New coil, valve adjust no start???

[f4istunna]

Got a little problem i was hoping you guys could help me with.

I just changed coils and adjusted the valves on the wifes 400 now wont start

The bike would die when it hit water instantly. I pinpointed that to the coil (sprayed water on coil and bike died) I have a spare harness so i took the coil off and swapped. also adjusted the valves and checked the cam chain since its gettin noisy.

Valves a little out (one side ex and in were a little on the snug side, the left were loose) so i adjusted to specs .004.005 . Cam chain looks good.

Put it back together go to start spit/sputter then nothing. Checked the spark again w/ the new coil its good. Put new plug just for the hell of it.

I also drained the gas, and cleaned the carb ( the airbox and filter was pretty wet, from the harescramble i ran on it, so thought maybe i had water in gas that was why it wouldnt start) Fresh 93 octane nothing.


It ran great other than cutting out when it hit water before this???

I have spark and fuel...

Im sure its something dumb im overlooking so thats why i figured maybe someone could open my eyes. Were supposed to ride tomorrow and its wet so i wanted to get a new coil on for her so there would be no problems :rolleyes: lol

[fastredrider44]

Check where the killswitch is tied into the harness.

[2muchquad]

Do you think you could have jumped time?You said your chain was gettin a bit noisy..If you have spark,fuel and compression,it should run

[f4istunna]

Yep its in time. The noise was the valves just starting to get loose. the chain was still nice and snug.

I went through all the connections and pushed them in/wiggled them. I might go through w/ contact cleaner this morning though. It ran fine until i swapped coils and adjusted the tappets.

Would an electrical problem still show good spark when pushing the starter button, but not allow it to run or spark when the button isnt in?

It almost seems like the decompression pin and spring isnt in there (but i never took the cam out :confused:

The only other thing is the selenoid was clicking a few times before if you held the button for a second it would work, or let it go and try again it would usually turn over. The selenoid is working everytime now, turning over fast etc. Got me stumped. I m gonna go mess with it this morning, yesterday i was tired and frustrated probably overlooked something dumb lol

[hornetgod13]

Is it a new coil? Check the ground and other connection at the coil area. The coil is a pretty reliable part. I would suspect loose or defective wiring.

[f4istunna]

its a coil i pulled off a spare harness i had. It had a small orange coil (not sure brand) on it before. Everytime i would hit the water hard enough to splash it up the bike would die and usually restart in a few seconds. Finally on the 2nd lap of the race after a few creeks and mud holes it died and wouldnt start again. Left in the woods went back and fired right up when dry. I rode it when we got some snow here too w/ no problems after that but it was dry powder snow.

I sprayed the coil w/ water when it was running and it died instantly tried again same thing. So im sure the old coil was at fault for that maybe broken wire or coating letting water get in.

Im going to try the old coil and see if it will start but....

i drained the gas because it took in some water in the airbox at the race and i was thinking maybe somehow even though it ran afterthat that the gas maybe at fault :confused: :confused:



I cant see it having spark and being a wiring problem although it seems like it is. The plug isnt wet after i pull it out after trying to start which led me to beleive it wasnt getting gas, but then i thought the spark would burn the gas not leaving the plug wet right?