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Jpsbgt

89 TRX350D No Spark ?

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I started it up last week and moved it over to my shop. As it was idling I went inside to get something and it just stopped. I tried to restart it with no luck. Pulled plug and found no spark at all. Tried another cdi with no luck. Was hoping someone could point me the right direction..thanks..Jack 

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Welcome Jack, Lots of great help available here.

First thing to do is check all connections in harness to make sure you have clean contact and make sure your ground connections are good and check your fuses.

If you have a multimeter and wiring diagram you can check for continuity throughout and battery voltage at your switches.

A shop manual is very helpful too, if you dont have one they are available on this site.

There are others here that will be able to walk you through testing of all components better than I but the items I mentioned would be a real good place to start.

If you come across a bad component dont buy the cheap china junk form e-bay or amazon, buy OEM parts

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has a good strong battery, no signs of rodent damage (chewed wires) no wire harness hacks ? and a fresh spark plug ? be sure to post some pictures when you get a chance. 

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Thanks for your suggestions. This ATV has never been screwed with. This same situation appeared a year ago. I replaced the cdi with another one and it fixed the problem. During the last few days I removed all the plastic, what a job , I think I removed like 100 screws ? With ignition switch on I have neutral & Oil light and head & tail lights. Bought a replacement cdi from a Honda dealership in WA state. Part came from respected aftermarket company that reengineered the original Shinden part. Installed it with no success. I have the manual for reference...appreciate your input fellas.

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Hi: Have replaced the spark plug with a new one?

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Yes I checked the plug ! I removed the coil yesterday and determined it was dead. Located an original Honda coil from Partsilla.com . Hopefully that will correct the no spark. While waiting for the new coil I will replace the fuel filter, adjust rear brake and fix the stuck choke cable.

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Following up on the no spark issue. I reinstalled the original cdi this morning and checked for power at the white/black wire, yes I have power there. This is a 89 Forman that has 6 wires going to the cdi. I also now hear the fuel pump pump for a moment when I turn on the key. But still have no spark at plug. I read that there is a fuse between the kill switch and key switch. Can anyone tell me exactly where this fuse is located ? 

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There is no fuse between the kill switch and ignition switch. You can test the kill switch circuit with a multimeter by unplugging the two-wire plug from the CDI and measuring for battery voltage on the Black/White stripe wire in that harness plug. Put your black meter lead on a clean frame ground and poke your red meter lead into the Bl/W connector in the two-wire CDI harness plug. The Black/White wire should measure battery voltage with the ignition switch on and the kill switch in the "Run" position. Then switch the kill switch to the Off position, there should be no voltage on the Bl/W wire.

 

While you have that two-wire harness plug unplugged from the CDI, you can move your black meter lead from frame ground to the Light Green/Red stripe wire in that plug.... and with the transmission in neutral the Lg/R wire should provide a ground for your red meter lead that is poked into the BL/W wire and you should again measure battery voltage across those two wires. If you shift the trans out of neutral, voltage should disappear across those two wires. Attached is the wiring diagram for reference.

 

Let us know how that goes.

 

wiring-after-87.png

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Check all of the bullet connectors on the wiring harnesses in case there is a corroded one, or a broken one somewhere. Look for anything that may have been tampered with too. Weird story.... I found a neutral light diode was missing on a TRX350 that I worked on a few years ago. There was no spark and while looking the harness connectors over I noticed that the neutral light wires had been cut. Turns out the farmer that owned that Foreman had cut the diode out of that harness thinking that it must be a fuse of some sort. I replaced that sub-harness with a used one and the motor fired right up.

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I appreciate your suggestions, checked for power at the white/black cdi connector and have power there. But still no spark.

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You mentioned that the coil was dead and you had ordered one... did you get a good OEM ignition coil yet?

 

Other tests you can perform with the CDI unplugged:

