Chesnuts54

I know haha I’m trying to attach an image and it doesn’t seem to be working!

Hello all, I’m back again! This question seems so simple but yet has me stumped. So I picked up this bike back in the fall and the headlights were blown due to a faulty voltage regulator. I’m currently trying to replace the bulbs but I can seem to find anything relatively close to the bulb I have in my hand. Maybe I’m missing something and over looking it. All the replacement bulbs I’ve discovered do not look like they would work. HELP! lol Thanks in advance!

@retro.. WE HAVE SPARK, I REPEAT… WE HAVE SPARK. It was the cdi.. I accidentally left the stator unplugged from the last time I was out going over things! I apologize for making you feel like your diagnostic skills were wrong! I went out noticed the problem, plugged it back in and away she went! Thank you so much and everyone else who stopped in to try and give some advice! Cheers🍻

It’s all good man! It happens .. I’m sure I can resell one of them. No hard feelings. At least we now know that it’s not the issue. I will replace the diode for sure. Is there anything else I’m missing? I’m just trying to figure out what things I could possibly be looking over. It’s a good idea for me to make a check list and start diagnosing again. So I think we have power going to the CDI but nothing coming out correct?(based off everything we’ve went over).

Hey there , I stepped away for a bit while I was waiting on a new cdi to come in the mail, thanks for all the help prior 🙂 . I bought a used CDI again this is the second one and my atv still does not start lol it’s safe to say that the CDI is not the problem. However I have another question. If the diode is bad in my fuse box would that prevent spark aswell? I tested continuity on my diode and I couldn’t get anything. If the diode is good then you’re only supposed to get continuity in 1 direction but I’m not sure what it means if there’s no continuity at all.

Yeah I’m not 100% sure what it is! I will have to further inspect. But I’m also wondering should I go on and try to find a CDI, since we confirmed that we’re not getting any voltage to the coil? I might order a new one just for a piece of mind instead of buying a second hand one that might now work. We also confirmed that my stator should be good? It was pulsating at around 0.230V AC or so. I also done what you told me to do with tapping the stator with a screwdriver and it didn’t work. I tried it with both of the CDI’s that I have.

@retro.. sorry for the delayed response! I’m going to be home shortly to try this out, it’s been a busy week so far! I also wanted to bring something to your attention. I found something unplugged but I’m not sure what it is and I can’t find the wire colors on the diagram. Maybe I am over looking it I don’t know lol I’ll attach a picture. Wire colors are green/yellow and black/brown.

Hey @retro! I got a good voltage reading for the first test(within spec). Then for the second one I got a resistance reading of 1.5 ohms.

So I just completed this next step and it looks like we did not record any AC voltages at all. It did not come off of 0V AC. So we can assume that the new cdi does not work? I also tried my old one as well. But like I said the old one smells like burnt plastic unlike the new one!

If you mean like the voltage would fluctuate? Then yes. Reading was constant but it went up and down a bit yes.

I didn’t find any buttons like that on my multimeter but when I just tested it on AC, I got like 0.240 AC maximum. Not sure if that’s any good or not since I didn’t have that option on the multimeter but it was in AC. Hopefully this answers something.

Okay perfect… just done this, I got about 338 ohms.

No worries that’s fine! Everyone makes mistakes and I’m still grateful to have your help. At least we got that out of the way and can move on from that! But yes still no spark!

So this is where I didn’t get the reading. But am I supposed to be getting a voltage reading when I touch 2 ground points with the ignition on? Because the green/white wire is ground correct? And also the frame being a ground(all connected). How would I get a voltage reading from 2 grounds? Also, I wanna say thanks once again for being patient and taking the time out of your day to give me some advice.

Yes, I have continuity. Just went out and double checked. I think I may have been misunderstanding you .. so when you told me to check for a voltage reading when talking about the green/white wire you meant for me to be touching the black/white contact aswell? From my understanding I thought you were telling me to measure between the ground on the frame and the green/white(ground) wire going into the CDI. However, I just went out and measured between the black/white wire and green/white and got a voltage reading of 12.65V.

Hey @retro! So I just finished completing what instructions you have given me. The continuity seems to be great everywhere but for some reason we still can’t fix the ground issue. I attached a wire on the green/white wire 2 inches away from the plug and then attached to the ground on the frame but I’m still not getting any voltage readings! I’m starting to think that the stator is the problem possibly? Could there be an internal break in the circuit? I also want to add that I do get continuity between the green/white wire and it doesn’t seem to be any breaks in the line. However, I still can’t seem to get that voltage reading! So that part is still a mystery!

Hey @retro! Sorry for leaving you hanging there I was out of town for the weekend and it’s been a busy one! I’m getting back at this later this evening. you’re right @Fishfiles.. I’m very grateful that I discovered this forum. I would be completely lost without it!

So I inspected the light blue wire and then I noticed the wire had been messed with before so I went and made a new wire and put new connectors on it and tested it again but I still read high resistance 18.5k ohms. I’ll attach some before and after pictures.

@retro so I just completed these tests, test 1 & 3 went well but 2 not so much. The second test with putting my red probe on the light blue and my black probe on a ground(with ignition off) I got 19.15k ohms … this is way too high. I also put my black probes at various locations just to make sure I was on a good ground contact.

I’m just seeing these steps! I will try them out in about a hour or so and keep you posted! I appreciate all your help! Thanks a million!

@retro so I’ve discovering the open circuit in the black/yellow wire was just my mistake. I tested for continuity but I didn’t have the sound on so It didn’t beep. I assumed the wire was broke but it isn’t. However, when putting my multimeter leads to ground and Green/White still doesn’t give me any voltage readings. I also have soldering equipment yes! But I do need to pick up some shrink tubing.

@retro I can confirm that this is the step where I do not get any voltage readings! I just went out to double check. I’ll attach an image.

Yes true, the previous owner may have changed the fuses because I didn’t but when I check the fuses they seem to be good, I also took them out and visually inspected them.

@retro I was told they were the same year, the CDI’s look identical and same color wires! I know that doesn’t mean anything but it was worth the try. Yes that is correct .. I’m going to double check now so we’re all on the same page and there is no confusion here. Give me 10 mins and I’ll give you an update. Also, yes the ATV has the fenders off and i began inspecting everything. I didn’t see anything that looked out of place except for the fact that my CDI looked a little melted(barely noticeable) and It smelt like burnt plastic, which is what made me the think the voltage reg/rec was what caused the voltage to spike. I also checked my grounds and see they were rusty and I cleaned it up real nice and still no luck. I also want to add that the guy I bought the ATV from said that the headlights worked but it seemed to me that when I got it they were blown. I assumed they fouled at the same time as the CDI burned out.

Glad to hear that! Thanks for the help. Chesnuts54 is just a username that I’ve been rocking with since like the 3rd grade haha no significance to anything really!