money at a diagnosis, so purchased a multi meter today. No experience using one but there are luckily some informative vids on here. Thanks man !
thanks for posting this video. I am working on 78 DT400 that is giving me all kinds electrical issues. Ran last Sept. but refuses to fire now, took the spark plug out and held against the engine but no spark. Will now try what you have shown here. Thanks again.
Hey don't go throwing away your coil just yet, it could also be a bad HT wire connection with the plug, or the lead with the coil or just a bad wire. You can test this by disconnecting the HT wire and retest where the wire connects to the coil instead of the plug end (or just by pulling around a bit checking for loose connections).
My brother this is 8 years after you posted it and it still helping people out cuz it just helped me at least rule a few things out I've got ohms reading 4.2 from my coil I believe it's the primaries I was checking I go to check the secondary the way you did my meter did not change at all but then again I also tested the volts going to it nothing not sure if it's homes won't go ahead and run through both to check homes and voltage going to it so anything at all either yep just checked no ohms no volts going to it
sometimes the spark plug cap fails - the coil could well be fine - best to unscrew the cap and test that as well or test the HT lead as that can also fail
I just ran this check on my 2001 750 ACE. My secondary reading was the same as youors. I have spent way rtoo much money trying to figure this out. I will check the wires, then replace the wires or coils. Hopefully, this will fix the problem.
Awesome video. I'm rebuilding a '92 VFR750F that has no spark. I was about to blindly start replacing coils but it turns out I was testing them wrong... I'm sure one or two are bad, but this gives me an excuse to go play with tools again. This helped a lot, thanks!
NIce Work. This is something you can commit to memory. (3-5 or so primary 10-20 grand secondary) and have an fast troubleshooting step that diagnoses a major component/culprit in the no-spark scenario.
Thank you .. nice to have someone talk English and don't rattle on about a load of crap that makes no sense or got nothing to do with the subject
Short and straight to the point, beautiful vid
Thanks. Good stuff. I have a GSX1100G with a very annoying misfire. I notice that pots 1 and 4 run cooler, though they still run. I will check the coil serving 1 and 4 to see if I can find anything. Thanks.
too the nail .....exact same problem.. in a very simler engine as yours, did you ever fix the problem ....know its a long shot but worth a try
+Will Myers : Will, it beat me in the end. Carbs off three times, carbs ultrasound bath-cleaned, both coils changed to the finest I could find, spare ignition controller sourced, spare crank pick-up sourced (USA), and in the end, some (like) 60 hours later, I had to mothball it. There was no point in the end, Will. It just wasn't going to smooth out, and man, what a lovely engine when it was smooth. I gave up and bought the fuel-injected 1400 Suzi. I have not looked back. A word of warning, Will. If you are considering ultrasound, if you can afford it, buy the ultrasound tank yourself and do it yourself. I know it is expensive but it is better than a half-arsed job. The ultrasound contractor sent the carbs back to me with a spacer missing... the wee yellow plastic spacer that stops the carb main jet needle riding up past the spring when the throttle is closed. They just left it out. You could imagine how long it took me to find that error. It did not make any difference in the end. It still did not smooth out. Good old-fashioned don't give a damn though (again).Be careful.
+TroyaE117 cheers gor the reply pal.. well am stumped now was going to put some £££ aside and invest in some dynocoils but now reading this think its time for a new motor.
+Will Myers Will, it just wears you down. When I bought the 1100G it was marvellous... a big smooth beast. Then it came out of storage and it was mis-firing and It just broke my heart in the end. I thought it was gummy fuel. It wasn't. It got so bad I had to abandon the bike in Northern Ireland for close to a year, and I live in Scotland. I suspect Suzuki are noted for it. It isn't the first time I have heard of it. I would sooner have my old smooth-running communist-design MZ 301 two-cycle running fine than a mis-firing 1100G. Also, Over the years I have become wary of CV carbs. You don't need them, Will.. The old slide carbs were more reliable. My Z650 Kawasaki has slide carbs, and the MZ.. I think fuel injection is the way to go. At least there is some measure of diagnostics from the CPU codes. Best, Troya.
