Loosing spark

[WonderMonkey 720]

1 hour ago, Andy bauska said:

Where is the next atv meetup? Sounds like fun. Me and my old honda would love to come! Jeepwm69 said you were old, so how old are you?

 

I'm 53.  We haven't had a meetup yet, but we have talked about it a few times.  The Tsunami of Doom, Covid, had prevented us from getting serious about it.  Also probably is someone declaring "We are doing it this weekend, at this place".

[Goober 1,555]

Phht. Younguns! The lot of ya!

 

well Andy i think you’re looking at the right stuff. The flywheel, pulse generator and CDI all manage the spark. When you get in there to swap the pulse generator, consider rechecking that woodruff key. 

 

 

[Fishfiles 20,145]

On 1/19/2022 at 8:50 PM, Andy bauska said:

 I hooked a test light to the coil, and it sure enough was losing spark on the top end. It idles perfect tho. It should also be noted that it's the worst in the mid throttle range, and not the top end.

 

How did you hook the test light to the coil to check spark on top end ? 

[jeepwm69 7,605]

13 hours ago, WonderMonkey said:

 

I'm 53.  We haven't had a meetup yet, but we have talked about it a few times.  The Tsunami of Doom, Covid, had prevented us from getting serious about it.  Also probably is someone declaring "We are doing it this weekend, at this place".

 

46 here. 

 

I figure once the global pandemic of ! goes away (it never will) then we'll all meet up at Fish's place, give Mrs Fish a bunch of fireball, and turn her loose on Fish's 450.  Sounds like a good time.

 

My buddies would say to take Mrs Jeep along, get her boozed up, and put her in a seat so she can use me for a speedbump again.

[Andy bauska 27]

I think we just clipped it over the plug wire, or coil, whichever you want to call it. The spark was verry erratic, and went out for very longer periods of time, which of course co-insided with the missing. And @Goober I'll definitely check the flywheel and woodruff key out when I'm in there. I really hope the pulse generator fixes it; I don't know what to try next if it doesn't lol.

 

[Andy bauska 27]

Also, I live in Washington state, so I have no idea how far away you all are from me.

 

[ATC4ever 1,078]

Lol...i'm on the other side of the continent in Kanerduh. No harm in going over all the parts/connections again while you wait for that PG.

[WonderMonkey 720]

22 minutes ago, Andy bauska said:

Also, I live in Washington state, so I have no idea how far away you all are from me.

 

 

The member map (link below) shows were some live.  Those that chose to put a pin on it.  It appears that most of the members live on the Eastern half of the US.

 

https://atvhonda.com/membermap/

 

[jeepwm69 7,605]

Members here are from all over the world.  Lots of rednecks from the South LOL

[Andy bauska 27]

Looks like yall live pretty far away. The closest memeber I could find is about 4hrs away lol.

 

[toodeep 1,758]

I think your on the right thought process with the pulse possibly being the issue. Over the years I have seen many different things on the simple 300 though. Check the wiring/connections on all the connectors and the fuses just in front of the battery. Pull lightly on each wire to make sure they are still connected to the terminals good. They are known to corrode over time so it is possible just one is getting bad and the vibration makes it loose contact.

 

I had one some 20 years ago or better that I still can't explain to this day. It had no fire but everything else worked. I went through all the usual stuff, checked all the wiring and that's how I found the issue. It was a blown main fuse. Logic and every wiring schematic wouldn't make you think that with everything else still working it couldn't be that, but it was. I had too much time into it to really investigate but everything was still stock and unmolested wiring so I took the win and went on to the next job. Just mentioning that because something you would never think would be the problem, possibly could be the problem. Take something like the left handlebar kill switch for example. They seldom get used so they corrode over time and just moving that switch a half dozen times cleans it enough to fix an issue. 

[jeepwm69 7,605]

24 minutes ago, toodeep said:

I think your on the right thought process with the pulse possibly being the issue. Over the years I have seen many different things on the simple 300 though. Check the wiring/connections on all the connectors and the fuses just in front of the battery. Pull lightly on each wire to make sure they are still connected to the terminals good. They are known to corrode over time so it is possible just one is getting bad and the vibration makes it loose contact.