  • Check for AC voltage being produced on the Yellow wire in the CDI harness connector (multimeter mode on AC volts, Red lead on Yellow, Black lead on Green/White) while cranking the motor over with the starter with the spark plug out.
  • Check resistance of the Pulse Generator. multimeter mode on Resistance, Red lead on the Blue/Yellow wire, Black lead on the Green/White wire. It should measure between 300 Ohms and 360 Ohms. If you have a Peak Voltage adapter you can test the output of the Pulse Gen while cranking the motor over. Meter on DC volts, PVA inputs connected to the Blue/Yellow wire & Green/White wire, Meter leads on the PVA outputs. With a PVA you should see a minimum of .7 volts DC. If you do not have a PVA, but have a Fluke 87 meter (or other high quality equivalent) you can set the mode to AC volts, enable the Min/Max capture feature and see the pulse voltage peak produced while cranking the motor. Minimum is .7 volts AC in that case.
  • Ignition coil primary windings resistance should measure .1-.2 Ohms. Unplug the two wires from the coil, meter on resistance mode, Red lead on the coil positive (where the Black/Yellow wire connects), Red lead on the negative (where the Green wire connects).
  • Ignition coil secondary windings resistance should measure between 7.5k Ohms & 10.8k Ohms with the spark plug cap installed on the plug wire. Meter on resistance (x 1000 unless your meter is auto-ranging), Red lead poked into the end of the spark plug cap, Black connected to negative (where the Green wire plugs in).

Let us know what you discover.

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I encourage you @Jpsbgt to provide clear responses as we go along. For instance, saying you found the coil dead, or oil light on doesn’t give enough information to help diagnostics. 

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I bought a new oem Honda coil. After installing it still no spark. Bought a aftermarket cdi from my local Honda dealership. Not a Chinese part but one from a USA firm that is known to make reliable components. After installing, no spark. I have checked all fuses and cleaned the grounds that I can locate. I appreciate everyone’s input but I just don’t have the experience to perform the test explained by Retro. Can you tell me exactly where is the pulse generator ?

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You need the service manual.

download the service manual from the link in my signature block below.

if you’re like me i have to have a printed copy. I bought one off fleabay.

the pulse generator leads can be accessed by pulling the right side cover 

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Yeah, the pulse gen is inside the left side motor cover along with the alternator. You can check the Pulse gen windings at the CDI harness connector. With the ignition off, unplug the CDI and measure resistance through the pulse gen with your multimeter leads on the Blue/Yellow & Green/White wires in the CDI harness connector as explained above.

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Thanks ! Can you explain how to test kill switch ? With key on, in neutral, I have power at cdi plug but when I push kill switch in either direction it doesn’t kill the power at the cdi plug ? Bad kill switch ? 

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Well, if there is battery voltage between the Black/White stripe wire and the Green/White stripe wire at the CDI connector then it's in your favor, the ignition is armed for spark. So the reason for no spark will be found elsewhere.

 

To test the kill switch out of circuit you can unplug the handlebar switches assembly from the main harness and check for continuity between the Black/Green stripe and Black/White stripe wires in the switches connector, while sliding the kill switch from Off to Run position. See the attachment.

 

How did the Pulse generator resistance test go?

 

switches.png

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The Blue/Yellow pulse generator lead and Green/White ground wire are shown to the left in the first picture; the three Yellow stator wires are next to them.
 

To the right should be your Neutral (Light green/Red), Reverse and Oil Sensor (Blue) wires
 

The second picture shows the fuse box and a fifth fuse (30A?) that looks like it is forward of the battery.

 

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Edited by Goober

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15 hours ago, Jpsbgt said:

Thanks ! Can you explain how to test kill switch ? With key on, in neutral, I have power at cdi plug but when I push kill switch in either direction it doesn’t kill the power at the cdi plug ? Bad kill switch ? 

You’re not looking for the right thing. Start with the resistance checks of the ignition components as Retro said. 
do you have a multimeter?

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I finally decided to take it to my local Honda dealership for repair. Loose connection in the cdi harness front right side directly behind the module. $46.00 and a beautiful drive up to enterprise Oregon and back. I appreciate everyone’s input and am disappointed we all could not figure it ourselves. But I did learn a lot just by disassembling everything and I did learn where everything is located..Jack 

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I am surprised two ways , first no one mentioned to disconnect , clean and dielectric grease every connector when an electrical problem comes around and second , amazed that a dealership worked on a 89 model , usually anything past 10 years and they won't mess with it 

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I finally decided to just take it to the dealer. After three weeks poking around and buying a few components I called it quits. Learned a lot underneath. Dealership has been in operation since 1969 so they have plenty of experience with these Forman’s. This is cattle and ranch country. The solid axel allows Elk hunters to bring in much heavier loads then other atv’s. For being 32 years old I am amazed it still runs as well as it does.

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Wanted to follow up on the no spark situation. Honda dealership found a bad connection going to cdi unit. I had them also replace the choke cable and choke piston which was stuck in the carb body. Also installed a switch to turn on the fan. Control relay for it is NLA. Total charge $269.00 . I do want to thank everyone for your help..Jack 

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Thanks for letting us know Jack!

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