Great video, i have a Cagiva WMX 500 no spark and wanted to check coil to not just parts change because they are impossible to find!
GREAT video! My RM370 pops and snaps and won't pull under load, and I saw .5 ohms on the primary side. Double checked my meter and your method on my good running GT550 and it showed 4.5 just like you said. So now I know what the RM needs. Thanks for posting this!!!
Simple but well shown I'm off to check mine as I have all the symptoms of a bad coil. Thanks
Seeing what a non working coil reads compared to a fully functioning one is very helpful, will be checking my own bike for the same problem.
It's ppl like you that make the world turn. Thx bud.
Cgreat video. Please put up more, you have a great explanation of the problem I’m having
Fyi. This only works for single coil bike. If you have 2 coils. You check the secondary by inserting the leads of the multimeter to the both of the spark plug wires. Hope that make sense.
Please ..can you be more specific. I fdnt follow you.
Awesome video! Searched through about 20 videos for what I thought would be a simple answer to find before I found this, finally!
Thanks for the video. Confirmed what I was reading on my coil. Strange coincidence that I am working on the same model CL360!
ha ha, I own a CB360, but I needed to know this stuff for a 6v single coil 1958 Triumph
Thanks for the video and i agree with you final comment. Trying to get my 84 125 RM running. You get my Thumbs up 8)
Thank you! Brief and to the point! Your hands were not in the way, like most of these people trying to make a video. We could see what you were doing and didn't have to listen to a lot of time consuming nonsense! Excellent dude!
Thanks , best vid yet on coils , nice back ground music !
nice short price and to the point - you are the man !! nice work.
Good video was helpful thanks, I did the tests thought I had a rotten coil but it was the end cap not on properly make sure you check that first or you could be throwing away a good coil
finally I found somebody to know if they were done thanks man you know what your doing but call you know what you're doing with the video thank you wanted the best instructional videos I've seen tonight
Great video. I'm working on a 73 Suzuki RV125 that lost spark. Coils are available, but, extremely expensive. You probably just saved me $125.00.
Thanks!
Well done! about the fourth or fifth vid I've watch professing to show this. First one with all the details. THANKS!!!
Really appreciate vid. Put over $300 bucks into my sportsman with upgraded RMSTATOR ignition changed stator/pickup coil voltage regulator used your test and it was the coil. $29 bucks but I got it free because it was still in warranty. If I'd only seen this vid. earlier. Thanks will subscribe.
+OutlandRiderz damn. I'm getting to be in the same boat as you. glad I found this video though before I started throwing money. First I need to get a multimeter >.
i know a good multimeter is necessary (and mandatory) on some levels but i prefer using my fluke automatic multimeter...if i need to technical i just switch to the other probe input on my meter
Thank you sir , will check my coils on the cb360 cause I have no spark on either side.
Great work, thanks. Not the coil, but led me to test the plug wires.....
Best video out there super detailed and quick. Thank you
You may also use a mega ohm meter , because as a student of MMI Phoenix AZ they taught us that resistance really doesn't mean it's a good reading. But a maga meter will create an open if it is there at all
ECM controlled coils have a 4 wire plug. Would you know about voltages or resistance on which pin to check ?
It could have been the line between the coil and the spark plug cap.
wow you nailed it right quick! well done! some just guess, you made it easy! thanks!
you need to test the pick up modules that operate off the crank shaft inside the engine. . i have found this is usually gone. they also trigger the fuel pump. go get a 4 psi fuel pump from your speed shop . honda fuel pump no longer available. by pass all that wiring and put your new p u coils in. its tricky
I did this with a old needle ohm meter. Just looking for an open circuit and voala ... Secondary had no bounce at all... Thanks!
Thanks Man !!! I just checked it on My ct 90 the coil is good ! I think it is the condenser .
Keep up the great vids !
Can a coil work sometimes and then not sometimes
I've Replacement my stater my ignition coil and the CDI box and still have no spark?