 

I had one some 20 years ago or better that I still can't explain to this day. It had no fire but everything else worked. I went through all the usual stuff, checked all the wiring and that's how I found the issue. It was a blown main fuse. Logic and every wiring schematic wouldn't make you think that with everything else still working it couldn't be that, but it was. I had too much time into it to really investigate but everything was still stock and unmolested wiring so I took the win and went on to the next job. Just mentioning that because something you would never think would be the problem, possibly could be the problem. Take something like the left handlebar kill switch for example. They seldom get used so they corrode over time and just moving that switch a half dozen times cleans it enough to fix an issue. 

 

Welcome back Toodeep.  Glad to see you still kicking.  Bet it's chilly out there in SD right now.

[shadetree 5,864]

17 hours ago, Andy bauska said:

Haha, 30's isn't that old. How old is Shadetree? And where is the atv meetup?

i'm 57..some days..i feel 157..lol.

[shadetree 5,864]

3 hours ago, jeepwm69 said:

 

46 here. 

 

I figure once the global pandemic of ! goes away (it never will) then we'll all meet up at Fish's place, give Mrs Fish a bunch of fireball, and turn her loose on Fish's 450.  Sounds like a good time.

 

My buddies would say to take Mrs Jeep along, get her boozed up, and put her in a seat so she can use me for a speedbump again.

i'm down for fishe's place...maybe i'll finish putting that 300 back together for him while i'm there ?..lol.

[jeepwm69 7,605]

24 minutes ago, shadetree said:

i'm 57..some days..i feel 157..lol.

 

Dad's 83.  I just keep looking at him wondering how, if I hurt this much at 46, how the ! does he even get around.

 

I mentioned it to him a couple of weeks ago when he was helping me load a trailer up to haul up some brush/limbs, and he said Clint Eastwood said you just "Don't let the old man in"

 

https://www.timesenterprise.com/news/lifestyles/don-t-let-the-old-man-in/article_cbaf0b90-9af7-11eb-a905-c7de9b73eae0.html

[Andy bauska 27]

Trust me, I've ran into some weird stuff as well. I play with my kill switch often, so I don't think that's the issue. I think the PG is the issue, because it was 359.8 out of 360 ohms, which means it's barely strong enough to pass the test, but too weak to provide the motor with enough spark at a higher rpm. Would a bad fuse cause the motor to lose spark on the top end?

[shadetree 5,864]

15 minutes ago, Andy bauska said:

Trust me, I've ran into some weird stuff as well. I play with my kill switch often, so I don't think that's the issue. I think the PG is the issue, because it was 359.8 out of 360 ohms, which means it's barely strong enough to pass the test, but too weak to provide the motor with enough spark at a higher rpm. Would a bad fuse cause the motor to lose spark on the top end?

no, a bad fuse wont stop it from sparking on top end. it will either spark ?..or it wont spark..simple as that.

[toodeep 1,758]

A bad fuse shouldn't on these machines but a wire going to the regulator, supplying main power from that fuse or any combination that connect back there in front of the battery could, possibly. That fuse story was a once in a life time for me on a 300 and to this day still doesn't make any sense. I was just pointing out that the weird little things can happen.

[Fishfiles 20,145]

i change the glass fuse holders on everyone of my 300s soon after getting one , seen bad connections so many times  I replace the glass fuse 

56 minutes ago, jeepwm69 said:

 

Dad's 83.  I just keep looking at him wondering how, if I hurt this much at 46, how the ! does he even get around.

 

I mentioned it to him a couple of weeks ago when he was helping me load a trailer up to haul up some brush/limbs, and he said Clint Eastwood said you just "Don't let the old man in"

 

https://www.timesenterprise.com/news/lifestyles/don-t-let-the-old-man-in/article_cbaf0b90-9af7-11eb-a905-c7de9b73eae0.html

 

 

I read that Clint Eastwood quote early this morning in the news , I'm 63 and starting to feel the " knocking on the door " 

[Misterclean 421]

I had an odd problem years ago on my YZ 250. I cut off about a half inch off the coil wire and screwed the cap back on. Fixed it. It irritated me for months!!!

[Andy bauska 27]

Without a fuse it still runs Haha, I have the back plastic off it, so it has no battery, or anything that goes in the battery box. Runs fine other than lacking on the top end.

 

[Goober 1,555]

You have to run it with a battery installed.

[Andy bauska 27]

I beg to differ, I've done it.

 

[Goober 1,555]

yeah but you don’t know why your spark is bad. It’s a related condition 

[Andy bauska 27]

No, it does it with the battery too, I just have the rear fender off, to check plugs, and connections. Would running it without a battery cause damage to any of the electrical components?