I have a ATV no spark. Coil has a positive and negative. Both have constant hot wires when key is on. Doesn't seem right. Should the negative one be grounded? Adopted someone else's nightmare.
Is there supposed to be continuity between the two leads?
Very well explained for newer bike owners thank you
I would recommend testing the secondary value directly from the coil tower rather than the plug wire connection. I had a failed plug wire connector.
What about a non-polarity Dynatek coil? I get 4.5-5.0 primary test, and 1. using the high tensile lead test, on both! But the bike runs on both cylinders! What am I doing wrong?
Outstanding video. Awesome background music.
I have a 99 gz250. it does have an orange colored looking wire and the white are they both hot wires I believe the orange wire tested 10 to 11 volts and when I hit the kill switch it went to zero so I assumed that that's how they kill switch grounds the coil but what is the white wire for I'm just curious I will do the test though that you showed on the video. Thanks.
great clean explanation with no added BS
Love your vid brother. I've done everything to this motorcycle from carbs, vac lines, plugs, fuel pump, oil/oil filter. The bike starts right up and idles great, it dies upon throttle unless I spray fuel in airbox or carbs, then it will rev normal. Can a bad coil still spark just enough to idle but not rev? Any help appreciated.
Can you do a video on how to test a CDI box??
thanks for this one. saved me a ton of hassle
My pig tail only has 1 wire going into the coil. What do I do. ? Thanks
awesome to the point , showed multi meter settings great vid
Can the secondary coil be bad only on one side or would I have an electrical wiring issue. I have the 3.1 Holms but still no spark for cylinder 4 on a 1991 gsxr 750. Number 1 cylinder is getting spark and they share a coil
The only problem I can't see where you connected the other lead , off the camera shot ?
Hi there. Nice informative video. Thank you. I did this method on my bike which has electronic ignition. Both coils had about 18 ohms on the primary test but on the second test, both had no movement on the multimeter, it just stayed on 1.... What does this mean???
I have a motoplat electronic ignition coil for a 70's dirt bike and the primary measurement is 33.1 ohms. The secondary is open (too high), so I suspect that there is a problem with the plugs/wiring. However, is 33.1 ohms too high and an indication that the primary coil is faulty?
So the bike don’t have to be running to test this ? Just turn the key on ? I’m dealing with my rear cylinder losing spark on my 96 Honda shadow 1100ace
My ignition coil is fine but I still have no spark, any idea what the problem could be?
Thanks, man 👌🏼 I finally found the damn problem, that I've been trying to solve for a couple years, now. One of my spark wires was badly worn, not even touching the coil anymore. Cheers man👍🏼
how many ACV. will the coil need to make the spark plug to spark or have a spark???
I'm getting the 3.6 for the first test. For the second test nothing. I get 11.1 between the 2 ht leads. Does this indicate my secondary is shot? Thanks
Excellent video...professional made...just to the point. Big tks.
If I have oil in the plug well and a coil that is cracked at the end under the boot can this blow the ignition fuse intermittently (the fuse is the B+ supply for the coils)
thanks
Will a weak coil cause my burgman 400 to miss when idling about 1500-2000 rpm?
Thanks! Pretty sure the one in my bike has gone bad based on this, I've got no continuity at all from the cap to either of the coil leads.
hi...is there a way to test resistor in plug boot that may be bad..or rust in contacks in boot...thanks ...Rick
How do you test a TC 100 Suzuki 1973 because it only has one lead to the coil
Is the secondary coil just like the spark plug boot?
hi fella.i know this is an old video but good. i have a yamaha 400xs 1981.carbs been on and off god knows how many times .my bike runs but when it gets hot it cuts out at idle🤔i checked the coils .i get4.6ohms at primary but no reading at secondary. could this be my problem 🤔
great video for testing single coil. What about testing a duel coil?
thanks for your time .thats really good things to get my life and experience thanx
I NEED HELP WITH A KATANA 600F GSX SUZUKI 92 MODEL NEW COILS WIRING HARNESS AND CDI BOX BUT NO POWER TO CDI NO SPARK
My ignition coil earth wire melts when I try to turn over from electric start ... If I kick start it's fine .. do I replace full coil or just HT lead
Hey I have a question, My bike manual says that the ohms should be between .18 to .26 does that mean a reading of .5 is wrong and the stator is messed? Also my ohms meter, tells me data in 00.0 form so a (.5) is over the (.18) ? please help. BIKE: 2007 yamaha r6.
I have a 2008 CX50 Jr. Does any one know how to test the ignition coil. Theres 3 metal points comming from the clip. The clip to the coil.
I'm not getting any readings. I set the multimeter to ohms and it just shows a '1' no matter where i connect it to. I checked the spark plug boot method. I didn't connect to the pigtail since its buried but I did test the ignition coil prongs and the cables that go to it. Nothing. I do get readings when i switch the meter to DCV, @ 35 something.
Hi having a no spark issue, coil reads low.voltage during cranking at 130 should be 200, what could cause this?
A question for you, on the old 6 volt bikes does the engine need to be running inorder for the lights, horn, signals to work? Cheers
That depends on the bike. It's wiring diagram will show you whether or not it does. For my 81gn400, the magneto runs the headlight, so it needs to be running for it to work. The turning signals and brake lights are run off the battery though which doesn't need the engine running, but the ignition turned on.
Good video 👍 now I know how to test my coil
I got new ignition coils on the way for my bike hope it runs
So witch coil DCI or loop was replace got the same similar readings with a motor bike.
If your magneto is fucked could that also read the ignition coil is fucked? I get 4.5ohms on the pig tails but nothing when connected to the coil. I've recently found out that the magneto is screwed and that's why im not getting a spark. Just wondering if the coil is bad or it's cause of the magneto. Thanks.
Still certain that it's one of the coil packs on my 2004 zzr-600. Just not sure how to test it properly. Watched your video and it was somewhat helpful, however, this bike has 2 coil packs. One for 1and 4 the other for 2 and 3. I Believe it's just one of the packs that is going bad because the bike idles real bad at low rpm, like it wants to stall. Then once I get it up to above 4 grand it revs nicely. I checked the spark from both coils and it seems that one of the coil packs is not producing enough spark, if any. Changed the plugs, cleaned carbs, used seafoam. Still the same. I just need to know how to properly check the coils before purchasing a new one. Any help would be great. Thanks.
am going threw the same buddy . my mate suspects 1 of the coils. same too new plugs, cleaned an balanced carbs today, new air filter. going to do this test tomorrow night.
I’m going through this with my 2001 FZ1 right now. Symptoms identical to yours idle sounds like a twin or triple it’s rough and lumpy, and the water spray test on the 4 exhaust headers shows cylinder #1 not as hot as the others. The bike seems to run ok at cruising rpm although acceleration might not be exactly right you know it’s hard to tell sometimes... Hmmm. Like your zzr600, the FZ1 has two double coils. My spark plug caps are removable and were showing excessive resistances. I was referenceing the factory service manual online and following the procedures to check resistances and it specifies to remove the spark plug caps and check the resistance between the two spark plug wires to get the secondary resistance. If you don’t remove the plug boots the resistances, as mentioned by another commenter, are much higher as the FZ1 boots spec at 10k ohm resistance so that adds 20k ohms to your reading which for the FZ1 is 12k-18k ohms. So doing it that way, the resistance was 35k ohms which if you subtract the boot 10k eack(20k total between two boots) resistances it comes out at 15k ohms which is what I got with the boots removed so something to keep in mind. I am going to experiment with disassembling my FZ1 spark plug boots and cleaning the spring and resistor and threaded end and clips to see if I can minimize the plug boot resistances which would produce the healthiest spark and that would be good! I bought a used coil and wires and the bike idles much better. Unfortunately, the much lower mileage used coil has much higher plug boot resistances than my 100K mile original coil boots. I’ll try the disassemble clean to address that but right now it’s idling better and the #1 cylinder exhaust header pipe water spray test is showing it as hot as the others so preliminary assessment is it was something with that coil and wires.
1983 Shadow 500. Found my left rear spark plug was not firing. Took the coil out. Got 2.5 ohms on the primary side. Got no ohm reading on either spark plug part of the coil as you shown on the vid. Now I know one side was working ( I saw the sparks ) but the other wasn't. So why am I having no ohms on both sides when doing a reading ?
The secondary test won't work on some coil systems, but the primary test will work on all.
good video ,we all know the pain I am currently going to an elec problem on my Kawasaki dirt bike no spark coming from the bike , so I orderd a new coil and if that dosnt fix it I might need a magneto YIKES!!!
Do not ignore that most bikes use a resistive spark plug cap. Typically 5k ohms. This probably explains why you had roughly 15k on the secondary, as you measured it in series with the cap.
Also to where you said "there's a break in our secondary coil somewhere and we definitely need to replace it" I have to interrupt. That's not true 90% of the time. It's most often a broken cap resistor, which involves a simple and cheap replacement of the S.P. cap. The second most likely thing to happen is corroded HT wires. They corrode where they mate with the screw in the S.P. cap and also at the coil mating surface IF it's not fixed and factory sealed. The rubber boot becomes brittle and allows moisture to enter it, as years go by.
The best way to test your coils, is to perform an actual electrodynamic test on it. I know sounds very advanced and fancy to you, who haven't heard about it before, but it's actually very simple. What you do, is you simulate the point's and condenser principal, on your work bench. Figure out the rated voltage of your machine (typically 6V,DC or 12V,DC). Then feed it to the coil and don't forget the capacitor! Just find a capacitor from any machine, that was designed to act as an ignition capacitor. If you don't have it, go find, or very cheaply buy one that isn't polarity sensitive (electrolytic), has a capacity of at least 0.2µf and can withstand 600V.
If you aren't familiar with the old points and condenser setup, I will tell you; that it's very easy to simulate and anyone can do it and understand the diagram, which you can find anywhere. Just tap a loose wire, to simulate the opening and closing contacts (breaker point). At each moment you break contact (release the wire), your HT lead(s) should spark, if the coil is any good. Just remember to place them very close to ground. As close as a spark plug gap typically is. Ultimately you will just perform the test with the spark plug(s) connected. Just make sure their metal body touches ground. This definitely also works on machines with electronic ignition, as the coil remains to rely on the same principal 95% of the time, or more.
On some self generating systems however (not everyone, depending upon design), it can be impossible to perform the test, due to a variety of design limitations, but this test is good for almost every system, which relies on a battery for sparking.
The ohmic test we see in the video, is only solely reliable if you have the particular coil's ohmic specifications on hand. You will also need a name-brand meter, which must include low resistance probes and probe wires. Cheap meters come with wires plus probes, of at least one ohm sometimes, and their accuracy is somewhat questionable too. This becomes an issue at tasks like this exact one - when dealing with low resistance, where a little change in resistance, has relatively dramatic distortion on the test result.
Best of Luck, Ragnar W. Eliansson.
Jerkwaad make a video about what you're saying
Ugh. Please DONT make a video.
I ran into a contraction with my bike. I have spark on both sides of my yamaha 650 v star but my test for the secondary coil on both ignition coils doesn't read anything. It's not 0.00 but open lead. This doesn't make sense to me, as these would have to be working in order for me to get spark right?
Would it be unwise to swap out spark plug wire before spending on a new coil? Just sayin, is it not impossible that they go bad as well, or would a good coil pass this test regardless of the plug wire?
You need to make sure this is how you check your own bike. This is NOT how you check for a 85 Honda shadow! Just make sure you look a your repair manual first. You'll be buying coils you don't need.
Have a no spark so I checked both my secondary windings are bad. At least I know now
I guess my multimeter is not the same. Works as you show for primary - My CB360 coils both 4.7. But secondary direct to plug wire the meter at 20K stays at "1". My bike has spark so it should show 14 omhs. The meter is to crappy.